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#2 Croatia bossed the midfield battle
One of the instrumental reasons for Croatia's dominant display in the second-half was because they bossed the midfield.
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Manager Zlatko Dalic played Marcelo Brozovic in the midfield this time, leaving Andrej Kramaric on the bench despite scoring the equaliser in the last 8 clash against Russia.
The intention was clear - given Croatia's fatigue from playing 120 minutes of football from each of the previous 2 rounds, he opted for a more defensive and resolute midfield structure. It threatened to creak at times in the first-half, but it allowed the midfield three of Modric, Rakitic and Brozovic to get the ball ahead quickly when Croatia attacked.
The Real Madrid and Barcelona stars in particular were able to send in good deliveries as England was pinned back and their ability to play out from the back was greatly curtailed.
Even Harry Kane had to drop back into midfield to try and win the ball back. Croatia asserted their dominance in the midfield and eventually fully turned the tables around in extra-time.
