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World Cup 2018 Semi Finals

I was surprised at how central Rashford played, I thought he would be on the flank to help cover Perisic
Me too. I thought Southgate might bring Delph on to staunch the flow of attacks from their right. And in the larger picture we must take into account Southgate's lack of experience too. And while the team did great/we missed an easy run to the final, they will all get better with experience. Just like Spurs have done with Poch and the young 'uns.
 
Deary deary me.....sod the fines and battle against racism, there's more important matters.....its nice to see there's heavy fines for this unacceptable behaviour ...........

On Wednesday the FA was fined 70,000 Swiss francs (£50,000) after Dele Alli, Eric Dier and Raheem Sterling wore "unauthorised" socks after ignoring a Fifa warning to stop.

The players wore branded ankle support socks over official Nike socks, "breaching media and marketing regulations and the Fifa equipment regulations".

Joke outfit.
 
Dejan Lovren believes he should be regarded as one of the best defenders in the world after helping Croatia knock England out of the World Cup.

The defender, who also reached the Champions League final with Liverpool in May, will face France in the World Cup final on Sunday and the 29-year-old feels he has proved himself this season.

"It's something special for me," Lovren told beIN Sports."From my point of view, people were saying I had a difficult season but I don't agree with that.


"I showed that I took Liverpool to the Champions League final and now with my national team we are in the final.

"I think people should recognise that I'm one of the best defenders in the world and not just talk nonsense I will say."




Im amazed he can say this with a straight face.
 
How long has it been since that sort of feeling was there?

This is my point throughout. When I think about it, 96 comes to mind. If I gave it some real thought I did like Hoddles time in charge, which was what? 2000?

Thats a very long time to feel so detached from the national side. And Im pretty sure Im far from alone.

Southgates worked wonders in this respect, as I said earlier - probably a greater achievement than the semi final.
 
LOL @ Lovren. He should be happy that 1) the ref set his bar VERY high for his yellows and 2) that he didn't face a better, in form, uninjured attacking side. You know, like when Spurs slaughtered Lovren and Liverpool last season.
 
England fans staying behind for over an hour and giving Southgate the love proper done me, tears in the old pork pies watching it. Loved it

I think it would have lifted the England team hugely if there were more fans, governments officials and royalties attended their matches especially the semi final. The politics of government boycott and their stupid advice that scared off most fans cost England dearly. Without most of their fans, England were one of the least supported teams in this World Cup. I am sure the Croatia team were really lifted to have their president attending their Quarter Final against Russia in which she unshamedly danced on the stands after they scored their goals. A good lesson for England to learn from this World Cup is never mix politics with sports again !
 
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I think it would have lifted the England team hugely if there were more fans, governments officials and royalties attended their matches especially the semi final. The politics of government boycott and their stupid advice that scared off most fans cost England dearly. Without most of their fans, England were one of the least supported teams in this World Cup. I am sure the Croatia team were really lifted to have their president attending their Quarter Final against Russia in which she unshamedly danced on the stands after they scored their goals. A good lesson for England to learn from this World Cup is never mix politics with sports again !

Did you see the amount of England fans there? The semi-final was sold out, no tickets available. I know, I spent hours and hours trying to get them. Thousands and thousands of England fans were there. Unlike the France-Belgium semi-final where you could still buy tickets on the day.
The reason for England fans originally staying away was nothing to do with governmental boycotts and everything to do with concerns around Russian hooligans targetting England fans, after the trouble at Euro 2016.

And whilst I cannot speak for the players, I very, very much doubt that the prospect of watching Teresa May, Boris Johnson or Prince William dancing in the stands would have been any kind of lift for them. Quite the opposite I expect.

On a serious note, the Russian government sent agents to this country,with a deadly substance, with the aim of killing. There is now a murder investigation underway as a result of the fallout.
There is no way our government could send anyone to the World Cup in an official capacity as that would mean accepting official hospitality. Not possible.
However, the England football team still participated. Thus sports and politics were not mixed.
 
Wow, I was pretty well oiled when I watched this game and I didn’t notice this at all at the time, some of that is shocking! No wonder we struggled to keep possession from the 46th minute.

Hah, I was on my feet screaming more than once when he just kicked the ball away for no good reason. Looked like he felt like England was under immense pressure all game.
 
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