FIFA World Cup 2018: Croatia display grit and class in win over England
Croatia remembered it but England forgot and paid for it. The young East European nation, with a population four times less than that of New Delhi, created a piece of history to match their struggle of independence and made it to their maiden World Cup final.
Now, France stand between the most fiercely fought prize in world football and the Slavic fighters who carry the mark of their nation’s birth pangs as a badge of honour.
At the Luzhuiki Stadium on Wednesday night, as the clock agonizingly crept towards midnight, England found to their dismay how the sting in the Croatian tail poisoned their ‘it’s coming home’ party. Gareth Southgate’s young lions once more showed their efficacy from the dead ball with the match barely four minutes old. Kieren Trippier’s fabulous free-kick was followed up with blistering and incessant raids on the Danijel Subasic’s goal leaving the Croatians running for cover, literally.
Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling let them off the hook. It turned out to be the biggest mistake of their lives, on the biggest stage. Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic are masters of rearguard action, drilled in the art of hitting the opponent when it’s most vulnerable. As the second half wore on, a marked drop in England’s intensity was noticed and Perisic, the livewire down Kyle Walker lane, sneaked in the equalizer. The game then was pushed to its limits.
“We’ve shown our character. It was a very difficult game, we all know what was at stake and how important a semifinal is for a small country like Croatia,” said man-of-the-match Perisic, after the dust settled down. “We started slowly but we showed our character, just as we did in the previous two knockout rounds when we were one goal down in both matches. We didn’t use to be that resilient.”
It is a tremendous achievement for the nation of four million which got their independence in 1992. The scorer of the winning goal in the 2-1 victory, Mario Mandzukic. said, “It’s incredible. I think we are not yet aware of what has just happened. It’s not really a miracle. We’ve accomplished something that only great players can accomplish. We played with the heart.”
The great team of Davor Suker, Robert Proscnecki, Zvonimir Boban and Slaven Bilic was stopped in the semifinals in 1998 but had already announced its arrival in the top flight. Luke Modric and his men have taken it a notch higher, this time with three back-to-back 120-minute performances. It shows they have ice in their veins and fire in the belly.
The post-whistle scenes at the packed Luzhniki bore signs of a happy mayhem. Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida slid on the turf in perfect symphony as they finished their heroic game. Luka Modric and coach Zlatko Dalic saluted the flag-bearing fans who have travelled from Split, Zagreb and Zader.
During those never-ending yet exhausting minutes on the pitch, none of the Croatians was willing to be withdrawn from the battle of attrition. The coach finally forced an unwilling Modric to walk out, two minutes from time. “At one point, I wanted to make replacements but no one wanted to go out. It’s amazing, nobody wanted to give up. This shows the character of this team,” said the coach later.
On the other half of the pitch, the England players walked around or sat looking up at the sky like lost souls. They were like pieces of a broken dream strewn all over. What could be going through captain Harry Kane’s mind? Not being able to find the net from open play on the third successive night must definitely have been one excruciating thought.
Well, patience paid dividends for the hunters from the Dinaric Alps as they tamed the Three Lions with a heroic effort.
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