'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
England and Croatia faced off in the final match of Group A. Wembley Stadium hosted a great match which saw the home side go through to the semifinal stages of the UEFA Nations League.
England dominated proceedings for the majority of the first half, but Croatia took the lead in the second. Two late goals from Lingard and Kane saw England make a great comeback to proceed.
Croatia has been relegated to League B now, and has to fix a lot of issues. England is continuing to play possession football with their young team and it is spelling success for them.
The 2-1 win means that Spain will stay in League A. Croatia missed their midfield man Ivan Rakitic, but it did not seem he could have made a difference. Their failure to keep possession of the ball cost them as England hit them late in the game.
Here are five talking points from the game.
#5 England piles on the pressure early, Croatia lives dangerously
England controlled most of the possession in the first half, not giving even a sniff to Croatia. They created a number of chances in the first half but Croatia somehow managed to keep the scores at 0-0. Raheem Sterling had a shot saved early by Kalinic, and Harry Kane missed a golden opportunity to fire England in front when he missed a simple tap-in.
Rashford had a chance off a quick break from Pickford's long pass, but failed to take a shot at goal. There were chances for England when Kalinic left his line dangerously, but they couldn't capitalise on it.
The first shot was cleared by a header from Jedvaj and the second effort was saved by Kalinic. Harry Kane was thus denied twice. Delph managed to put Sterling through, but still the goal did not come.
There was plenty to feast on for Kane, Sterling, and Rashford. Kyle Walker and Chilwell created a lot of opportunities for their forward line, but Croatia hung on for dear life. The Croatians did not have any good chance in the first half other than Rebic's wild shot at open goal, but England looked ominous from the opening whistle.
#4 England's pace too much for the defense
From the moment the opening whistle blew, England was in attack mode. The pace from their forwards and full-backs was too much to handle for the Croatians. Raheem Sterling ran at the defense a lot of times on his wing. He was successful in leaving behind the defense and had shots on goal.
Marcus Rashford also caused problems with his pace, but did not create any big chance. On the wings, Chilwell and Walker did not have any problems in proceeding forward. Every other moment, a quick pass move would result in a ball rolling without direction.
It was always the pacey English players who got to the ball first. Even when Croatia had the lead, they did not manage to stop the wild pace from Dele Alli on the right wing.
The Croatian defenders couldn't outrun the forwards, nor could their forwards get a quick release on counter-attacks. Southgate introduced more pace with Jadon Sancho, and ultimately succeeded in winning the game.
Pace led to the downfall of Croatia.
#3 Croatia: A team without a plan
Throughout the 90 minutes, Croatia did not seem like they had a plan. For the entire first half, they were dominated by England and made to run around the field. After all the pressing and pressurising, Croatia failed to get the ball from England.
When they had possession, they gave it away cheaply. For the entire first half, they were on the back-foot and did not pose any danger to Jordan Pickford.
They did not seem like a team possessed to take a lead while it was a necessity for them. Somehow they managed to get the lead through Kramaric, completely against the run of play.
When they got the lead, they were still confused about whether to attack or defend the lead. If they had parked the bus, they had a good chance of proceeding. But they did not defend with all their will, or look dangerous on the counter. Perisic's quick break was all they had after the goal.
When England scored a goal, it was just about 10 minutes left to play. Croatia could have stayed in League A if they had defended well, but they hardly did that. In the end, they lost out to a much better English side who had a plan, unlike them.
#2 Luka Modric made no impact in the game
A midfield is the heart of the team. For a team like Croatia who don't have many star players playing for them, the stars who are present need to step up. The midfield duo of Rakitic and Modric had always spelled danger to the opposition. But today, Luka was alone with Rakitic injured, and sorry to say - he had no impact in the game.
A player of Luka's stature should have been dictating terms for his team. England played possession football in the midfield, but he could do nothing to stop that.
When Croatia got hold of the ball, he was not good as well. Even though England possesses blistering pace, their midfield is not that big a threat. Delph, Dier, and Barkley are not defensively that strong or good pressers for that matter.
Luka hardly demanded the ball when he should have done that and dictated the pace of the game. Instead, he was left isolated in the midfield, neither here nor there.
In the second half as well, he did not dictate terms. We have seen Luka hold onto the ball and keep it with him as long as he likes. It could be said that the hype surrounding him is too much, and he is losing his concentration, or perhaps we expect too much of him. His passing success rate was 84 percent, which is too little for his standing. All three of the English midfielders had better pass success than him.
Delph and Dier had 88 percent and 96 percent passing success respectively, while attempting as much as Luka.
A bad day for Luka Modric, and as of late - a regular bad day. Luka is not justifying the case for him being the best player of 2018.
#1 England wins whilst playing a possession game
It is so easy to label England's World Cup campaign as sheer dumb luck, but it clearly is not the case as England showed today. They played possession football, which is unlike them. For a team who always preferred physical football and long passes, they made crisp short passes, and kept the ball.
England pushed hard for the opening goal in the first half, but they weren't successful. They were high on confidence from seeing a lot of the ball in the opposition half. They also won back possession immediately after losing it.
After conceding a goal in the second half, England was down on confidence, but they still did not give up hope. They continued to hit the wings and try to play crosses in. Fresh legs from Dele Alli, Jadon Sancho, and Jesse Lingard pushed even harder for the equaliser. In the 74th minute, England took the lead via a throw-in which was pushed in by Lingard.
But a draw could not save them from being relegated, and they needed one more. They continued to pour numbers forward and keep the ball with them. The free-kick taken beat the Croatian defense, and a goal was served on a platter for Harry Kane to score.
England won late in the day, and how? No long passes, no physical football, no hard tackles, only short passes - hitting the wings, pass and move, and keeping the ball.
The nation who once defied the idea of possession football when Pep Guardiola took charge of Manchester City, plays with the same idea today. And for their own good, they realised the benefits of the idea.
