Sports

The first question to be answered by Croatia will be the level of their physical preparedness after three consecutive extra time affairs and two penalty shootouts? They have the players and the experience at the highest level; but this France team cruised into the final without any major hiccup. Les Bleus may have just one question to answer – can they come back if they concede first?

Croatia have shown resolve, doggedness, heart, plus the ability to recover bad situations. They were behind against Denmark, against Russia, and against England but they triumphed in all three – getting better as the games progressed.

Stats tell us that in every match in which Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante have been paired, France have never lost. Will that stat still be true at the end of 90 minutes or 120 on Sunday? Croatia also have their talisman – having never lost when Andrej Kramaric has scored. Will Zlatko Dalic start the forward or Marcelo Brozovic to shore up his midfield?

All these questions will get answers, starting from 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Head to head [Last 5]

29/03/11 FRI France 0 – 0 Croatia

17/06/04 EUC Croatia 2 – 2 France

27/05/00 FRI Croatia 0 – 2 France

13/11/99 FRI France 3 – 0 Croatia

08/07/98 WOC France 2 – 1 Croatia

Three duels to watch

Luka Modric v N’Golo Kante

The two midfielders, both slight and short, and probably told at the beginning of their careers they would never succeed because of their stature; but here they are, giants of the game and driving their countries to a World Cup triumph. Kante has been neat, efficient and the workaholic we all know and respect, winning back possession 48 times plus 14 successful tackles; while Modric has been the Vatreni conductor, knitting it all together whether it is from a deep-lying position or behind the main striker.

Ivan Strinic v Kylian Mbappe

Strinic limped off on Wednesday night but should start and he will be crucial to curtail the fleet-footed Mbappe. France have continuously used the 19-year-old as a veritable outlet to attack and he will be sure to attack any space left by Strinic in partnership with Domagoj Vida.

Current Form [Last 6 matches]

Mario Madzukic v Samuel Umtiti

Mandzukic has been awesome for Croatia in Russia, causing havoc and scoring very important goals. Umtiti has also had a wonderful tournament but he will need to stand up to the physical battle Mandzukic will offer on Sunday. If he gives an inch, Croatia will plough through that French defence like a hot knife through butter.

Quotes to Ponder

“Statistics and records are here to be broken. It does not matter who is our opponent in the final. It is our goal to give our best, the whole world will be watching Croatia. We came here to enjoy the game and to win it. My players have played a lot of matches in the Champions League – including finals – but this is the biggest game of their careers.” – Zlatko Dalic, Croatia Manager

“In 2016, we made the mistake of being overconfident,” he said. “After beating Germany in the semi-finals, we felt we were destined to win. I can promise you we won’t make the same mistake again.” – Paul Pogba, France Midfielder

Stadium: Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium can seat 78,000 comfortably; but the spectators will be on the edge of their seats as the curtain is drawn on Russia 2018.

“The Moskva Riverflows right alongside the stadium and there is a cable-car connecting the two. Tens of thousands of Muscovites play all kinds of sports at the Luzhniki Olympic Complex and today it is a popular place for recreation and family strolls.”

Referee in charge: It will be the hulking Argentine, 43-year-old Nestor Pitana, who started the journey in the Russia, Saudi Arabia match, that also has the distinction of closing it. Before the final, he had refereed other matches at Russia 2018; Mexico-Sweden, Croatia-Denmark, in which he awarded Croatia a penalty in extra time, and France-Uruguay. He has handled both countries once each and gave out 12 yellow cards, no red cards and awarded two penalty kicks. He follows his compatriot, Horacio Elizondo, who also officiated the opening and closing matches of the 2006 World Cup.

World Cup fact: France became world champions in 1998 without their then main striker, Stephane Guivarc’h scoring and with Didier Deschamps as the captain. Olivier Giroud is yet to find the net in Russia with Deschamps as manager!

England Coach, Gareth Southgate, insisted Saturday he was proud of the fourth place finish of the Three Lions despite losing the bronze medal of the 2018 World Cup in Russia to Belgium at the St Petersburg Stadium.

Speaking at the Post Match Conference, the former England player said: “In the end we are very proud of what we’ve done. We’re under no illusions as to where we stand as a team; we’ve finished in the final four but we’re not a top-four team yet, we know that and we’ve never hidden behind that.

He admitted that the Three Lions played against some of the best teams of Russia 2018.
“Against the very best teams we’ve come up short but we’ve had a wonderful adventure and some experiences that will stand this group of players and staff in really good stead for the future.

“I couldn’t ask any more of any of the players today or right the way through the seven weeks we’ve worked together,” concludes Southgate who had hoped to emulate the Three Lions of 1966 by winning the trophy for England in Russia.

His Belgian counterpart, Roberto Martinez, admitted that after his team missed the final with the 0-1 defeat the Red Devils suffered against France, they worked extra hard to win the bronze as consolation to his star-studded team.

“We wanted to win it. When you beat Brazil and get into the semi-final, the focus has to be to try to win the World Cup. But you need to be realistic when you finish the tournament and look back. These players made history back in Belgium and that’s all that matters. These players deserve to have that accolade.

Martinez stressed that this generation of players have lifted the bar beyond those who set the benchmark for the country at Mexico ’86.
“The generation of Mexico ’86 set a real inspiration and real vision for all the footballers in Belgium. Now this group of players overcame that and that’s historic; it took 32 years to be able to be in this position, so there’s real satisfaction and real success.

“It’s the manner we achieved that – the football we played is Belgian football, it’s our brand. And the togetherness and flexibility we had tactically shows what we want to be as a footballing nation.
“It has been a really nice journey, a really successful journey but in football you need to look forward and try to improve in the next opportunity that we have.”

Also speaking on the game, England Captain, Harry Kane, said: “In the second half we played really well. We had them on the ropes for the first half-hour of that and we just couldn’t get a goal.

“We had one cleared off the line and we put the pressure on. But the lads couldn’t give any more, it has been a tough tournament. Belgium is obviously a good team. I can’t fault the lads, we gave it everything.”

With Saturday’s win, Belgium has become the fourth side to win six games at a World Cup but not lift the trophy (penalty shootouts counted as draws) – after Poland (1974, third), Italy (1990, third) and Netherlands (2010, runners-up).

Belgium claimed the third place at Russia 2018 with goals in either half from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard forcing England to settle for fourth.

Expectedly, Eden Hazard was voted Budweiser Man of the Match. He has been involved in 25 goals (12 goals, 13 assists) in his past 25 Belgium appearances.