MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. England and Croatia on Saturday defeated their opponents, Sweden and Russia, to advance to the semi-final stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Just like in their Round of 16 games, Russia and Croatia failed to settle the score during the regular and 30-minute overtime period of their quarterfinal clash.
The Croatian players were quick to take the initiative in the game and by the middle of the first half they registered the ball possession at almost 70% against Russia’s slim 30% However, it was Russia’s Denis Cheryshev to cannon a clear shot in one of the counter attacks into the upper corner of the Croatian net to open the score on the 31st minute of the game. The Croatian team responded on the 39th minute of the game with a sharp header from forward Andrej Kramaric.
The draw of 1-1 remained flashing on the scoreboard as both teams retreated for the 15-minute break ahead of the second half.
The second half saw various acute attacks both on the Russia and Croatian goals, but despite five minutes of the added time the match ended with the 1-1 draw going into the overtime to decide the team for the semifinals round.
In the opening 15-minute stretch of the overtime, Croatia’s defender Domagoj Vida headed a ball into the direction of the Russian goal from a corner kick and it bounced off the grass going into the net making it impossible for Russia’s goalkeeper Igor Akenfeev to save it. The score went up to 2-1 and stayed unaltered deep into the second half of the overtime period, when Croatia’s defender Josip Pivaric was flashed a yellow card for tipping the ball with a hand.
In the following free kick Russia utilized its opportunity with Mario Fernandes putting a netter past Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subasic to tie the score at 2-2.
During the following penalty shootout Croatia was successful to edge Russia 4-3.
World Cup final within Team Croatia’s reach
Croatia emerged victorious during the three group stage games, defeating Nigeria 2-0, Argentina 3:0 and Iceland 2:1. In the Round of 16, Croatia defeated Denmark in the penalty shootout.
Croatia’s last World Cup semifinal took place in 1998. During that game, the team lost 1:2 to the tournament’s future winner, France, and defeated The Netherlands 2:1 in the match for the third place.
Croatian footballer Domagoj Vida said the squad is "ready for the big game against England,"
Team captain Luka Modric also said his country is capable of defeating England.
"After 20 years, we are in the World Cup semifinal again. We weren’t particularly lucky during the European Championship and other major international tournaments. Right now, we are making up for that. I hope that we will be able to proceed to the final, we have everything we need for that," Modric said.
"The game will be tough and intense, just like any other game at this tournament. We have less than a day to recover, but I’m sure that we will be well-prepared," he added.
UK prepares for first semifinal in 28 years
Team England also cleared the quarterfinal round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on July 7 with a 2-0 win over Sweden at the stadium in Samara. England and Croatia are now set to meet at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 11.
The score was opened in the first half of the match (in the 30th minute) with Harry Maguire’s bullet header. In the 59th minute, Dele Alli’s second header carried England past Sweden into the soccer World Cup semifinals, for the first time since 1990.
During the 1990 World Cup hosted by Italy, England beat Cameroon 3-2 in overtime, but lost on penalty shootouts to Germany 3-4 in the semifinal.
The other pair of semifinalists are France, which enjoyed a confident defeat of 2-0 over Uruguay in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, and Belgium, which went for 2-1 win over the legendary Brazilian team in the city of Kazan on Friday. They will face each other in St. Petersburg on July 10.