The Real Madrid man will now face some familiar foes from his time at Tottenham Hotspur in the form of England in the last four on Wednesday, where the winners will face one of France or Belgium in the final. Croatia are in the semi-finals.
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The official match attendance for Saturday’s clash against Sweden in Samara was 39,991, which meant there were 1,979 empty seats – a remarkable number for a World Cup quarter-final.
“The last semi-final I was involved in there were a lot of similarities in terms of the camaraderie of the group, the commitment of the guys who haven’t played, the desire to play a possession-based game and the tactical understanding that the players have shown on the field. But now we are collecting those debts in this World Cup”.
Get direct access to our top weekly content, contests, and perks.. We’ve already accomplished something big, but we want to do more, ‘ he told reporters.
Head-to-head the two countries have played seven games with England recording four wins, one draw and two losses. They have never reached a World Cup final, but finished third in the 1998 tournament. In the semifinals in 1990, West Germany advanced on penalties over England.
There is little prospect that they would have come this far without Modric, who as a boy was forced to flee his village home after his grandfather was killed by Serb forces in the Croatian independence war. I will be supporting Belgium because they have got a really strong team.
By defeating Uruguay, Brazil, Russia and Sweden respectively in their quarter-final showdowns – the teams from France, Belgium, Croatia and England have earned a well-deserved place in the semi-finals of the biggest football event.
Ivan Rakitic, so often a key man in midfield for Barcelona, was not almost as influential as at club level.
The reward for eliminating the hosts is a glamorous tie against England in Moscow on Wednesday and Dalic believes his team is well equipped to stop Harry Kane.
France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is facing a Belgian team that has scored a tournament-leading 14 goals in five matches when they meet in the semifinals in St. Petersburg.
“And I think this is the best he’s been playing throughout his whole career”.
England needed a win to guarantee their progress to the knockout stages and goals from Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney (2) and Frank Lampard saw them win 4-2.
“Hendo was another one who was feeling tightness in his hamstring, which was why we made the change”.
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Croatia often looked reluctant to attack and Modric’s words after the game hinted at a lack of adventure that will surely cost them sooner or later.
