Soon we will know.
Will it be Croatia or France?
I’m hoping that it will be the former and no harm to the latter.
The Croatian story is uplifting, especially their talismanic player maker.
I am hoping that Luka Modrić will prove that he is the Xavi of the Balkans.
Against Ingerlund the Real Madrid player showed that he was easily the best football brain on the pitch.
They thought that it was “coming home”.
It wasn’t.
It won’t.
As Roy Keane pointed out to his colleagues in the studio, the English chaps had not played in the semi-final and yet they were planning the victory parade!
Just like in the Brexit negotiations they have to be reminded of their limitations.
The poor dears…
Of course, France are favourites and teams with that tag usually win.
In Kylian Mbappé Lottin they have a peerless young forward who can win any game at this level.
Moreover, the French have quality players in every position.
The French have won the world cup before and they did so in 1998 with their customary Gallic aplomb.
I do recall that the French victory over Brazil rather pissed off Jean-Marie Le Pen due to the multi-cultural nature of the Les Bleus.
That team was captained by Didier Claude Deschamps and he will be directing traffic from the dugout today.
If the Croatians prevail then it will because their captain can outthink and outpass his opponents and thus tip the balance in the midfield.
The scenes being shown from Croatia today are uplifting.
Sometimes, although it is very rare, the little guy wins in sport.
That’s what I’m hoping for today.
I do not subscribe to all this Ingerlund entitlement stuff.
Given that most of the TV commentators were fans as well as analysts, I thought they were fairly restrained, given that a lot of the audience, including those of us in Scotland were either neutral (in my case) or hostile (see below).
As for Croatia, the less said about their fascist past, and their notoriously fascist football supporters the better.
The team had to play behind closed doors from 2015-2018 after their supporters put a swastika on the pitch.
A shame eh phil?: still they got it right with the wee man getting his dues.
Croatia’s involvement in World War 2 is a source of deep shame to both the people of Croatia and the Catholic Church.
The current Government of Croatia, and indeed the Catholic Church, have both got a long history of denying what took place.
Frankie, The Spanish committed genocide against the Aztecs and Incas – shall we hate them too?
The Romans did the same to the Carthaginians – shall we hate them too?
The French through Napoleon started a war that left 3 million people dead – should we hate them too?
Of course there’s also the Germans and two world wars, the Japanese and their dreadful treatment of POW’s during WWII, the Russian murders of the Polish officers and Cossacks at the end of WWII and so many other countries with dirty linen in their cupboards.
Luca Modric shot nobody nor did Ivan Rakitic or any of their team mates spill anyone’s blood.
It’s all about the football not politics!
The only team to come out of this with any dignity was Croatia. The French cheated for the foul at the OG and how the ref could say the hand ball was deliberate is beyond me. Out played and won is how the papers should be reporting this game.
The English spin on Croatia getting beat will be that they were dead on their feet with fatigue after the gruelling game that England gave them. HH
I’m not so sure I’d characterise Croatia as the “little guy” here.
In terms of population, certainly. But on the pitch, they look more like a squad of big units trying to bully their technically-superior opponents – Modric and Rakitic being honourable exceptions. I’m rooting for Les Bleus myself!
Tough one but on balance I’m looking for an emphatic French win. Reason being, should Croatia prevail, the next fifty years will be all about how they (ingerlund) ‘narrowl’ lost out to the eventual winners so technically they were the real winners. However a resounding French victory over englands conquerors will hit home how lucky they were to reach a semi final at all and precisely what kind of mauling they’d have received if they hadn’t evaded the tournaments stronger sides. And a muktitude of goals for Mbappe or Griesman, anything to prevent self-centred kant from claiming a thoroughly undeserved Golden Boot.
That post is honking with bitterness, if Kane gets the goldenboot it’s because he earned it.
Nah, let’s be honest mate.
The reason Harry scored the most goals is because England were drawn in the easiest group, with Panama and Tunisia. Five of his six goals were racked up in those first two group games, against two of the weakest teams at the tournament. In the remaining four games, against decent (but far from stellar) opposition, he could score only once – and that was from the penalty spot.
First of all I like Kane.
Three penalties and a deflection he knew nothing about shows that he is a lucky player.
Golden boot does not necessarily mean you are a great player.
I give you Oleg Salenko.
Discuss.