What a match!!! What an amazing result for Croatia!!! I was thinking England were going to win (as to not get my hopes up too much and be disappointed), but wow. When Croatia got that equalizer, they became a completely different team, pretty much pinning England back for the rest of the match. After Trippier scored that quick free kick, and Croatia looked dazed, I was waiting for England to get that second goal, which they nearly did a few times in the first half. Even towards the end of the first, Croatia began to get into the match more. In the 2nd, Croatia looked better even before the goal, and their superior talent really shone through. It's all the more amazing considering Croatia had just come off two wins through penalty shoot-outs. Perisic's goal was a great strike, and Mandzukic took a great opportunity to win the match with his goal in extra time. I'm VERY proud of Croatia today. Even making it to the Final is one of our best sports victories this year. It prevented the multi-kulti narrative from fully taking shape with a France/England Final. GO CROATIA!!!!!! It'll be tough, but I know they'll be fighting "France" at every step, and hopefully Croatia will have a shot at the end. Seeing "France" win would be very disappointing, but I know Croatia will give them everything they can handle and more!
I really hope Modric, Rakitic, etc. will be able to somewhat neutralize France's midfield and stifle their attack, which has admittedly looked very good. Croatia's defense will have their hands full, but they've been very good so far in the tournament, and if anybody can contain them, it'd be Croatia.
I agree with Riggins, if Croatia wins, it'll be better than the other wins we've had in the World Cup recently, going back to 2006 at least. Italy's win was VERY important too, they beat a France side more non-white than the current edition. Coming off of two Brazil wins and a half-white France win in the previous three World Cups before 2006, it was important for Italy to right the ship. The Italians ushered in a great run for our guys, continuing with Croatia today.