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Semi Final 2: Croatia Vs England (ITV, KO @19:00)

Hodgy

By Hodgy,
in 2018 World Cup Forum

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Who will win and go through to the World Cup Final?  

61 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will win?

    • Croatia
      23
    • England
      38

This poll is closed to new votes

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  • Poll closed on 11/07/18 at 18:00

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Baptista_8

Baptista_8 851

Posted
Posted
Just now, themadsheep2001 said:

Still don't get why we didn't drop in someone like Delph for this game.

Yep definitely. At least have brought him on.

I can't help thinking what if with that Kane chance 😣 Also...the booking is what shook Walker up, but he never should have been booked as he was fouled as he conceded that throw-in.

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toon_84

toon_84 1,687

Posted
Posted

England had their faults today but I thought Croatia were fantastic. Their coaches must have really done their homework. Don't give away too many set pieces and we've got this game won. Keep on your toes and we'll nick something.

England hardly had any set pieces and I lost count of how many times they switched off. 

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Rio_V

Rio_V 549

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

Still don't get why we didn't drop in someone like Delph for this game.

Agreed. It was odd. There were clear signs by minute 55-60 that a change needed to be made. Dier. Delph. Maybe both. I don’t think the Rashford sub was smart either. Sterling was best player coming forward. Should have stayed on. 

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Baptista_8

Baptista_8 851

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, toon_84 said:

England had their faults today but I thought Croatia were fantastic. Their coaches must have really done their homework. Don't give away too many set pieces and we've got this game won. Keep on your toes and we'll nick something.

England hardly had any set pieces and I lost count of how many times they switched off. 

Apart from the fact we could have had the game to bed by HT with one clear cut chance (Kane) and another strong chance (Lingard).

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av3ry

av3ry 695

Posted
Posted

Do we all want to win the bronze medal? Better than nothing I suppose, although it pretty much killed the Netherlands who having been shocking since their bronze four years ago.

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grff

grff 976

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, toon_84 said:

England had their faults today but I thought Croatia were fantastic. Their coaches must have really done their homework. Don't give away too many set pieces and we've got this game won. Keep on your toes and we'll nick something.

England hardly had any set pieces and I lost count of how many times they switched off. 

Agreed. Croatia could've easily buckled after barely being in it first half but they showed almost total control in midfield from then on. We just weren't able to hold the ball in midfield like Modric/Rakitic could which dictated how the game was going to go.

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Hodgy

Hodgy 316

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Posted
Just now, av3ry said:

Do we all want to win the bronze medal? Better than nothing I suppose, although it pretty much killed the Netherlands who having been shocking since their bronze four years ago.

I genuinely couldn't give a toss, I won't even watch it, two losing teams playing, I stated the same in the playoff thread that I've never ever watched one as they're irrelevant to me so won't watch this one because England are in it, Belgium wished they'd already flown him and England would love to leave Russia tomorrow, waste of time.

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Marc Albrighton

Marc Albrighton 338

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, av3ry said:

Do we all want to win the bronze medal? Better than nothing I suppose, although it pretty much killed the Netherlands who having been shocking since their bronze four years ago.

Not really, its a nothing game, hope he just plays 11 lads who haven't had a chance in this comp yet.

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Bliss Seeker

Bliss Seeker 3,456

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Marc Albrighton said:

Not really, its a nothing game, hope he just plays 11 lads who haven't had a chance in this comp yet.

:D

Who one cares. Hope the reserves get a kick a bout though. 

No going to bother watching. Glad to have my life back :)

 

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ginnybob

ginnybob 2,650

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Bunkerossian said:

The Mandrill goes on and on. He is made of reinforced concrete.

A country of about 3.9 million inhabitants could win the World Cup.

I mean, a country with less than that has already won it...twice.

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PMLF

PMLF 2,718

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Bunkerossian said:

The Mandrill goes on and on. He is made of reinforced concrete.

A country of about 3.9 million inhabitants could win the World Cup.

Croatia becoming the new Uruguay.

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av3ry

av3ry 695

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Marc Albrighton said:

Populations have absolutely nothing to do with anything football related, we all know this so lets not do that.

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

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GunmaN1905

GunmaN1905 2,981

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, PMLF said:

Croatia becoming the new Uruguay.

Tbh, considering all the Croatians around the world and that no relevant player chose to play for another country, it's closer to 10mil.

