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PT KONTAK PERKASA - Croatia will face France in
their first World Cup final after coming from behind to dash England's
dreams with a 2-1 extra-time victory at the Luzhniki Stadium.
Mario Mandzukic scored the goal that broke English hearts on
109 minutes as Croatia emulated their heroes of 1998 by securing their
place in football's greatest game for the very first time. Juventus striker Mandzukic then capitalised on a brief lapse in the English defence to put Croatia ahead for the first time, and there was no way back for Gareth Southgate's tiring side.
Player ratings
Croatia: Subasic
(7), Vrsaljko (6), Strinic (6), Lovren (7), Vida (6), Rakitic (5),
Modric (7), Brozovic (6), Perisic (8), Rebic (6), Mandzukic (7).
Subs: Kramaric (5), Pivaric (5), Corluka (NA), Badelj (NA).
England: Pickford (7), Walker (8), Stones (6), Maguire (7), Trippier (8), Henderson (7), Lingard (6), Alli (6), Young (6), Sterling (7), Kane (6).
Subs: Rashford (6), Rose (5), Dier (5), Vardy (NA).
Man of the Match: Kieran Trippier.
Subs: Kramaric (5), Pivaric (5), Corluka (NA), Badelj (NA).
England: Pickford (7), Walker (8), Stones (6), Maguire (7), Trippier (8), Henderson (7), Lingard (6), Alli (6), Young (6), Sterling (7), Kane (6).
Subs: Rashford (6), Rose (5), Dier (5), Vardy (NA).
Man of the Match: Kieran Trippier.
England would go on control the first period against a lethargic Croatian outfit, who took 19 minutes to register their first attempt, Perisic dragging two shots wide having cut in from the left.
That kicked Croatia into gear and England needed a last-gasp block from John Stones to cut out an Ante Rebic's cross before the full-back fired a follow-up straight down Jordan Pickford's throat.
England's inability to convert their dominance into goals nearly came back to bite them when Dejan Lovren went down in the area under a Harry Maguire challenge, but a VAR review after the half-time whistle had sounded proved inconclusive.
Team news
With
no injuries to worry about, Gareth Southgate named an identical team to
that which began the last-16 game against Colombia and the
quarter-final against Sweden. Injury concerns over Croatia full-back
Sime Vrsaljko came to nothing as the Atletico Madrid defender started.
Former Leicester forward Andrej Kramaric did not make the cut, though,
dropped to the bench in favour of holding midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.
But England invited more and more pressure on themselves and Croatia finally made them pay on 68 minutes as Perisic - a minute after Kyle Walker brilliantly blocked his goal-bound strike - stole a march on the Manchester City defender to poke Sime Vrsaljko's whipped cross beyond Pickford.
Nerves began to take their toll on Southgate's men for the first time, and errors began to creep into their game as Mandzukic and Perisic were both presented with a sight of the England goal in the closing 10 minutes.
Vrsaljko headed a goal-bound Stones header off the line nine minutes into extra-time before a stunning point-blank save from Pickford prevented Mandzukic from putting Croatia ahead.
Opta stats
- England have now been eliminated in four of their five semi-finals at major tournaments, losing each of the last four in a row (Euro 1968 v Yugoslavia, World Cup 1990 v Germany, Euro 1996 v Germany and World Cup 2018 v Croatia).
- Croatia have qualified for their first World Cup final in their fifth appearance at the World Cup finals.
- England have lost three competitive games against Croatia (3) since the turn of the Millennium, more than any against any other nation.
- Mario Mandzukic's winning goal was the latest goal ever conceded by England in a World Cup match (108:03).
- Kieran Trippier became the first player to score a direct free-kick for England at the World Cup since David Beckham in 2006 (against Ecuador).
- Ivan Perisic has been involved in 10 goals at major tournaments for Croatia (6 goals, 4 assists), the joint-most, level with Davor Suker (9 goals, 1 assist).
Man of the Match - Kieran Trippier
What's next?
Croatia will remain in Moscow for Sunday's World Cup final against France while England travel to Saint Petersburg for Saturday's third-place play-off against Belgium.Source : skysports.com
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