Granted the opportunity to play them for the third time this year, the England national team had one ultimate chance to defeat World Cup runners up Croatia after they ended their world cup campaign this summer, sending them home one match shy of the final.
This Sunday, November 18th, the national team that arguably made England fall in love with national football again, (nicknamed ‘The Three Lions’) were aiming to end their inaugural Nations League group stage campaign with a win, which would see them top their group, and progress on to the semi finals. England’s need for the three points stemmed from their need to progress to the Semi Final of the Nation’s League, as well as the chance to beat Croatia for the first time since September 2009.
After their World Cup-ending semifinal match in which Mario Mandžukić’s goal during extra time set England back two goals to one, ‘The Three Lions’ were eager to take advantage of the absence of the Juventus star-striker this time around.
The Croatian side proved hard to beat once again, further asserting their strength in a match that ended 0-0 in Rijeka, Croatia, a few weeks prior. Fans feared that this match would mirror the one in Rijeka, with a goalless first half yet numerous missed opportunities from England strikers.
Twelve minutes into the second half, Croatia midfielder Andrej Kramaric broke through the England defence, scoring the first goal of the match, triggering England Manager Gareth Southgate’s decision to substitute three players for Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, Manchester United striker Jesse Lingard and finally 18-year-old Jadon Sancho.
Lingard took advantage of Croatia’s sloppy defending, scoring England’s equaliser and reconciling the scoreline, making it 1-1. Seven minutes later, ‘Golden Boot’ winner Harry Kane netted another goal, allowing England to take a well-deserved lead for the remainder of the match. As the players celebrated in a pile-up, the stadium erupted into a loud roar - confirming how much both reaching the second semi-final of the year, as well as exacting revenge on Croatia, meant to the players as well as the 87,000 in attendance that afternoon. However, one fan Carl labelled this simply as a ‘satisfactory victory’ after being underwhelmed after so many missed opportunities from the star strikers.
The section of Croatia fans remained passionate and supportive for their team, but as the final whistle blew were vastly drowned out by England fans, ecstatic to see their national team defeat such a challenging opponent, regardless of it taking the third attempt of the year.
Alice Bryce, Gumley House School
