Croatia V England World Cup 2018

Croatia V England

Synopsis in red

Beers: Semi Final Beer World Cup:

Similar in the football, Croatia were also strong on the beer front, coming tops in Beer Group D, with Ožujsko and Bura Brew doing the business for them, they then went on to beat Australia and Fosters in the last 16, and Portugal and SuperBock in the last 8. England were also strong on the beer front, coming second to Belgium in group, Beer Group G, with London Pride doing the business for them, they then went on to beat Poland in the last 16, but their good run came to end when they came up against a trio of Strong German beers in the last 8, so England are not here today in my Beer Last 4!

Croatia V Germany

Croatia (Ožujsko and Bura Brew), came top in Beer Group D, up against heavy hitters from Iceland, Argentina and Nigeria. Then in the last 16, the Croatians when on to beat Australia (Fosters), while for the last eight they had a tough battle with Portugal (Super Bock), a tussle that went down to the wire, but they got through it in the end.

Germany (Zombräu,Brauer & Co., and Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose) might be out of the football World Cup, but they are still very much alive in my Beer World Cup, powering to victory in Beer group F, no problems there, while in the last 16 they beat Serbia (Kabinet). In the last eight, Germany then want on to beat England (London Pride), beating them just about, 2-1

Ožujsko Bura Brew

Zombräu Brauer & Co., Funky trout n Pretty sperm whale!

Döllnitzer Ritterguts Gose

Read who qualified for my Beer World Cup last 4 here

First match up was between one of the Ritterguts Gose (salty beers) called a Bärentöter which was a German Sour Gose Bock against the regular lager, Ožujsko from Croatia. Have to say I love the Gose beers, this one tasting full of flavours of malt, salt, spices and fruits, excellent. The lager was fine but I am a new convert to Gose and this was an easy winner to Germany.

Next up was Zombrau’s Alter Pottbar again against Ožujsko. I admit I find the bourbon flavoured porter very hard to stomach, and so the light tasting but refreshing beer from Croatia got the nod here.

Last pair up was another Ritterguts but this time the Urgose Märzen again against the Croatian lager Ožujsko. This Ritterguts tasted so refreshing, and a bit like a beery version of a Lucozade, doesn’t look too good but boy is it a great taste. I like Ožujsko, its a lager that does the job and did quite well to get this far into my beer competition, but its 2-1 here to Germany and so the Germans once again make another Thisdrinkinglife Beer World Cup final!

PreGame:

England are amongst the top 4 in the world, apparently! LOL. Well they did beat a pish poor Swedish team, but there you go. And people are shocked with that?

I’d like to know why Southgate keeps picking Sterling? Do team bonding sessions go a little too far?

Game started off slow enough, Alli could have passed a better ball for Kane to score, but that was about it for nearly half an hour. Then Maguire scored! A lovely headed goal, pure determination, to put England in front.

Sterling had not one but two one v one chances to score and mucked both of them up, he really is a fucking piece of trash. Was very nauseating to hear the arseholes in the Beeb going on about how much he brings to the game, fuck off, say it as you see it, dicks.

Second half, England were pretty much in the driving seat. For sure Sweden had a few chances, Berg, the forward with no goals to his name, had a shot well saved by Pickford, and Berg then saw a good strike brilliantly saved by the England number one, again. Pickford having the game of his life, showing why he is the top goalkeeper in the England team, and bossing it to the back four all day. Great.

After England scored the second, an easy free header from Alli, they pretty much controlled the whole game after that. Was easy for them in the second half showing it is amazing what a little bit of confidence can do to a team.

England now go on to the semis, and well done to them, but a few of their star players are covering for a lot of fucking useless passengers on the team…..Sterling, Henderson, Alli, Delph……can it be enough to life a trophy? I dont think so, but lets see, when you have a player as strong in defence as Maguire, who also pops up for the odd goal, you always have a chance.

To be honest wasn’t expecting a whole lot from the Russia V Croatia game! Well I should have known that to be wrong with the amount of twists and turns we have had in this world cup so far!

A lively start from Russia, with the crowd roaring from the stands, but after a while it slowed down a bit and was beginning to look a tight affair with neither team threatening too much at the start, particularly difficult for Dzyuba out on his own in the Russian front line, albeit he was brilliant as the lone target man.

Then out of nowhere, Cheryshev scored a great goal, a brilliant curler that flew into the net, the goalie no chance. What an unbelievable opener. Could we have another shock on our hands here?

But that lead only lasted a few minutes, as Croatia got on the score sheet when Kramaric scored a nice header, free as the Russian defence fell asleep, great work from Mandzukic on the wing unchallenged to cross it in. Too easy.

Game eventually went for a draw full time, and to be fair to the Russian manager he put on a few fairly attacking substitutions in the hope of getting the win, while the Croatian manager, Zlatko Dalić, EVENTUALLY, pushed Modric more forward in the hope they might snatch a winner.

Vida, who had a good game in his tussle with the man mountain Dzyuba, eventually got Croatia back to form, with a decent headed goal from a corner and surely that was to be the game settled?

Not quite, Figueira Fernandes, who has had a great World Cup, got his head on the end of a good well floated ball from a free kick to power home the equaliser and send the game into penalties. Oh what drama, what a great World Cup. Surely Russia couldn’t steal this one, eh?

Penalities, knew Russia would miss the first, just look at the state of the fella Fedor Smolov ffs, he looks like a heroin addict, shud be in rehab, but then Mateo Kovacic missed for Croatia, but golden boy Mario Fernandes also missed his, taking it far too quickly in my opinion, basically leaving it up to Ivan Rakitic to once again score the winning peno in the shootout to put Croatia into the last four of a World Cup. Have to say the best team won, fair play to Croatia and Modric who can be a joy to watch at times, and will be a tough match for England today.

Another good game, and it started with a cracker, Trippier banging in a brilliant free kick after about 5 minutes. The skill to get it up and over and down was brilliant. Not a bad way at all to score your first goal for England.

This spurred England on, and it was them as they dictated the play and had a few more chances to increase the lead. Lingard should have scored, or at least hit the target when Alli set him up perfectly, while Kane had two bites of the cherry from close on but couldn’t connect. Those chances would come back to bite them on the ass later!

Croatia came more into it in the second half as England let the foot off the gas, Brozovic hitting the post. That should have woke England up but it didn’t. Sterling still on the pitch, fannying around, while Kane not showing any leadership on the pitch. Perisic, on the other hand, was showing grit by pushing his side forward every chance he had, and all that hard work came off as he scored the equalizer beating the defender to shot for goal, a bit too easy for Croatia. England were now on the ropes. Brozovic missed another chance, an empty goal after a rare blunder by Pickford. Vrsaljko also had Stones clear off the line with a shot. Mandzukic was excellent and had a great shot well saved by Pickford, while Vida at the other end had Sterling ,and Rashford when he came on, had them both in his pocket, well defended considering the speed of those two players. And then at the centre of it all Modric pinning the ball all around the pitch, brilliant to watch, a world class performance if I ever saw one.

But England held out, just about, to extra time. Expect they didn’t really, as Croatia, continued into the added time, with more of the same, and it was no surprise at all when Mandzukic scored a perfect strikers goal, as the English defence fell asleep and pretty much put Croatia into the final. You just knew England had no idea how to come back after that. Game over!

England fans are proud of their team, but if I am honest I would be a little pissed if I was English, they really had an excellent chance of making the final and kind of fucked it all up. Those chances dont come round very often, once every 30 years more or less! But fair dues to Croatia, they well deserved to make the final as they are a better footballing team and Modric surely deserves to play in the final after all his years of entertainment that he has given the footballing world.