THEN THERE WERE FOUR
Cup heavyweights are gone, now it's time for the semi-finals
ENGLISH fish and chips against Croatia’s famous fish risotto. France’s vin et fromage versus Belgian beer and waffles. Players nicknamed Slab Head, Rocky and 37.
Welcome to the final four of a new-look World Cup, perhaps the most improbable of soccer’s 21 championships.
Host Russia left in tears yesterday, jilted like a suitor at the end of a Pushkin poem when it tied with Croatia late in extra time only to lose the last quarter-final on penalty kicks.
Germany’s Teutonic efficiency departed earlier, along with Brazil’s yellow-shirted samba style and Spain’s tikitaka pass-a-thon.
Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal couldn’t get past the round of 16. Italy’s Azzurri didn’t even earn an invitation.
“Whoever was the favourites to win, the big teams, are home,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said through a translator.
“Those who are hardworking, who are compact, who are united and who are well-organised, they are here in Russia, and this is the character of the four teams remaining.”
First up Les Bleus v De Rode Duivels on Wednesday at 4am (AEST) in St Petersburg, a match-up of Western European neighbours.
Then The Three Lions v Vatreni 24 hours later in Moscow.
Is football coming home or is the title going somewhere new? “We’re in a World Cup semi-final. Whether we’re in the top four in the world is something we would still have to prove,” England manager Gareth Southgate said. “It will be a sign to all clubs that, whether it’s in England or abroad, that English players can play, that we’ve got players with super technique.”
By the FIFA rankings, these match-ups are unlikely. Belgium is ranked third in the world, France seventh, England 12th and Croatia 20th.
Since winning its only title at Wembley in 1966, England had reached the semi-finals just once, losing to West Germany on penalty kicks in 1990.
England’s team includes a colourful nickname. Jamie Vardy dubbed national-team and Leicester teammate Harry Maguire Slab Head during training camp and punked him during an interview.
Vardy joined reporters and asked the final question. “It’s Jamie Vardy from the Vardy Express. How big is the diameter of your head?”
When Maguire scored the go-ahead goal in yesterday’s 2-0 win over Sweden, his shout of joy was so intense it looked like a shriek of pain.
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku earned the Rocky nickname at Manchester United, where teammates compared his work ethic with that of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa.
Kylian Mbappe, the 19year-old French forward, was nicknamed 37 by teammates after they said he reached 37km/h during a sprint.
No matter which team wins, the final four is a triumph of the Big Five — Europe’s top leagues. Eighty-one of 92 players on semi-final rosters are with clubs in England (40), Spain (12), France (12), Germany (nine) and Italy (eight).