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After the England vs Croatia semifinal, the Croatian captain (Luka Modrić) used his post-match interview to criticize the English pundits and journalists alike. He targeted them, saying that they shouldn't have underestimated Croatia and that England should respect their opponents more.
I don't believe everyone in England anticipated that the match against Croatia would be easy, but rather the general consensus from England was that this was a great chance for England to reach a World Cup final - an opportunity they likely wouldn't get again. Likewise, I'm sure if you asked many Croatians whether they would rather play England, Belgium or France for a place in the final, a majority would have probably picked England.
After all, it is fair to say that both teams until that point had fought the odds, and not many would've predicted an England-Croatia World Cup semi-final tie.
That said, I believe Modrić is right. There does lie an underlying arrogance within the English media at times.
After the Panama match there was much debate about which route England should take; should they try to avoid Brazil in the quarterfinal and play Sweden instead? This is the exact mentality that Modrić alluded to in his post-match interview.
To assume that England would comfortably win against a team (Sweden) that beat three-time world champions Italy for a place in the World Cup smacks of arrogance. England seemed to be planning the route to the latter stages of the World Cup before the Belgium game had even started, which is ludicrous since England haven't won a major tournament knockout game since 2006.
Although England had a relatively successful World Cup, there has to be a sense of humility from the English media going forward. Maybe it's their arrogance that came back to haunt them, ultimately costing England a place in the World Cup final.
