# World Cup 2018 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 7, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615 "2018-06-07T18:09:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 93
**Author:** ![Uniqueorn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uniqueorn/32/2807_2.png) [@Uniqueorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uniqueorn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1843 "2018-07-11T20:43:23Z")
Very nice! Hopefully, that will shut up my neighbours. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1844 "2018-07-11T20:43:25Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > Fair play. Croatia were better than us for the second half and extra time. They had the balance of the game and deserve to go through. Can’t think of many shots on target we even had after that Kane miss in the first half. Might well be zero. > > Still, that first half. The Kane miss is probably crucial. 2-0 might have been defendable. Dude, the simple issue is that at 45 minutes England started dreaming of the Final and lost concentration. They should have remembered they were playing against Barca and Real Madrid’s. midfield engines Guys who have won the past 5 CLs. Plus Byern and now Juventus’s CF. A CL winner. Should have replaced Waste of Sterling at the half, should have taken out Kane for Vardy and…yeah _fifty four_ years of hurt. > [@](#): > > France must be heavy, heavy favourites in the final. Don;t be so sure, note the engines I mentiond up above. Plus Griezemann shits himself in major finals, see 2016 and no this years Europa League does not count. (So does Pogba incidentally). ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1845 "2018-07-11T20:44:23Z")
Croatia, newcomers to a World Cup final. This 2018 World Cup has been _full_ of surprises! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1846 "2018-07-11T20:48:17Z")
Croatia played out of their minds and absolutely deserved that win. They’ve played roughly a billion minutes of soccer in the last week…where did they get all that energy? ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1847 "2018-07-11T20:48:29Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Dude, the simple issue is that at 45 minutes England started dreaming of the Final and lost concentration. They should have remembered they were playing against Barca and Real Madrid’s. midfield engines Guys who have won the past 5 CLs. Plus Byern and now Juventus’s CF. A CL winner. > > Should have replaced Waste of Sterling at the half, should have taken out Kane for Vardy and…yeah _fifty four_ years of hurt. Needless to say I totally disagree with this. Have already said it’s about Croatia upping the pressure not England “dreaming of the final” - as if you have some sort of psychic ability to understand what is going through their minds. Putting it on England does a disservice to a good Croat team who earned their way in - not just capitalising on a dreamy England. Also we looked far more threatening with Sterling on. He pulled Lovren in particular all over the place in the first half, opening holes for others. Sterling is a vastly underrated player for England. I note we didn’t look at all threatening when Vardy came on, yet we did with Sterling on the field. Go figure ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1848 "2018-07-11T20:48:47Z")
Modric played in the CL final 6 weeks agio. He is going to play in a WC Final, after three 12o minute games all of which he went flat out. He has been playing continuously since last July and he is expected back at Real Madrid in three weeks without his best attacker and maybe both of them if Bale leaves. If he does not win the Ballon’ D’Or they should shoot the selectors. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1849 "2018-07-11T20:52:40Z")
Modric was excellent tonight. Thought Rakatic was also pretty good. Controlled the game really well in the second half and onwards ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1850 "2018-07-11T20:53:10Z")
How many times can the announcers state that “Croatia would be the second-smallest country to ever appear in the finals” without telling us who the first-smallest country was? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1851 "2018-07-11T20:53:49Z")
Well, so my finalists are who I predicted at the start of the knockouts. I’m feeling very Nostradamusy. France will take Croatia down, I still believe that. But it won’t be easy. Croatia are playing well. Modric is unbelievable. I wonder who will end up being better on Sunday, Modric or Kanté? England again unable to play up to their abilities. Early goal, plus one great chance squandered by Kane, but other than that, nada, zip, zilch. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1852 "2018-07-11T20:54:40Z")
