Russia 2018

[rowan]

Just when I'd pretty much lost interest I come home and catch the tail end of a great result like that. Croatia, population 4 million, through to its first final. I was actually looking forward to le crunch football style, but this is even better!

[onlynameleft]

Final score
Eng 1 - 2 Cro
They're coming home.Good luck to Croatia in the final.
They were a notch above the other teams Eng. have faced.

I know nothing about football but I thought England played really well until Croatia scored and then went into full on panic mode. Disappointed about not getting a public holiday and was speculating earlier that they would have to invent a new gong for Gareth as Sir simply wouldn’t cut it if they won. But well done you pathetic fragile whining dicks in any case.

[Stom]

Final score
Eng 1 - 2 Cro
They're coming home.Good luck to Croatia in the final.
They were a notch above the other teams Eng. have faced.

I know nothing about football but I thought England played really well until Croatia scored and then went into full on panic mode. Disappointed about not getting a public holiday and was speculating earlier that they would have to invent a new gong for Gareth as Sir simply wouldn’t cut it if they won. But well done you pathetic fragile whining dicks in any case.

Lol.

But yeah. I'm afraid I thought Stones lost his rag in all England's difficult games.

Also, Walker wasn't good at CB and Young was badly exposed in this game. Meanwhile, Lingard had one of his disappearing tricks. Truth is, we're 2-3 players short of a really good team and Croatia showed that. When the going got tough, some of the players couldn't cope.

Really happy with the core, though. Pickford good, Magurie surprisingly good. Henderson was really good. Kane was very good when he got the ball (will surely win the golden boot) and Sterling's movement was excellent, though his final product was poor.

I agree with Gareth: this is a team in progress, not the finished item. Will be really interesting to see how they develop over the next 2 years.

[onlynameleft]

Final score
Eng 1 - 2 Cro
They're coming home.Good luck to Croatia in the final.
They were a notch above the other teams Eng. have faced.

I know nothing about football but I thought England played really well until Croatia scored and then went into full on panic mode. Disappointed about not getting a public holiday and was speculating earlier that they would have to invent a new gong for Gareth as Sir simply wouldn’t cut it if they won. But well done you pathetic fragile whining dicks in any case.

Lol.

But yeah. I'm afraid I thought Stones lost his rag in all England's difficult games.

Also, Walker wasn't good at CB and Young was badly exposed in this game. Meanwhile, Lingard had one of his disappearing tricks. Truth is, we're 2-3 players short of a really good team and Croatia showed that. When the going got tough, some of the players couldn't cope.

Really happy with the core, though. Pickford good, Magurie surprisingly good. Henderson was really good. Kane was very good when he got the ball (will surely win the golden boot) and Sterling's movement was excellent, though his final product was poor.

I agree with Gareth: this is a team in progress, not the finished item. Will be really interesting to see how they develop over the next 2 years.

#itscominghome(nexttimeout)

[rowan]

Enjoy the highlights everybody

[WaspInWales]

No complaints.

As much as I'm disappointed we didn't make the final, we weren't good enough on the day.

Croatia schooled us in that second half and most of extra time, although in the first period of extra time, I thought we could do it, but then we fell away again. Taking the lead from Trippier's superb free kick was the perfect start, but once Croatia got their shit in order, they took control and besides the occasional corner, or free kick, we just didn't threaten.

I agree with Stom, we just need a few players to make the difference, but I can't think where that creative spark is going to come from? Perhaps Barkley can deliver the goods for Chelsea? He has been shit since transferring, so I dunno, but we need creative players beyond being able to hit a free kick or corner into the box.

Kane really should've done better with the chance he had. Lingard also had a couple but, it's moot points. The loss today showed us where we really are.

Decent team, decent prospects, but need quite a bit of work.

They did well, lifted the nation and did themselves proud, but lets kick on and see if they can go one better next time out.

And I facking hope certain elements of the fans can take defeat like decent folk!

[Mellsblue]

We played two good teams and lost to them both. The rest were average at best. Good tournament experience for them, though, and hopefully they can improve for the experience. They’ve not done enough to make me care again - getting past ****s like Terry, Cole and Rooney wearing the shirt is a long process - but I’m closer than I was a month ago.

[kk67]

Final score
Eng 1 - 2 Cro
They're coming home.Good luck to Croatia in the final.
They were a notch above the other teams Eng. have faced.

I know nothing about football but I thought England played really well until Croatia scored and then went into full on panic mode.

It was a mistake to score so early and overly celebrate.
That said,.....from the moment Luka Modric scored that goal in the first round it was clear those feckers were very hungry. That backwards header for the 2nd goal....blind pass based on knowledge and trust. It was beautiful and totally unstoppable.

[rowan]

We played two good teams and lost to them both. The rest were average at best. Good tournament experience for them, though, and hopefully they can improve for the experience. They’ve not done enough to make me care again - getting past ****s like Terry, Cole and Rooney wearing the shirt is a long process - but I’m closer than I was a month ago.

Agreed. I've seen better England teams than this before. They just happened to get a lucky run to the quarters (and actually won a penalty shootout for a change). But if they had one meritorious win, it was against Sweden. That was a decent opponent and England beat them fairly comfortably. So I was actually expecting England to edge the Croats and go all the way to the final. But the tenacity and endurance of the Eastern Europeans is something to behold. 3 two-hour games in a row - plus two penalty shootouts - and here they are in the final! Good luck to them, but I'd be very surprised if France don't put them away by a couple of goals or three.

