Goooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[Brad]

1 hour ago, erwbol said:

This sadly did not surprise me at all. I think a fail of nerves and lack of believe in oneself at crucial moments is very Belgian. It's no coincidence the Flemish had two Dutch analysts on their panel, even if these former Dutch footballers, father and son Mulder, have connections to Flanders. Mulder senior always gets the first word in at half and end time.

I'm sure Mourinho had a ball last night. On most English language media (e.g. Gary Lineker and his BBC team) that narcissistic asshole and his brand of repulsive football can do no wrong. Once again this is a case of the language barrier. On the VRT it was immediately and clearly acknowledged both De Bruyne and Hazard had off nights.

You couldn’t be more right about Mourinho. He has a short shelf life before people want him to leave. 

24 minutes ago, brownie said:

The French team did not play exciting soccer against Belgium. Blame this on coach Deschamps who never got over France's undeserved defeat against Portugal in the  2016 final of the European Cup and stuck to his principles to have a win this time and make France happy. It's Vive Deschamps now!

At times they did but it was not a concerted effort. Considering the talent on this team, I expect better. 

[mjazzg]

2 hours ago, Dmitry said:

He has a lot to back his banter, don't you agree?

Debruyne laid a couple of beautiful long distance balls into France's penalty box, but the recipients didn't do them justice. 

Who wasn't 100% yesterday is Lukaku. The spear of the Belgians was not sharp, much to France's relief.

But also Martinez changed formation to make Lukaku the spearhead and therefore became overly reliant on him performing. Against Brazil it was three up front, with Lukaku out wide and they were unstoppable at times going forward

18 hours ago, Brad said:

The way Brasil played years ago and I mean years ago was artistic — o jogo bonito — but that’s not the way it’s played any more. 

It’s more of a European game, which is not always pretty, but effective. 

Football was always played better in our memories 

[Brad]

Apparently, Modric is not universally loved in Croatia. 

Croatia and Modric

[soulpope]

What a bullet !!!

[erwbol]

5 hours ago, Dmitry said:

He has a lot to back his banter, don't you agree?

So did Hitler spring 1940.

[erwbol]

Dutch analyst at 90 minutes: England awful and consequently their breathtaking arrogance ('it's coming home') turns them into a laughing stock. 

Edited July 11, 2018 by erwbol

[erwbol]

They're going home!!!!!

[mjazzg]

Best team won. The skill of the Croatian midfield really shone through

Very inexperienced and young England team exceeded my expectations by far

[sidewinder]

1 minute ago, mjazzg said:

Best team won. The skill of the Croatian midfield really shone through

Very inexperienced and young England team exceeded my expectations by far

I agree. If anyone had said at the start of this tournament that they would get as far as the semi’s, most people would have been suprised and delighted. They exceeded expectations - unlike some, who crashed out big time early on or even didn’t make the finals.

Well played Croatia, pat on the back England.

[Brad]

Condolences. England played their hearts out but Croatia is a gritty team.  Croatia won the midfield especially in the second half from around the 60th minute. 

[sidewinder]

Yes Brad you are right - it was won from the mid-field.

This place will be like a morgue tomorrow. 

[mjazzg]

50 minutes ago, erwbol said:

Dutch analyst at 90 minutes: England awful and consequently their breathtaking arrogance ('it's coming home') turns them into a laughing stock. 

and thereby betrays a great misunderstanding of the psyche of the nation with regard to that phrase and this competition

[Dmitry]

England took only 2 shots on goal, one they scored - a beauty, the second the defender pulled out from the goal line. My feeling is that Southgate misread the game prior to start, and had them sit on the ball. Again, Sterling should not have even been there from minute one. Rashford was the man for the job. Loved the English keeper. He was their mvp today, IMHO.

[erwbol]

18 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

and thereby betrays a great misunderstanding of the psyche of the nation with regard to that phrase and this competition

Without wishing to insult the English members of this board, it's how you are perceived abroad, and for good reason, I think.

Edited July 11, 2018 by erwbol

[mjazzg]

that's what happens when you come from the best country in the world

[Dmitry]

1 minute ago, mjazzg said:

that's what happens when you come from the best country in the world

Well played...no pun intended.

[BillF]

As I've said before, it's time we had a national team, as do other countries.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5942497/Scottish-fans-ramp-bitter-rivalry-England-ahead-Croatia-match.html

 

[erwbol]

12 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

that's what happens when you come from the best country in the world

 

8 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Well played...no pun intended.

I didn't know you are 'Merican, mjazzg. 

Edited July 11, 2018 by erwbol

[mjazzg]

resident in the 53rd state

[Brad]

42 minutes ago, erwbol said:

Without wishing to insult the English members of this board, it's how you are perceived abroad, and for good reason, I think.

Not the way I feel.

I thought a great moment in the match was when the English fans started to sing God Save the Queen. Very stirring. 

[erwbol]

Croatia motivated by England’s lack of respect, says Luka Modric

Luka Modric has accused English journalists and pundits of showing a lack of respect to Croatia’s players and admitted his teammates had used criticism to motivate them to victory against England in their World Cup semi-final.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/11/croatia-motivated-lack-of-respect-england-luka-modric

[Brad]

Words, just words. 

[erwbol]

7 minutes ago, Brad said:

Words, just words. 

Right, like 'your'  man Trump's attack on Germany today. The best words, man, all the best words.

[Brad]

Why turn this political   And he’s not my man, I can guarantee you.  

If a team needs statements by the media to get themselves ready for a game, that’s a problem. When you’re getting ready to play in a semi final, that should be motivation enough.  

Again, words, just words. 

[Jim R]

14 hours ago, erwbol said:

On the VRT it was immediately and clearly acknowledged both De Bruyne and Hazard had off nights.

My point was that Hazard was significantly superior to De Bruyne, and that the people lumping them together (as having been equally poor) were being lazy, or weren't paying close enough attention.

As in the first semi-final, one team really failed to compete with courage and confidence in the second half today.  Some are saying that England didn't have the quality in midfield to try to keep the ball and play out of the back, and that may be true, but it was astonishing the number of times Pickford was asked to boot the ball 60 yards and hope.

In the first half, I thought England's problem was that they played too much one touch, "hot potato" style.  They didn't seem to value the possession they were able to establish, didn't seem to really have ideas about how to create more chances, and seemed carefree about allowing the ball to turn over to Croatia.  It came back to bite them, of course.  All in all, I do think the better side won (and the energy Croatia showed after three straight games of added time was truly admirable), but England should have done more with their enormous opportunity to reach a final after a relatively easy path.