Fair enough, had we made the most of our first half domination it’d be a different story but Croatia were class in the second half. c’est la vie, (as the French might say on Sunday). England didn’t throw it away though, plenty of hope for the future and no reason to try and change the style of play. I’ve thought all through that we are a creative midfielder away from a being a really good team. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1853 "2018-07-11T20:54:50Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > How many times can the announcers state that “Croatia would be the second-smallest team to ever appear in the finals” without telling us who the first-smallest team was? Interesting question. Not sure who it would be off the top of my head. I’m assuming they are talking population. Maybe Sweden in '58? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1854 "2018-07-11T20:54:55Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > Needless to say I totally disagree with this. > > Have already said it’s about Croatia upping the pressure not England “dreaming of the final” - as if you have some sort of psychic ability to understand what is going through their minds. Putting it in England does a disservice to a good Croat team who earned their way in - not just capitalising in a dreamy England. > > Also we looked far more threatening with Sterling on. He pulled Lovren in particular all over he place in the first half, opening holes for others. Sterling is a vastly underrated player for England. I note we didn’t look at all threatening when Vardy came on, yet we did with steeling in the field. Go figure :rolleyes: I am a big fan of most of the Croat players and have been rooting for them since 1998. Does not change the fact that England played a lot better in half one and had better players in every department excepting the two midfield maestros. Obviously Croatia is an excellent team, you don’t get to a WC Final and have multiple CL winning players by not having one, but in the first half they passed and passed and got nothing and England regularly hit on the break. Second half, they just sat back and let Modric and Rakatic make the connections and put zero pressure in the Croats. And for Sterling; come on. What the hell has he accomplished in three tournaments for England? No goals, just “runs”. Big fucking deal. And Vardy had what 6 minutes? ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1855 "2018-07-11T20:55:09Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > How many times can the announcers state that “Croatia would be the second-smallest country to ever appear in the finals” without telling us who the first-smallest country was? Do they mean smallest in terms of stature or in terms of size of country? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1856 "2018-07-11T20:55:56Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Interesting question. Not sure who it would be off the top of my head. I’m assuming they are talking population. Maybe Sweden in '58? Uruguay ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1857 "2018-07-11T20:56:03Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > How many times can the announcers state that “Croatia would be the second-smallest country to ever appear in the finals” without telling us who the first-smallest country was? Uruguay I suspect (eta - there’s an echo in here) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1858 "2018-07-11T20:57:36Z")
I was wondering if Yugoslavia was still a going concern, imagine that team would be a true powerhouse. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1859 "2018-07-11T20:57:45Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Uruguay I suspect > > (eta - there’s an echo in here) Wow, didn’t realize they only had 3.5M people. Yeah, that’s the answer. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1860 "2018-07-11T20:57:58Z")
Thanks but that wasn’t my point. My point was that the announcers are cretins. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1861 "2018-07-11T20:59:03Z")
England lost control of the game after half time. They were the better team in the first half and should have been more ruthless and got the second goal. But after half time they looked too nervous, stopped passing the ball and the full backs retreated giving the Croatian midfield loads of space. Croatia grew in confidence and the extra space allowed their creative midfielders to play themselves into the game. In fact it looked to me like nerves dictated the pattern game. Croatia looked very nervous in the first half and then England tightened up after the break. Croatia’s momentum after that carried the day and they were deserved winners in the end. ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615/1862 "2018-07-11T21:00:30Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > :rolleyes: > I am a big fan of most of the Croat players and have been rooting for them since 1998. Does not change the fact that England played a lot better in half one and had better players in every department excepting the two midfield maestros. Obviously Croatia is an excellent team, you don’t get to a WC Final and have multiple CL winning players by not having one, but in the first half they passed and passed and got nothing and England regularly hit on the break. > > Second half, they just sat back and let Modric and Rakatic make the connections and put zero pressure in the Croats. > > And for Sterling; come on. What the hell has he accomplished in three tournaments for England? No goals, just “runs”. Big fucking deal. And Vardy had what 6 minutes? You were the one bringing in the armchair psychology, rather than looking at the game and working out what is going on. England didn’t sit back - they were forced back. On Sterling, you (and you’re not the only one) have a huge blind spot; I am very suspicious of it. It’s been very interesting to read journalists from other nations views on England in the press over the last few days. There’s a Brazilian guy quoted on The Guardian saying Sterling is the only English player who get near their squad. Clearly, given he played every game of substance, England’s management also think he’s providing things to the team. He’s a better player than given credit for - but you’re in the tank for Vardy, so fine… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615.md?page=92) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-cup-2018/815615.md?page=94)