In anticipation of tonight’s game:
... the advantage of England’s canny strategic defeat to Belgium in the group stages may be even clearer. After all, rather than face France in the last four, England take on Croatia, a side that only crawled past Denmark and Russia, emerging from the quarter-finals as battered as a London ambulance.
“We’ve played five difficult games, they’ve taken their toll,” conceded Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic. “We’re tired but there can be no excuses,” he continued, resisting any temptation to contrast his side’s progress with that of England, who were given a bye in the last round when Sweden failed to show up. Instead Dalic urged his team to put on brave faces and hope they’re big enough to blot out Harry Maguire’s head. “We’ve analysed England, we know where the greatest danger is to us,” he chirped. “There is no reason to be nervous, we are relieved, without pressure, we have come to enjoy the semi-final. We have come to show our best game.” But that’s England’s plan, too, and while Croatia have more creativity in central midfield, Southgate has power, pace and a catchy song. Today, then, we get one step closer to finding out what is coming home: football, or flipall.
(quoted from the Fiver ..)