Hard finding bar to watch match Rivals have both had a long wait
REPINO, Russia: Two nations who have been waiting years to put right the bitter memories of World Cup semifinal defeats will face each other tomorrow in Moscow with the chance to finally go one step further.
England’s last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when it lost in a penalty shootout to West Germany in Turin, while eight years later, in its first World Cup as an independent nation, Croatia lost to host and eventual winner France.
While many outsiders view that unexpected Croatian run to the last four as a great success, inside the country many share the view of the team’s then manager Miroslav Blazevic that it was a missed opportunity.
England too left Italy 28 years ago feeling the team featuring Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne could have gone all the way.
But neither side are in the mood for nostalgia or using the past as motivation.
Croatian players have been asked constantly about the generation of 1998 and never fail to express their admiration for the likes of Zvonimir Boban and Davor Suker, but they feel those comparisons are an unnecessary weight.
‘‘We are not putting more pressure on ourselves with what happened in 1998,’’ midfielder Ivan Rakitic said.
‘‘What they did was impressive but we want to keep writing our own history and enjoy what we are doing which is very positive,’’ he said.
England’s loss in 1990 was turned into a documentary film and has become a fabled part of the country’s ‘‘52 years of pain’’ since its 1966 World Cup triumph.
But yesterday, defender Ashley Young was quick to dismiss its significance.
‘‘We are concentrating on what’s going on now. Not what’s happened in the past. We’re looking forward to the future,’’ Young said.
Neither team came to Russia being heralded as favourites but they have produced performances throughout the competi tion which have shown they were underestimated by the pundits.
Croatia’s 30 win over Argentina in the group stage was a clear signal the team led by midfield maestro Luka Modric was a real threat with its clever passing and movement.
In their quarterfinal clash with Russia, the Croats showed a different side, being willing to slug it out with the Russians for 120 minutes before keeping their cool and winning the shootout in such a partisan atmosphere.
England, who made an early impression with a 61 crushing of Panama in the group stage, then overcame its shootout hoodoo in beating Colombia in the last 16 and looked composed and mature in the 20 quarterfinal victory over Sweden.
Given Croatia had extra time and penalties to recover from, England should come into the game fresher and it also has the edge from previous matches against Croatia, winning four of the seven encounters, including a 51 victory in their most recent match, a World Cup qualifier in 2009. — Reuters AFTER a 28year wait, every Englishman just wants a pint, a win and a bit of atmosphere.
But in Dunedin? Sorry, no can do.
With the England football team set to take on Croatia in a World Cup semifinal tomorrow at 6am (NZ time) fans of the team are on tenterhooks and crossing all appendages.
Part of the English tradition is to watch the big game — and they do not come much bigger than a World Cup semifinal — on a big screen at the local watering hole.
In Dunedin, though, the doors are closed for English football fans. No pubs are scheduled to be opened in the city for tomorrow morning.
Last weekend, Dunedin carpenter Spencer Eve went looking for a tavern which was showing the game live in Dunedin.
But he came up short.
‘‘I went round the pubs and
the game asked, but none of them said they would show the game. It was a bit disappointing,’’ he said.
His answer — drive four hours to watch the game at a packed pub in Queenstown.
‘‘I rang up the Pig and Whistle and they said come over. We’ve been packed out.’’
Spencer and his brother Bradley — who is actually a Welsh supporter but lowered himself to watch England — wife Suz and father Richard, jumped in the car on Saturday afternoon, drove to Queenstown and watched England’s 20 win over Sweden in the quarterfinal.
‘‘I watched the round of 16 game at home but wanted to watch the quarterfinal with some other people. That is the way it has been done back at home.
‘‘It was packed and [had] a great atmosphere.’’
He said for tomorrow morning’s game he was hoping to get a few friends round and try to create an atmosphere. He had rung some bars but all
❛ A couple of bars said they could open at 8
o’clock, but that is too late.
It is just so much better to
watch it in a bar with people
indicated they were not opening.
Tight licensing laws make it impossible for bars to open on a whim.
Eve, who has been in New Zealand for seven years and is a West Ham supporter, was confident of an English victory — 31 he predicted — and said the young, fresh English side was doing the country proud.
Dunedin resident and England supporter Neil Robinson was also looking for a pub open to watch the game.
There were 300,000 tickets sold to an event in Hyde Park in London but no pub in Dunedin could open for the game, which was tough to swallow, he said.
‘‘A couple of bars said they could open at 8 o’clock, but that is too late. It is just so much better to watch it in a bar with people,’’ he said.
Dunedin City Council alcohol adviser Kevin Mechen said as of yesterday morning there had been no applications for a special licence so pubs could open tomorrow.
If any applications were made between now and the semifinal or final there would not be enough time for them to be processed, he said. — additional reporting Tim Miller