That's completely true. We revered to squandering possession and frantically hoofing the ball away and at the end began to panic. Not sure how Croatia maintained their energy levels.
We got there by hard work, belief and organisation, but we lost to a team with more experience and skill. An early goal doesn't always help as it can galvanise the opposition and gave us something to lose. If we'd held on, we might have won on penalties....and then we'd have been the luckiest team in the world. We have had far better sides in the past that have got no where near the semi-final, so congratulations to everyone in the team and to the coaches. Southgate said this team hadn't reached their peak, which is encouraging for the future. We can move onto 2020 with hope, but we must remember that the Euros are in some ways even harder with few bankers. Well done to England.
Glad I didn't buy a ticket for the final. Gf is French so I could have sent her, but she hates football; or at least she used to. She has been taking an interest of late.
Your last paragraph indicates our main weakness, but may not be strictly true. How many tournaments have Italy won? How many truly WC players - who are not defenders - have they produced?
Well there we are...a good effort but out classed at the end of the day. Not a shot on target after half time says it all really. Kane should have done better with his header at the end but easy for me to say.
I was alright last night, but I’m pretty bummed out today. Getting to the World Cup Final would have been amazing.
FIFA have fined FA £53K for wearing unauthorised branding on kit during game with Sweden. Unusual for the FA to get details wrong....unless they got paid enough to cover fine.
The level of my disappointment has demonstrated to me that, although I am very keen on England, they are no Saints. I would be under medication if Saints got knocked out in a Europa league semi-final.
I can accept the defeat but l cannot accept Lovren stating he believes himself to be one of the best defenders in the world. It is so embaressing to think he once played for us!
I partly agree. My disappointment though is also for the nation. I feel we really came together as one, and in current times that is pretty important. Saints in Europa semi loss would devastate us, but 99% of the population wouldn't give a damn. I think at least 80% of the population is a little disappointed today though.
Good luck to Croatia for the final, would be great to see a smaller nation like that win the whole thing. We had a last minute winner against Tunisia, plus a penalty shoot-out win, so luck was at least on our side this time. We were just beaten by quality and experience on the night. Overall, some great experience for the team and manager though. I think there are things that a more experienced manager could/would have done last night, but I don't care, Gareth is definitely the right man for the job, because of the team spirit he has fostered. Hopefully with the recent success of all the England youth teams, this World Cup is just the start of a more enjoyable time to be an England supporter. I'll be taking much more interest in the U21's/U18's now, knowing that Gareth will be looking to them much more than previous managers ever have.
I think the best thing I can do is not care who wins. My instinct is to support Croatia they are the underdogs and have never won it before but....my heart says I don't want Lovren to win anything. Some players I can get past their bad behaviour with Saints but he just keeps on irritating away so I haven't got to that point. The alternative is support France.......oh dear.
I'm keeping the avatar until the end of this week, this tournament has restored a lot of pride in the national team for me and a hell of a lot of hope for the future. I voiced concerns about Gareth when he was appointed and felt that his mediocre domestic managerial record indicated that he may have been out of his depth. I have absolutely made a 180 degree turn on that view, the man has galvanised the whole set up and the biggest change has been a mental one, he appears to be a natural leader of men.
England fined 50K for 3 players wearing wrong socks... Russia receive 7K fine for racist banner, Serbia get 15K fine for political and offensive flag. Priorities and severity totally disproportionate but sponsors/official suppliers always matter more.
We raided Russia's dressing room after the quarterfinals Yeah he has a massive inflated ego and is a dick, but to be fair, he must be one of the best CB this World cup. Hasn't set a foot wrong the whole tournament. Something must have rubbed off from Van Dijk. He's even showing some leadership qualities. We know with Lovren he always had the qualities to be one of the best in the world but the problem was he wasn't mentally stable enough. Now I think he genuinely thinks he's one of the best in the world and it shows.
I want Croatia to win it now for one reason. I have them in the work sweep and the prize is 2 days extra holiday this year #OnlyNo7Matters (I was happy to forgo those 2 extra days for an England win though )
@SouthamptonFCroatia Question: was it Croatia who sent a player home earlier in the tournament for disciplinary reasons? If so, how must he be feeling now?
