England and Croatia, two nations who have been waiting years to put right the bitter memories of the FIFA World Cup semi-final defeats will face each other on Wednesday in Moscow with the chance to finally go one step further. England’s last appearance at this stage was in 1990 when they lost in a penalty shoot-out to West Germany in Turin while eight years later, in their first World Cup as an independent nation, Croatia lost to hosts and eventual winners France. Neither team came to Russia being heralded as favourites but they have produced performances throughout the competition which have shown they were underestimated by the pundits. Get live updates of Croatia vs England, FIFA World Cup 2018 semi-final, here. (FULL FIFA WORLD CUP 2018 COVERAGE)
11:30 PM IST: The players emerge from the tunnel and belt out their national anthems with pride. Nerves are undoubtedly running high among the players and on the dugouts. But no time for that now. The referee has blown his whistle and we are underway in Moscow!
11:20 PM IST: For many of Croatia’s top players like Luka Modric and Mario Mandzukic, 2018 will likely be the last chance they have of lifting the trophy.
11:10 PM IST: The battle today will be won in midfield. Croatia’s trio in the middle is a solid one. For England, Henderson will have to put in a major shift tonight; he will also require plenty of assistance from Lingard and Alli.
11:00 PM IST: Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic makes one change to the team that beat hosts Russia on penalties in the quarter-finals, with Andrej Kramaric making way for Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic. England are unchanged.
10:50 PM IST: Croatia starting XI - Danijel Subasic; Sime Vrsaljko, Dejan Lovren, Domagoj Vida, Ivan Strinic; Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Rakitic; Ante Rebic, Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Perisic.
England starting XI – Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire; Kieran Trippier, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Ashley Young; Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane.
10:40 PM IST: Hello and welcome to live coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2018 semi-final between Croatia and England!
Croatia’s 3-0 win over Argentina in the group stage was a clear signal that the team led by midfield maestro Luka Modric was a real threat with their clever passing and movement.
In their quarter-final clash with Russia, the Croats showed a different side, being willing to slug it out with the Russians for 120 minutes before keeping their cool and winning the shootout in such a partisan atmosphere.
England made an early impression with a 6-1 crushing of Panama in the group stage and then overcame their shootout hoodoo in beating Colombia in the last 16 and looked composed and mature in the 2-0 quarter-final victory over Sweden.
Source: HindustanTimes