Cybereagles

I died and came back from the dead several times today.



Thanks for all your support. We together conjured some serious JUJU. It took smoke, mirrors, incense, copious drinking, and prayer.



Jokes aside, I was resigned to a loss after the 1st half. I too then started to believe we were tired and didn't have the legs. But our 1st goal in the 2nd half triggered adrenaline.

I then thought Croatia's technical quality would win. England play tough, lively, and are disciplined enough. But they don't really have serious technicians.

I read some the posts on the match here. I agree with those who noted it came down to self belief. Croatia doesn't have deep history and had a hard time believing it could win and be in a final...having a hard time believing in our superior technique.

But they did. The boys came through. I will never forget.

I'm tempering my celebrations. I want to win the final. France is an entirely different machine from England: skilled, talented, athletic, composed, and, yes, well coached. We will once again be the underdogs.

I still believe. I will once again be rooting for HRVATSKA!!!

Again, thanks for the good karma!!!

What did they take at half-time? Science.

Coach, I have no damn idea. The actually outran and outfought England in the 2nd half.

That 1st goal clearly induced adrenaline. The rest was simply playing to potential. It's all one can ask from his team.

And it was good enough to beat this English team.

Science.

Jokes aside, one feared the technicality of Croatia and put it all on a flying start by England. Hurrying out of the blocks, they landed with the left, but missed with the right. On many occasions. How Croatia grew in the game is bewildering, energy from exhaustion. Modric gave an absolute masterclass, unbelievable display.

Congrats mate! How sweet it must be!

No, we thank Croatia for doing the world a favour.

I just wanna hug "our" president right now!

I have listened to and followed the Croatian coach since the Nigerian game and found him to be very thorough with his analysis of the opposition.

The shift of Croatian personnel in the second half was crucial to killing off England's forays into the Croatian half.

The sort of coach Nigeria needs.

Dalic took over for the last game of the WC qualifiers. He instilled unity and belief. And just as importantly, he's proven to be a pretty good tactician.

He's not perfect. He should have taken Rebic off earlier and put in Kramaric. It's ok. Nothing perfect.

Above all, he consistently put the best players on in decent formation and set them up to decide the game themselves.

Players win. Not coaches.

Coach wrote:Science.

Jokes aside, one feared the technicality of Croatia and put it all on a flying start by England. Hurrying out of the blocks, they landed with the left, but missed with the right. On many occasions. How Croatia grew in the game is bewildering, energy from exhaustion. Modric gave an absolute masterclass, unbelievable display.

England's science ran out in the first half?

Well done Mate, I also thought Croatia was dead and buried then the secon half was a renaissance
Good luck in the final

Croatia will win the World Cup!!!

akamoke wrote:Well done Mate, I also thought Croatia was dead and buried then the secon half was a renaissance
Good luck in the final

Thanks man.

I shared your feelings. It was the feeling of despairing oblivion. I was wondering why I had even bothered following the WC.

And then in the 2nd half, well, I'm back in business. Still telling my wife, colleagues, and bosses...back off, I'm busy rooting for my team!!!

balo wrote:

Coach wrote:Science.

Jokes aside, one feared the technicality of Croatia and put it all on a flying start by England. Hurrying out of the blocks, they landed with the left, but missed with the right. On many occasions. How Croatia grew in the game is bewildering, energy from exhaustion. Modric gave an absolute masterclass, unbelievable display.

England's science ran out in the first half?

They're following the leading pack. How Croatia found energy in their exhaustion will go down as legend. Their left-back was ruled out of the game 24 hours ago. Bravo to England for locking horns, they've laid to rest many ghosts and started a new era for themselves. Croatia on the other hand have proved Schrodinger was absolute correct, the cat can be both dead and alive. An unbelievable display of grit, graft, courage under fire and unbelievable, extraterrestrial endurance. Fascinating. Madrid, drifting wide deep into extra-time and showing a clean set of heels to his marker. Perisic, from massaging his hamstring to a full sprint. One has imagined England's science was up there, little Croatia showed they have a lot to learn.

Croatia's population, according to Bilic, is 4 million. Shame on so many. Big fools.

Congratulations, mate!

ojafranpa wrote:Croatia will win the World Cup!!!

Kai it could have been Nigeria

Congratulations and best of luck in the final

camex wrote:Congratulations, mate!

Thanks man.

I'm now trying to decipher how to beat France. Nobody has managed to do it this WC. But Denmark tied them...perhaps offering a clue.

I'm initially thinking it will be decided by Modric + Rakitic vs Kante + Pogba.

Most of all, as I believed in the Croatia vs England game, I think if Modric can be Zidane for us, we can do it.

This has been a WC of teams. Perhaps I'm too biased, but I don't see any outstanding individual lifting his team other than Modric. I'm counting on him against a French team a bit deeper than us.

kajifu wrote:

ojafranpa wrote:Croatia will win the World Cup!!!

Kai it could have been Nigeria

My fren...you only see the end product. You do not know what they did to get there..

mate, I am green with envy. Qualifying for the World Cup final and beating England .... two things I've longed to see Nigeria do, and to think Croatia did both on the same day. Enjoy it! I know I would.

The problem with England was their inability to nail Croatia in the first half. Usually when a team is tired all they need to do is to weather the first 20 -30 mins of the game. If they can do this they would overcome the initial sluggishness as the body begins to open up and become more fluid.

England should have thrown everything into the first 40 mins. But like the experienced side they are, Croatia dug deep and hung on for their dear lives...that is what being battle tested in sports bequeaths to a team, especially one with a core that have seen many battles together.

Again, congrats Mate! Your team played very well and deserved the win

Congrats mate. To me, this is the game of the World Cup. SuperMario Mandzukic can have any of my future granddaughters as a wife. By the way, come by and collect your ten goats and 14 chickens, your fee for doing the job of beating England. This was an epic battle! And we won!

ohsee wrote:Congrats mate. To me, this is the game of the World Cup. SuperMario Mandzukic can have any of my future granddaughters as a wife. By the way, come by and collect your ten goats and 14 chickens, your fee for doing the job of beating England. This was an epic battle! And we won!

1 more game. I ask the boys to dig even deeper and give 1 more win. Won't be easy against a top France...but we do our best!