Savage.
20 years since France ended their dreams in Paris, Croatia will have a chance for revenge against Les Blues after they booked a place in the World Cup final by out knocking England in a griping semi-final at the Luzhniki Stadium.
It all started so well for Gareth Southgate’s men after Kieran Trippier’s sublime free-kick gave them the lead on five minutes and for the majority of the first-half, Croatia struggled to get with the pace of the game.
This being said, the second-half proved to be a different affair and the Croats got their just reward when Ivan Perisic expertly guided home a superb cross to level the match. As the game entered extra-time, Jordan Pickford thought that he was going to be the hero after bravely saving at the feet of Mario Mandzukic – the Everton ‘keeper made his feelings known to the Juventus striker during that confrontation – but ‘Super Mario’ had the last laugh when he fired home the winner to send Croatia wild.
After the game, Luka Modric was interviewed by ITV and he made his feelings about the English media very clear.
The Real Madrid midfielder said: “English journalists, pundits from television, they underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake. All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying ‘ok, today we will see who will be tired.”
On a similar note, the Atletico Madrid full-back, Šime Vrsaljko, was critical of England’s approach to the game. “The all-round perception was that this is a new-look England who have changed their ways of punting long balls upfield but when we pressed them it turned out that they haven’t.”
Last but not least, there’s this reply from the former Man City and Spurs defenders Vedran Corluka when he was asked to stop and speak with the English press.
Absolutely savage.
Corluka is asked to stop for English press, smiles and just says: "It's not coming home!" Keeps walking.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) July 11, 2018
Strong words from Luka Modric post-match:
"English journalists, pundits from television, they underestimated Croatia tonight and that was a huge mistake. All these words from them we take, we were reading and we were saying 'ok, today we will see who will be tired'" pic.twitter.com/Rxyv4WA03c
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 11, 2018
Brutally succinct quote from Šime Vrsaljko "The all-round perception was that this is a new-look England who have changed their ways of punting long balls upfield but when we pressed them it turned out that they haven't. "
— Simon Evans (@sgevans) July 11, 2018
