England, Croatia in bitter battle to grab spot in summit clash
Jordan Henderson vs Luka Modric Harry Kane vs Dejan Lovren Kieran Trippier vs Ivan Perisic
The English believe football is coming home but England will be going home from Russia if they keep thinking about the glittering trophy that would be given away on Sunday. England must first overcome a gritty Croatia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Wednesday before the big match.
Croatia are the only team, apart from Belgium, to win all their league matches here. Their 3- 0 demolition of Argentina was one of the highlights of the group stage. Although Croatia never reached the exalted heights again, they are surely capable of turning on the style.
Luka Modric, the heartbeat of Croatia in midfield, was wonderful against Argentina. But the Real Madrid star wasn’t able to dictate play against Denmark and Russia in the knockout rounds. His creativity would be central to Croatia’s fortunes on Wednesday.
Ivan Rakitic, Modric’s partner in the middle, is also good enough to turn a match on its head in a flash with one pass of coruscating brilliance. That he is holding his own in a team of Barcelona’s high standards is proof to his pedigree. How many countries in the World Cup here can boast of midfielders who are fixtures in the first XI of Barca and Real?
What makes this Croatian team more fancied to go through to the final is the variety they possess in attack. Mario Mandzukic’s strength in the air would come in handy if the going gets tough on the ground. After missing a sitter against Russia, Ivan Perisic would be keen to make amends.
Talking about the air, few teams are stronger there than England in the tournament. Both their goals against Sweden, themselves a competent side in aerial battles, in the quarter- final were headers. England’s towering central defenders, Harry Maguire and John Stones, are veritable forwards in set- pieces.
Captain Harry Kane, who is leading the Golden Boot race with six goals, is also a fine header. Kane has led England from the front. Some critics might say his six goals include three spotkicks but his penalty prowess has lifted England. The confidence with which a penalty is scored can rub off on the team.
England manager Gareth Southgate shows no sign of jettisoning Raheem Sterling, though the striker hasn’t scored a goal for the Three Lions since October, 2015. For Southgate, Sterling’s pace is critical to stretch opponents. Jordan Henderson would be the first name on the manager’s playing XI because the Liverpool midfielder hasn’t lost a match in his last 30 starts for England.
With eight of their 11 goals coming from setpieces, England certainly lack variety. The absence of a midfielder in the class of Modric and Rakitic sticks out like a sore thumb. Southgate wouldn’t care too much about the lacuna because when England used to come a cropper in the World Cup with fine midfielders Scholes
Gerrard.
There is not much to separate the two teams in bigmatch experience as neither had reached this stage of the World Cup before in the new millennium. Many such and as Paul Steven people rightly believe that the winners of the Belgium- France semi- final will lift the trophy on Sunday but Croatia and England would fancy their chances as the underdogs. First, they have a job on Wednesday.
Youth faces experience when England’s young guns and Croatia’s old guard face off in Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal in Moscow, with the prize of a return trip to the Luzhniki Stadium for the final.
England have not reached the last four for 28 years and have only once before reached the final, when they won the World Cup on home soil in 1966.
Croatia have never gone beyond the semis, but after matching the achievements of their much- revered 1998 side, a richly talented generation’s luck may have turned in time to land the biggest prize in football. A look at three key battles that could decide where the game is won and lost: Just over six weeks on from Liverpool’s defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final, Henderson has his chance to exact revenge on Modric and extend his incredible run of 30 matches without defeat in an England shirt — the longest unbeaten run for any player in England’s history.
Henderson’s leadership, discipline and distribution as Gareth Southgate’s deepest- lying midfielder has been key to allowing Jesse Lingard and Dele Alli to get forward and score goals in Russia.
However, that midfield faces its toughest with Modric in the form of his life at 32.
Modric has played defence- splitting passes, scored goals and dictated the rhythm of the game during three Man- of- the- Match performances in the four games he has completed at the World Cup.
After a third Champions League success in as many years, Modric has even been touted as a Ballon d’Or candidate should Croatia go all the way. the test yet Facing the tournament’s top scorer brings back bad memories for Lovren. The Liverpool defender was replaced after just half- an- hour into a 4- 1 defeat by Tottenham in October after being run ragged by Kane. It was a performance that many believed would end Lovren’s career at Anfield. But he fought to win back Jurgen Klopp’s confidence at club level and has marshalled a Croatian defence that shut down Lionel Messi and Argentina in the group stages of tournament.
In total, Kane has scored five times in five meetings with Lovren and will look to seal the Golden Boot by adding to his six goals already at the World Cup. Trippier has been one of the breakout stars of the World Cup. Nicknamed the “Bury Beckham” for the similarities in the quality of his crossing to the former England captain, Trippier is rivalling Neymar and Kevin De Bruyne for creating the greatest number of chances at the tournament so far. Southgate’s 3- 5- 2 system with another natural right- back, Kyle Walker, in the back three has allowed Trippier to get forward at every opportunity. But his defensive capabilities will be examined up against Perisic.
The Inter Milan winger has scored five times in his past 11 appearances at major international tournaments and is the one player in the Croatian attack with the pace to stretch the England defence.