And it's always been a constant with top players, it's just that there was no indenpendent country from '45 to '91.

Just now, av3ry said:

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

We got top athletes in other sports and a lot of trophies/medals.

Edited by GunmaN1905
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PMLF

PMLF 2,718

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Tbh, considering all the Croatians around the world and that no relevant player chose to play for another country, it's closer to 10mil.

And it's always been a constant with top players, it's just that there was no indenpendent country from '45 to '91.

It's still impressive though, an optimistic prediction before the World Cup would be Croatia reaching the quarterfinals. Now if they win it will look more than fair.

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The_jagster

The_jagster 899

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, av3ry said:

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

Well there's a reason France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain and Brazil have consistently been near the top, and it has quite a lot to do with population compared to countries of similar wealth and interest in football.

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GunmaN1905

GunmaN1905 2,981

Posted
Posted

Also, maybe you guys should convict some football-related people or throw someone down to League One.

2006. - calciopoli, Italy wins

2018. - Croatian FA leaders get convicted for money laundering, players about to be prosecuted for perjury, Croatia in the final.

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Federico

Federico 1,145

Posted
Posted
7 minuti fa, av3ry ha scritto:

Same with rugby. New Zealand have roughly the same population as Croatia and are best in the world at rugby.

If population had anything to do with how well a team does at football, China and India will dominate. :D

And I'd add Finland with ice hockey to the list.

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PMLF

PMLF 2,718

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, The_jagster said:

Well there's a reason France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain and Brazil have consistently been near the top, and it has quite a lot to do with population compared to countries of similar wealth and interest in football.

Brazil's growth and the biggest success also coincided with the period our population grew faster, probably a side effect of the 'youth bulge'. Now as our population is aging (fecundity rates below replacement levels already), we will probably produce less players too (although still more than most, given our big population).

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PMLF

PMLF 2,718

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, GunmaN1905 said:

Also, maybe you guys should convict some football-related people or throw someone down to League One.

2006. - calciopoli, Italy wins

2018. - Croatian FA leaders get convicted for money laundering, players about to be prosecuted for perjury, Croatia in the final.

Brazil have had awful football related people too, just as bad as those ones, but it hasn't brought any success in recent years...

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Big Geordie

Big Geordie 1,122

Posted
Posted

No shame tonight. It's been a great run and couple of weeks. It's allowed to many of us to reconnect with the national side and I think that's great. :thup: For the match itself - we had no-one in midfield to change the game, as Croatia gradually got on top. That's why Jonjo Shelvey should have gone - because he can take a risk and pass the ball forwards. Eric Dier isn't going to do that!

Have had a cracking night at the local club, with my family. :) Everyone stay safe, as doubtlessly some nuggets will see it as an opportunity to cause bother.

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av3ry

av3ry 695

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If Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn't injured we'd have done more I reckon. There was a slight criticism that we should have brought another central-midfielder in the 23.

Lingard and Alli are both too attack minded, there were a few times in that game where Jordan Henderson was our only midfielder and with him marked out of the game it forced our back three to either pass back to the keeper or go long.

 

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sc91

sc91 1,402

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, celtic_fc said:

Just a heads up for everybody in the UK

MOTD highlights on in 10 minutes. :thup:

When’s the Scottish highlights? 

Oh ****, about 20 years old.

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Astafjevs

Astafjevs 1,273

Posted
Posted (edited)

How strong are Croatia mentally? Absolute granite. Got to respect that

* Go behind in all three knockout games

* Play 120 minutes in all knockout games, still have more energy than England

* Miss a late penalty against Denmark, beat them on penalties

* Concede a late equaliser to Russia, beat them on penalties as well

Edited by Astafjevs
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Firehouse

Firehouse 73

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Astafjevs said:

How strong are Croatia mentally? Absolute granite. Got to respect that

* Go behind in all three knockout games

* Play 120 minutes in all knockout games, still have more energy than England

* Miss a late penalty against Denmark, beat them on penalties

* Concede a late equaliser to Russia, beat them on penalties as well

They were playing it safe, especially with their interviews. But with Modric as their leader, they were only thinking about reaching finals between themselves. 

I am really really over the moon right now, even though I dont really realise what we have done tonight. I think France is too much for us in finals, but I still do believe.

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