Player of the Semifinals: Hugo Lloris
Belgium vs.
France easily could have been a higher scoring game, with a frenetic pace in
the first 30 minutes with multiple close calls, and quality saves throughout.
Hugo Lloris pitched a clean sheet with multiple great saves stopping Belgium
the few times they mustered any real potent attack. In a World Cup that had
great goal-keeping throughout, he continues to be exemplary.
Runner-Up: Mario
Mandzukic || There’s no one hero for Croatia, but symbolically
let’s give it to the elder statesman who has worked so hard for a goal the
entire tournament, getting the biggest one in his country’s history. It was
somewhat a broken play, but that is what a great striker does, be in position
to capitalize on broken plays. When an opportunity presented himself, he banged
it home and ruined a nation’s hearts which is always great.
Goat of the Semifinals: England’s Midfield
Croatia was
always going to win the battle of midfields, but I never expected it to be so
one-sided, particularly in England’s time on the ball, the midfield was a
disaster. Jordan Henderson went missing, not able to make any statement in the
game through Croatia’s press. Delle Alli was disappointing, so were the others.
Bigger issue is Southgate did not even reactively change up to add an
additional body, with England almost capitulating the middle third. England was
always driven by its back line and set pieces, but when they needed some
strength in the middle, it was nowhere to be found.
Runner-Up: Romelu Lukaku || Belgium as a team had a few different players disappoint, but I’ll
give it to Lukaku who went missing. He had an excellent start to the
tournament, but got progressively worse in the quarterfinal and semifinal, and
was able to get maybe a couple half chances and could do nothing with them.
Belgium as a whole felt a bit flat (more on it in a second), and the worst
offender was the big man up top.
Surprise of the Semifinals: Croatia’s Endurance
Croatia
surprised everyone by being the livelier team against Russia when playing their
2nd straight 120-minute game. Of course, so was Russia. This time
against England, it was even more shocking to see Croatia get stronger as the
game wore on. It will be doubly surprising if it holds up against France, who
has played a whole game of time less and has an extra day of rest, but I wouldn’t
put it past them. Croatia’s players just don’t seem to tire. They seemed better
against England than even when playing Russia.
Runner-Up: People not
hammering Olivier Giroud || It helps that they are in the
final, and maybe the negative reaction comes if they lose to Croatia, but I
have been impressed that the general commenteriat has mostly not harped on the
fact Giroud hasn’t scored yet. He’s held up play really well. He was an asset
on defense tracking back well against Belgium. He’s been a workhorse like the
rest of the team. Giroud is not along for the ride, he has been an integral
part of the team despite not scoring. And I’m so happy people have largely
credited him for this, and not just focused on the ‘0’ by the Goals column in
his stat-sheet.
Disappointment of the Semifinals: Belgium’s
plodding
Again,
Belgium was just so uninspired after a good first 20-30 minutes. The whole
second half France ceded possession and Croatia could do little with it. Hazard
was great, but De Bruyne disappointed, the backline struggled, players like
Chadli and Vertongen who were great coming forward in earlier games did
nothing. They weren’t played off the pitch, but the lack of creativity to slice
through France, however strong they may be, was surprising given Belgium’s
success in previous rounds. If this was the best chance their Golden Generation
will have, it is a sad way for it to finish.
Runner-Up: England
tiring || Again, why was England so fatigued against
a team that had to play back-to-back 120 minute matches. England basically
conserved energy sleepwalking through the Sweden game, and looked like they
were the ones who had finished a grueling game against Russia. Their strategy
basically devolved to long ball after long ball to tired frontline players who
were meek in traffic. England is not a great team, one that got here basically
because they could execute set plays staggeringly well, but I wanted a better
showing than that.
