France coach Didier Deschamps hopes to be the third person in football history to lift the trophy both as a player and manager, having won it in 1998.
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Now the Daily Mail are reporting that the veteran attacker Perisic could miss the biggest game of his life after suffering a thigh injury. The photographs of the emotional moment are just so damn pure – like something straight out of Friday Night Lights.
Grant Davidson said they had “brought the country together” during the run to the semi-finals, the first time England had reached the last four since losing to West Germany in 1990.
Off the field, though, Croatian football was going through severe disruptions, and the domestic league has now deteriorated to the point where only two of the current World Cup squad play for Croatian clubs.
Croatia had twice needed penalties to get to this stage, first in the round of 16, where they beat Denmark, then in the quarterfinals, where they beat hosts Russian Federation, two shootouts that made goalkeeper Danijel Subašić a hero.
“I think the Germans underestimated us”, Suker once said of Croatia’s 3-0 quarterfinal defeat of Die Mannschaft.
The draw at 90 minutes led to a heated extra time period with during which England’s Dele Alli and Croatia’s Ivan Rakitic almost came to blows.
Towering defender Harry Maguire has risen to cult hero status at the World Cup and he has had an army of family and pals following him around during the tournament.
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Had Kane added to his six goals in Russian Federation with either of his back-to-back chances in the second half against Croatia on Wednesday, when England was dominating and led 1-0, he could yet be lifting the trophy on Sunday. If given the opportunity to play, I would love it, and hopefully, there’d be a few of my family out here to watch it as well. Adam Lallana could not get fit enough to make it to this World Cup. If they play the better striker should prevail, but there is a also a significant chance we’ll see the reserves take to the pitch like Jamie Vardy and Michy Batshuayi. The former will certainly want to maintain his lead in the golden boot race while the latter can equal Kane’s six-goal haul with a brace in St. Petersburg. “Well done England and well done Gareth Southgate you have been brilliant”.
