Posted July 8, 20187 yr The second semi-final sees England take on dark horses Croatia. The last time we were at a semi-final my parents were still teenagers :o The game is live on ITV. Please use this thread for speculation, pre and post match chat on the England v Croatia game. How do you see this going?
July 8, 20187 yr 1-0 to England. Hoping England play well. If they manage to beat Croatia with a large lead I'd be more confident in them being able to win against Belgium or France in the final.
July 8, 20187 yr I’m interested to see how England line up and whether we set up as normal or we go to flood the midfield with either Delph/Dier with Henderson. Personally I feel it will be another really tight game. I suspect Croatia will tire quicker than we will, which could be a massive factor in the latter stages of the game.
July 8, 20187 yr I can still scarcely believe we're here. I really have no clue on this game at all, theoretically we should be much fresher than Croatia so if it goes the distance once again we should be favourites but can't allow myself to read too much into that.
July 8, 20187 yr There's no way this isn't gonna go to penalties!! :) Croatia's last 2 KO games have gone to penalties! I am less confident about this than I was about Sweden, Croatia have been impressive so far. I expect it'll either go to penalties or Croatia will sneak through with a 2-1 win. I hope I'm wrong though! Whatever happens the team have another game definitely (the 3rd place playoff) and can come home with their heads held high. : ) The last meeting of the two countries in 2009 was a massive 5-1 defeat for Croatia but that was a WC qualifier, and may have been revenge for the qualification game against them for Euro 2008 (Steve 'Wally with the Brolly' McClaren).
July 8, 20187 yr Thing is I don't really want Croatia succeeding via another pen shootout as it'll look like they have fluked their way to a final!
July 8, 20187 yr There's a lot riding on this game. Peru went into the World Cup as the holders of the Unofficial World Cup. They lost to Denmark who subsequently lost to Croatia. Therefore, Croatia are the current Unofficial World Champions and Wednesday will be their first title defence. https://www.ufwc.co.uk
July 8, 20187 yr Aha I forgot all about that side competition! Over 18 years since we held the honour.
July 8, 20187 yr This will be a very close game and it could go to extra time, maybe even penalties. I've got a feeling that Croatia will win this though probably with a goal in the last few minutes of the match. Hopefully England will win instead as this kind of opportunity to get to a World Cup final might not come around for decades after this, I don't want anyone from Group D winning the World Cup as well :lol: Also the England Women's team got to the semi final of the World Cup and the European Championship in recent years but lost both times so it would be nice to see a change for England.
July 9, 20187 yr I sincerely hope we win this since we have come this far, I've never expected to see them in the Semi's I think the score will be 2-1 to England, it just seems too good to be true, sometimes I have to pinch myself and the underdogs in this competition. We need to win this now, if we end up losing in the final to France, I don't mind that at least we got there.
July 9, 20187 yr Who would you say has been the best player for England so far? Henderson or Stones for me.
July 9, 20187 yr Who would you say has been the best player for England so far? Kane Trippier & Pickford would be my top 3. Hendo has been good but I'm docking him points for missing his penalty.
July 9, 20187 yr Potentially more than 20m will be the figures for this game. I think England have the best chance that we may get for many years to reach a final.
July 9, 20187 yr Potentially more than 20m will be the figures for this game. I think England have the best chance that we may get for many years to reach a final. Surely be more like 30m? There will be less public screenings so can see more people tuning in at home. Probably 80-85% audience percentage share.
July 10, 20187 yr Whatever happens, we will finish in the top 4 - something no-one would have predicted at the start of the WC!
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