[kk67]

Sweet. Not my problem.

[rowan]

Tremendous effort by Croatia to get to the final anyway. They'll go home as champions regardless the result.

[Galfon]

The Central/SE European team are deserving of the special star on the shirts..
The stage is set for Mbappe or Modric to come away
as player of the tournament - hope it's the latter as Mbappe will have many more opportunities.
Modric has been a fantastic club player for many years too.
Eng. have the chance to finish on a high, beating the 1990 team's finish and overcoming one of the quality teams there.They will not start as favourites, but hopefully he'll give a few of the bench men a start.

[rowan]

The Central/SE European team are deserving of the special star on the shirts..
The stage is set for Mbappe or Modric to come away
as player of the tournament - hope it's the latter as Mbappe will have many more opportunities.
Modric has been a fantastic club player for many years too.
Eng. have the chance to finish on a high, beating the 1990 team's finish and overcoming one of the quality teams there.They will not start as favourites, but hopefully he'll give a few of the bench men a start.

I'm expecting Belgium to take 3rd, which would be their best finish at the tournament ever, bettering their 4th in 1986. If England win, however, it would be their best finish ever on foreign soil, bettering their 4th in 1990. So one team is going to make a bit of history tomorrow, regardless the result, while the other is going to leave on a slightly disappointing note.

[Scrumhead]

No complaints.

As much as I'm disappointed we didn't make the final, we weren't good enough on the day.

Croatia schooled us in that second half and most of extra time, although in the first period of extra time, I thought we could do it, but then we fell away again. Taking the lead from Trippier's superb free kick was the perfect start, but once Croatia got their shit in order, they took control and besides the occasional corner, or free kick, we just didn't threaten.

I agree with Stom, we just need a few players to make the difference, but I can't think where that creative spark is going to come from? Perhaps Barkley can deliver the goods for Chelsea? He has been shit since transferring, so I dunno, but we need creative players beyond being able to hit a free kick or corner into the box.

Kane really should've done better with the chance he had. Lingard also had a couple but, it's moot points. The loss today showed us where we really are.

Decent team, decent prospects, but need quite a bit of work.

They did well, lifted the nation and did themselves proud, but lets kick on and see if they can go one better next time out.

And I facking hope certain elements of the fans can take defeat like decent folk!

I agree too.

There is a lot of cause for optimism though and IMO Southgate is key to that. He’s an intelligent coach who should improve with time and his experience as an England player seems to have allowed him to create at atmosphere where English players actually want to play for England which wasn’t the case under overpaid mercenaries like Eriksson and Capello or an uninspiring dinosaur like Hodgson.

He squad is OK but there’s a good chance that some of he weaker players can be upgraded fairly swiftly. In effect, the 2-3 players Stom referred to. Ryan Sessegnon looks like he could be a very exciting (and left footed) replacement for Young for example. A creative midfielder isn’t obviously on the immediate horizon but if Wilshere can keep fit and get an extended run at West Ham, it may be too soon to rule him out. Similarly if Barkley can sort himself out, he has the ability to be an upgrade on Lingard.

If we can play like we did in the first half against Croatia, use the ball properly and create chances, I believe we can compete with most teams.

The real challenge is getting the clubs to play more English players which is unlikely to happen any time soon without some kind of intervention from the FA. I still think the best players will rise to the top though and Southgate has also shown that he’s prepared to pick from less fashionable clubs, so I think there’s a decent chance for some of the young guys coming through from the U21s.

[rowan]

Jeez, that didn't take long!

[rowan]

Belgium go home with their best finish ever.

[Galfon]

Beeb stats, Bel / Eng:
Final Score 2 - 0
Possession (%): 42 / 58
Shots: 12 / 15
Shots onTarget: 4 / 6
Corners: 4 /5
Fouls: 11 / 4

Missing this one due to wedding duty, the result was not unexpected but these figures and reports of goal-line clearances and fluffed chances indicate the team was not entirely unworthy of the stage.
..Not enough for a gong yet Gaz, but few will be pushing you to resign yet.
 

[rowan]

I had both that game on the TV and the Samoa - Germany rugby World Cup qualifier on my laptop, and ended up spending more time watching the latter. The 3rd place playoff wasn't exactly dour, but there was no urgency, as you would expect, and a lot of shooting on a wing and a prayer - going for personal glory, perhaps. On the whole it seemed like more of an exhibition match and was a little disappointing, and that's pretty much what you expect from this fixture. Belgium were a talented side alright and full value for their 3rd place at the tournament. England, on the other hand, were a pretty average team but got a somewhat fortuitous run in the playoffs and actually won a penalty shootout!

[Galfon]

Cro bossing the final in the first 10 min, complete opposite to their semi. Fra as we know can be rapier like on the break though.

[rowan]

France score first from a freekick given for a dive! That's football

VAR seemed to disappear with the group stages...

[Galfon]

Naughty Griezmann..outrageous flop..then Fra score with own goal by Manzukic from the kick after 18 min.
Fra 1 - 0 Cro

[Adder]

Not really a dive if you look at the slow Mo


Sent from my Moto G (5S) using Tapatalk

[rowan]

Croatia equalise. I said it would be 4-1 France.

[Galfon]

1 - 1 28 min
Well worked goal by Perisic., well deserved.

[rowan]

Oh, he just used VAR! Penalty France!

Still VAR is rubbish.

2-1 France. Still first half...