World Cup 2018 | Can Southgate rouse England before Croatia match?

England head coach Gareth Southgate (right) celebrates victory of his team over Sweden with England’s Harry Maguire

Thursday, 2:00am
Croatia v England
H 3.75, D 3.15, A 2.38

It’s time for Gareth Southgate to come up with a big speech of his own.

After England gave up a tying goal to Brazil in first-half stoppage time in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, Southgate felt coach Sven-Goran Eriksson lacked inspirational oratory in the locker room at halftime.

Now the 47-year-old former England international is leading the team, which plays Croatia today [Thursday, 2am] in England’s first World Cup semifinal in 28 years. The match is riveting the Land of Hope and Glory, which won its only title at home in 1966.

“Probably 18 months ago I talked to them about if you have success with England, it will be so much bigger than anything you can imagine, and I think that is probably starting to register with them now,” Southgate said after Saturday’s 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Sweden.

Southgate, who didn’t play against Brazil, took a swipe at Eriksson after the 2-1 loss, comparing the cool-speaking Swede to a Tory opposition leader widely regarded as dull.

“We needed Churchill, but we got Iain Duncan-Smith,” an unnamed defender, later identified as Southgate, was quoted as saying in a 2004 book by Joe Lovejoy.

No word whether Southgate will offer his “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” With the coach keeping his strategies close to his now-famous vest, a young roster led by Harry Kane hopes to succeed where Gary Lineker, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney failed.

England is ranked 12th in the world and Croatia 20th. The winner advances to Sunday’s final, which also will be at Luzkniki Stadium.

Croatia lost its only previous semifinal match to host France in 1998. It beat Denmark in the round of 16 and host Russia in the quarterfinals this year, becoming only the second team with consecutive shootout wins in the same World Cup since Argentina defeated Yugoslavia and Italy in 1990.

“It won’t be easy for us,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said through a translator. “We will focus in the next few days to recover as much as possible. We will look for the best solutions ahead the match, considering we have a few players with minor issues after the match against Russia. It won’t be easy, but to get into the semifinals it’s a new motive for us.”

WAY BACK WHEN

In England’s last semifinal match, Andreas Brehme’s 60th-minute shot deflected off an onrushing Paul Parker at the penalty arc and looped over goalkeeper Peter Shilton to put West Germany ahead.

England tied the score when Parker’s cross bounced off Juergen Kohler and fell to Lineker, who beat goalkeeper Bodo Illgner to the far post. In the shootout, Stuart Pearce was stopped by Illgner on England’s fourth attempt, Olaf Thon converted for a 4-3 lead and Chris Waddle shot over the crossbar.

CHECKERED PAST

Croatia went ahead in the 1998 semifinals only 26 seconds into the second half when Aljosa Asanovic split the defense with a pass, and Davor Suker scored his fifth goal of the tournament. Lilian Thuram tied the score a minute later after stealing the ball from Zvonimir Boban near the Croat penalty area and exchanging passes with Youri Djorkaeff. Thuram scored the go-ahead goal with a curling shot in the 70th minute.

COLORS

Croatia will wear its alternate navy-and-black jerseys and black shorts for the fifth straight match, and England will wear white shirts and white shorts. The Croats have not worn their white-and-red checkerboard shirts since their opener against Nigeria. England wore all red against Tunisia, Colombia and Sweden, and white shirts with blue shorts against Panama and Belgium. The English also wore white in the 1966 and 1990 semifinals.

HEAD TO HEAD

Croatians played for Yugoslavia before splitting off in 1990. England has four wins, two losses and one draw in the matchup, including a 4-2 victory in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship. The teams have not met since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, when England won 4-1 in Zagreb and 5-1 at Wembley Stadium.

England goalkeeper Paul Robinson kicked at and missed a backpass from Gary Neville, allowing an own-goal in a 2-0 loss in a European qualifier in 2006. Goalkeeper Scott Carson fumbled Niki Kranjcar’s shot into the net for the opening goal as Croatia won 3-2 at Wembley the following year, causing England to miss Euro 2008. England coach Steve McClaren held a large red-and-blue umbrella on the sidelines and was mocked as the “Wally with the brolly,” and he was fired the next day.

WITH THE WHISTLE

Cuneyt Cakir of Turkey will referee his second straight World Cup semifinal match, after Argentina’s penalty-kick win over the Netherlands four years ago. Cakir worked Iran’s 1-0 win over Morocco and Argentina’s 2-1 win over Nigeria in the group stage this year, and he refereed Barcelona’s 3-1 victory over Juventus in the 2015 Champions League final. Ronald Blum, Moscow, AP

Croatians working extra, say they will have enough to win semi

Great Modric (center) and company

They’ve gone 120 minutes twice in a week. They have endured the emotional tugs of two penalty shootouts, somehow coming out on top on both occasions, the first team since 1990 to do so at a World Cup. They’re dealing with injuries to their starting right back, their goalkeeper and a handful of other players who could probably use a week in the ice bath.

There’s no way Croatia is going to have any juice left in the tank for England in the World Cup semifinals, right?

“Of course there’s power left for the English,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said. “We don’t want to stop. We want to play our best game then.”

What kind of recovery Croatia can muster over the next three days may ultimately determine if it has a chance of taking out England and reaching the World Cup final for the first time when the sides meet in the semifinals today [Thursday, 2am] in Moscow.

Yes, Croatia may have one of the best individual players in the tournament with what Luka Modric has done in matching the deepest run ever by the country. But Croatia is also exhausted. Physically. Mentally.

There’s no way they couldn’t be after ousting Denmark on penalties in the round of 16, then being forced to extra time again by host Russia on Saturday night. Just before midnight local time, Ivan Rakitic’s winning penalty ignited yet another celebration that was a mix of excitement and relief.

The team and the country are riding a wave of adrenaline in matching the 1998 Croatian team and reaching the semis. At some point, that wave could crash.

“At certain times we lacked power but we played two times 120 minutes of football in six days,” Modric said. “Of course this will leave a mark on you. You have to pay the toll for such exertions. But thank God we’ve shown our character.”

The emotions were such that Dalic broke down in tears on the sideline after Rakitic’s winning penalty.

“It came bursting out of me. I felt really relieved,” Dalic said. “We made ourselves happy but we also made everybody back home in Croatia happy. Those emotions just burst out of me. I don’t cry often, but I have a good reason.”

The team was traveling from Sochi to Moscow over the weekend to set up camp for two days of training ahead of the semifinal. The most immediate worry appears to be starting right back Sime Vrsaljko, who had to be replaced during extra time, walking slowly off the field with an apparent leg injury.

There’s also some concern about goalkeeper Danijel Subasic after he required treatment late in the second half and during any breaks through extra time and the shootout after appearing to injure his right hamstring.

A number of other Croatia players were receiving massages and stretching of their legs before extra time and before the shootout. The unique elements of playing in Sochi with the combination of heat and humidity sapped energy from both teams, creating a fairly lethargic second half. Numerous Croatia players said arriving in Sochi immediately after the round of 16 win over Denmark was a major benefit, but now are facing a rapid recovery.

“It will be difficult,” defender Dejan Lovren said. “Hopefully our right-back Sime Vrsaljko is not so injured like he thinks, so hopefully we can manage. But we have a lot of good players on the bench who showed they can change the rhythm of the game.” AP