⚽️ World Cup Russia Semifinal - Croatia Comes Storming Back to Stun England ⚽️

Croatia 2, England 1

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Croatia made it to their first ever World Cup final, and they did it by coming back from a 1-0 deficit to England to win, 2-1.

But England had seemed to be dominating the game from the point when Kieran Trippier scored an early goal to put England up, 1-0. The English side seemed to almost be like a boxer after that, leaning into their opponents, using their full weight and size, and seemingly trying to wear their smaller and supposedly weaker opponents down.

In that sense, however, it reminded me a bit of the rope a dope strategy that boxers used, because once Croatia came alive, they seemed to fire shot upon shot at the English goal, to the point that England simply seemed overwhelmed.

The change in momentum began with a goal by Ivan Perišić of Croatia to tie it up. Suddenly after that, Croatia came alive. They seemed to have a new spring in their step, with energy that had seemed noticeably absent when England had seemed to be successfully wearing them throughout the game prior to that. Suddenly, the Croatians appeared to have the English side on their heels, scrambling just to try and keep up and avoid disaster. The Croatians had numerous opportunities and kept the pressure on the English side, while the English hardly seemed to produce any solid chances in their own right. 

To their credit, the English side avoided allowing a disastrous goal by the Croatians, although they came close numerous times. The game went into extra time, which was a third straight time for Croatia. The previous two games had ended in penalty kick shootouts, with Croatia winning both times.

The first half of extra time was more of the same. England seemed to have gathered their composure initially, but then, towards the end of that session, the Croations began to apply pressure again. Still,the English held.

In the second half, however, Croatia finally brother through, as Perišić  again burned England, this time assisting in the goal by a wide open Mario Mandžukić, whom he had passed the ball to with a header just in front of the English net. It was a shockingly easy and quick goal, and it was decisive.

England did not come back or even have any serious opportunities after that. That seemed to crush their spirits. Whatever had carried them to this point seemed to have worn out, with Croatia having stunned them to the point that they were no longer effective anymore. Really, they only had mounted one or two decent opportunities following that first Croatian goal. For all intents and purposes, England dominated the first 68 minutes of the game, seeming to be satisfied with a narrow 1-0 lead and trying to run the clock out on Croatia, while Croatia showned hunger and desire and creativity in completely dominating England for the roughly 50 minutes, including extra time, that they played against England following that first goal. It really was just a tale of two very different games within one game.