The Football

Sport
325

^^^ this. The real Croatia turned up as we tired. We will learn from this and it was a good ride.

326

Haha, I have Croatia in the sweep at work. Not convinced theyā€™ll beat France, though.

327

Waistcoats 75% off at M&S tomorrow :smirk:

5 Likes
328

No I suspect France may be too strong

1 Like
329

i think the french will have this

330

My mums side of the family are Austrian, but originally from Croatia(my great, great grandparents iirc) so Iā€™m not in the least bit disappointedā€¦ :expressionless:

At least I have a tiny bit of a stake in the final.

1 Like
331

We paid heavily for the missed chances in the first half and Croatia upped their game in the second. England were dead on their feet at the end, but full credit to Croatia, they deserved it.

Losing in a semi at the WC is still a great achievement for a team that were expected by most to go out at the first knockout stage. The future under Southgate looks a lot more rosy than it did a month ago.

Not one player will get any blame from me, they all gave it everything and the defeat tonight was just a bridge too far, but by the finest of margins.

9 Likes
332

Perisic was excellent.

2 Likes
333

If France go for the jugular they will hump Croatia. Will they do that though with Deschamp calling the shots?

334

I was impressed by Englandā€™s effort in the first period of extra time but ultimately they didnā€™t create enough scoring opportunities after half time.

3 Likes
335

No, theyā€™ll play exactly like they did against Belgium. It could be a very dull game.

1 Like
336

For a good chunk of the second half and through into ET they looked like men and we looked like boys. Experience showed. But theyā€™re over the hill now and we will get better. It was fun while it lasted and it lasted a lot longer than I thought it would.

France should take Croatia at a stroll. The France-Belgium match was tight because both teams made so few mistakes. Tonight was decided by both teams making mistakes, but they made fewer than we did.

VB

5 Likes
337

Gutted

338

Strangely, Iā€™m not. Everything after the group stage seemed like a bonus to me and Iā€™m happy enough with how far we managed to get.

5 Likes
339

Moments later Iā€™m over it.

We were totally out played in the second half.

It was a good ride and they are showing some refreshing promise.

1 Like
340

Bilic next on ITV.

I like him, but heā€™d better not gloat. The cunt.

4 Likes
341

at least my Sunday at Folk by the Oak wonā€™t be interrupted by a football match, and we can get pissed to some nice music

342

I still like him. He didnā€™t gloat and, for a bonus point, he made Glenn Twaddle look like the dick he is.

1 Like
343

I think we should be very proud of the team and what they have achieved. Southgate had them playing with more confidence and desire than an England team have for many years, if you had told me that we would reach the semi final a month ago I would have laughed.
Unfortunately it was just a step too far.

4 Likes
344

Manager was too loyal to Alli and Sterling.

2 Likes