World Cup Recap: Semi-final 2

Croatia outmuscles England to reach their first World Cup Final

Croatia outmuscles England to reach their first World Cup Final
Mario Mandzukic of Croatia celebrates after scoring his team's second goal with Ivan Perisic during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Semi Final match between England and Croatia. Dan Mullan/Getty Images

The semi-finals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup concluded on Wednesday with the second spot to be decided between the winner of Croatian and England. A battle between two of the surprise teams of the tournament would decide who would face France for the richest prize in international football.

Croatia 2-1 England (after extra time)

Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 78,011

England could not have hoped for a better start. After five minutes, the Three Lions had the lead thanks to a curling free kick from Kieran Trippier. Trippier almost helped England extend the lead by connecting with Harry Maguire on a corner that just went wide. Harry Kane also had a good chance in the 30th minute where he may have taken an extra touch too long and had the rebound get denied by the post. Croatia also had an opportunity late in the first half but, for the most part, England was the winner of the half.

After playing two-straight matches of 120 minutes plus penalties, it looked as though England would manage out the lead but Croatia flipped the switch and hit another gear. It all culminated with Ivan Perisic’s tying goal in the 68th minute, and the Inter Milan almost had the winning goal when he was denied by the post just five minutes after. England were able to fight off the Vatreni and the match ended 1-1 in regulation.

Both teams had good chances in the first period of extra time but the decider would be scored in the second extra time period. It was the experienced Mario Mandzukic that found space inside the box to notch home the winning goal in the 109th minute. England were down to ten men as well as Trippier could not continue due to injury and the manager had used all his substitutions. Croatia would see out the 2-1 to advance to their first World Cup final.

Croatia advances to their first final ever

Croatia have shocked everyone, going the distance in three consecutive matches to secure their best finish at the FIFA World Cup. Led by some of the World’s most talented midfielders in Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and FC Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic, Croatia are now one win away from glory. Modric, individually, is on one of the most impressive year’s by a player after already having won the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid just before Russia 2018. Should Croatia win, he’ll be the odd-on-favorite to be named the FIFA Player of the Year. Despite France being the favorite on Sunday, no one can dare count out Croatia after the way they have arrived at the final.

England’s Cinderella run takes a detour to the third place match

There was little expectations for this England team heading into the tournament so no one can consider them a failure. For the English, however, the loss will hurt because you never know when you’ll get this close to the final again. This young England team certainly be looked at to have a good chance to do that at the next World Cup. They’ll also carry higher expectations at the Euro 2020 because of what they have done in this tournament. The challenge now will be to not meddle in the work of the Manager, Gareth Southgate, and allow him to do things his way as he works with this England squad.

Notable stat: Croatia is the first team to avoid defeat after three straight extra time matches at the World Cup.

Programming notes:

Soccer Matters with Glenn Davis will be broadcasting from The Gorgeous Gael (5555 Morningside Dr. Houston, TX 77005) with a two-hour LIVE show, airing on ESPN 97.5 FM, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Blitz will be broadcasting from the Hyatt Regency Houston/Galleria (2626 Sage Rd, Houston, Texas 77056) from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday. Former Houston Dynamo forward and a member of the U.S. national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Brian Ching, will be a guest on the show.

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Houston beat Purdue, 62-60. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Houston spent time this week practicing an inbound play that coach Kelvin Sampson thought his team might need against Purdue.

Milos Uzan, the third option, ran it to perfection.

He tossed the ball to Joseph Tugler, who threw a bounce pass right back to Uzan, and the 6-foot-4 guard soared to the rim for an uncontested layup with 0.9 seconds left, giving the top-seeded Cougars a 62-60 victory — and a matchup with second-seeded Tennessee in Sunday's Elite Eight.

“Great execution at a time we needed that,” said Sampson, who is a win away from making his third Final Four and his second with Houston in five years. “You never know when you’re going to need it.”

The Cougars (33-4) made only one other basket over the final eight minutes, wasted a 10-point lead and then missed two more shots in the final 5 seconds. A replay review with 2.2 seconds left confirmed Houston would keep the ball when it rolled out of bounds after the second miss.

Uzan took over from there.

“I was trying to hit (L.J. Cryer) and then JoJo just made a great read,” Uzan said. “He was able to draw two (defenders) and he just made a great play to hit me back.”

Houston advanced to the Elite Eight for the third time in five years after falling in the Sweet 16 as a top seed in the previous two editions of March Madness. It will take the nation's longest winning streak, 16 games, into Sunday’s Midwest Region final.

The Cougars joined the other three No. 1 seeds in this year's Elite Eight and did it at Lucas Oil Stadium, where their 2021 tourney run ended with a loss in the Final Four to eventual national champion Baylor.

They haven't lost since Feb. 1.

Uzan scored 22 points and Emanuel Sharp had 17 as Houston survived an off night from leading scorer Cryer, who finished with five points on 2-of-13 shooting.

Houston still had to sweat out a half-court heave at the buzzer, but Braden Smith's shot was well off the mark.

Fletcher Loyer scored 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 14 and Smith, the Big Ten player of the year, added seven points and 15 assists for fourth-seeded Purdue (24-12). Smith assisted on all 11 second-half baskets for last year’s national runner-up, which played in front of a friendly crowd about an hour’s drive from its campus in West Lafayette.

“I thought we fought really hard and we dug down defensively to get those stops to come back,” Smith said. “We did everything we could and we just had a little miscommunication at the end and they converted. Props to them.”

Houston appeared on the verge of disaster when Kaufman-Renn scored on a dunk and then blocked Cryer’s shot with 1:17 to go, leading to Camden Heide’s 3 that tied the score at 60 with 35 seconds left.

Sampson called timeout to set up the final play, but Uzan missed a turnaround jumper and Tugler’s tip-in rolled off the rim and out of bounds. The Cougars got one more chance after the replay review.

Sharp's scoring flurry early in the second half finally gave Houston some separation after a back-and-forth first half. His 3-pointer at the 16:14 mark made it 40-32. After Purdue trimmed the deficit to four, Uzan made two 3s to give Houston a 10-point lead in a tough, physical game that set up a rare dramatic finish in this year's tourney.

“Smith was guarding the inbounder, so he had to take JoJo,” Sampson said. “That means there was no one there to take Milos. That's why you work on that stuff day after day.”

Takeaways

Purdue: Coach Matt Painter's Boilermakers stumbled into March Madness with six losses in their final nine games but proved themselves a worthy competitor by fighting their way into the Sweet 16 and nearly taking down a No. 1 seed.

Houston: The Cougars lead the nation in 3-point percentage and scoring defense, an enviable combination.

Scary fall

Houston guard Mylik Wilson gave the Cougars a brief scare with 13:23 left in the game. He leapt high into the air to grab a rebound and drew a foul on Kaufman-Renn.

As the play continued, Wilson was undercut and his body twisted around before he landed on his head. Wilson stayed down momentarily, rubbing his head, but eventually got up and remained in the game.

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