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Scoreline: Croatia 2-1 England (after extra time)
It is not coming home!
England crashed out of the World Cup semifinals after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Croatia. It was Mario Mandzukic who scored the winner in extra time for Croatia to fix a final game against France on Sunday. England will have to be satisfied with a third place playoff against Belgium.
The Three Lions had the best of starts when Kieran Trippier smashed home a free-kick in the fifth minute.
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England were on top in the first half as Croatia could not find their footing in the game. But the second half presented a different story with Croatia dominating the ball and pinning England back.
Ivan Perisic scored a karate kick equalizer which took the game to extra time. Mario Mandzukic then got at the end of a hopeful Perisic header and scored in-arguably the most significant goal in Croatian history.
There wasn't much steam left in England to muster a comeback as the dream of winning the coveted title fell short at the penultimate hurdle.
On that note, let us analyze this game in further detail and dissect the five major talking points that emerged from Croatia's 2-1 win over England.
#5 A perfect start for England
All Gareth Southgate would have hoped for was a dream start to the semifinals and he certainly received that through a dead ball piece of art from The Bury Beckham. Kieran Trippier has been one of England's best players this World Cup so far and the goal against Croatia was surely the cherry on top.
England scored nine goals from set pieces this World Cup and the majority of them had Trippier as the driving force. Apart from the goal, the Spurs fullback was bossing the right flank and the had the most touches (38) and most interceptions (3) in the first half.
Southgate's side looked sharp right from the start, and it was their crisp passing and movement that had restricted Croatia's creativity in the first half. England had quite a few decent chances to double their lead in the first 45 minutes but failed to do so, this invariably led to their downfall in the end.
#4 Tactical switch from Croatia changes the complexion of the game
Be it nerves or an early setback, Croatia never really got going in the first half. Zlatko Dalic needed to change something to bring Croatia to the party and engineer a comeback. The manager did not introduce radical changes but made some fine tweaks that exposed England's limitations.
The duo of Perisic and Rebic were moved further forward to pin England's full-backs back. This led the England midfield to get stretched and Croatia's famed midfield to cut passing lines and attack with intent in the final third. Shifting Luka Modric to the inside right channel was also an inspired move.
England's midfield could not handle their counterparts in the second half and coupled with two moments of negligence, Croatia punished them with two stinging goals. England badly missed a ball carrier to link their midfield with the attack, this was perfectly utilised and exposed by the Croatians.
#3 Harry Kane fails to impress
A lot was expected of Harry Kane in this semifinal. England needed their talisman to fire on all cylinders to have a chance of fending off the Croatian challenge. But the reality is that Kane has not looked the same since picking up that knock against Colombia. He was poor against Sweden and was poor against Croatia too.
Kane often dropped deep to free up space and let Sterling run in the channels. Dejan Lovren was following him like a hawk and restricted his link-up play. The Spurs man had two glorious chances to get on the score sheet and guide England home but fluffed both of his attempts.
He shot his one on one effort straight at the keeper and later wasted a decent header chance. The captain looked a shadow of himself and never seemed like a threat. Kane may win the Golden Boot in the next few days but that will not take away the fact that his last two performances have been total stinkers.
#2 Ivan Perisic redeems himself
The Inter Milan winger was largely ineffective this tournament and was simply in the starting eleven due to lack of better options in the squad.
Against England, Perisic started the game poorly and had an average first half. He often gave away the ball cheaply and was not offering much on the flanks.
All that changed when Sime Vrsaljko delivered a cross into the box and Perisic beat Walker to volley home the equalizer. The goal worked as a tonic for the winger who then looked almost unstoppable. Soon after, Perisic beat his man and hit the post with a stunning far post drive.
In extra time, Perisic then headed a hopeful ball into the box only to see Mandzukic putting one past Pickford to score the winning goal. The winger played a huge role yesterday in taking Croatia to their first ever World Cup final.
#1 Croatia script history
Changing manager months before the big event, sending your backup striker home after he refused to come on and sacking your assistant manager for insensitive comments - controversies have not been far from the Croatian camp. But the work on the field never seemed to get bothered by the storm off it.
Consecutive extra time victories! That itself speak volumes of the sheer grit and commitment that these group of players have shown under the astute management of Zlatko Dalic. The midfield has been sensational throughout the competition and it was the forward pair of Mandzukic and Perisic that rose to the fore against England.
Modric revealed that English pundits' lack of respect for the Croatian side spurred them on. Many believed that the Vatreni will run out of fuel against the Three Lions. Modric and co made a mockery of a number of pre-match assessments by running circles around England in the second half.
Croatia will now face France in the ultimate showdown on Sunday. These set of players have well and truly scripted history by eclipsing the country's 1998 World Cup superstars by going one level ahead.
