England take the handbrake off but Ronaldo is stuck in park – World Cup Daily
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is The Guardian.
Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Well, that was good, wasn't it? England 4, Croatia 2. Tuchel's men pressed high, attacked with pace and purpose, especially in the second half. No handbrakes here. The first 45 was one of those, oh, come on, boys, games. Harry Kane had two goes at a penalty before Croatia scored a beautiful equaliser. Then Kane again, bizarrely unmarked at a corner. But another lovely leveller for Croatia. 2-2, Tuchel not happy. Then Elliot Anderson set Bellingham away and he buried it. England somehow failed to score the fourth despite waves of attack. And they did start to drop deeper, but Tuchel's changes worked and Marcus Rashford put the game beyond doubt. How's Barry's fear-o-meter now?
How carried away do we want to get?
What were the highlights of England's match against Croatia?
Or will better, younger attacks take advantage of an imperfect defence? The Croatians and Luka Modric, did they look, well, tired? Also in that group, Ghana-Panama is bad. And then DR Congo, Johan Wisser scores their first ever World Cup goal. They deserve the point against a toothless Portugal. Can anyone think of any way that Roberto Martinez could change things? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Anyone? We'll look ahead to tomorrow's games. Nick Ames went to the GOP convention on his day off. There's more on apples, believe it or not. Your questions, and that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today in the studio with me in LA, Barry Glendening. Welcome. Hello, Max. And hello, Lucy Ward.
Hello, Max.
Very nice to see you. And out in Houston, Nick Ames. Hey, Nick.
Hello, Max. So should that be a howdy?
Yes, the second howdy in a row. We need to learn some more hellos in American vernacular, don't we? But just so you know, we are recording before Uzbekistan, Colombia. So you'll hear about that on tomorrow's pod. But let's begin with the game in Dallas, then England 4, Croatia 2. England, 21 shots, 11 on target, an XG of 2.82 against Croatia's 0.71. First time since 2002 that England have beaten a team in the top 15 at a World Cup, ending a nine-game winless run. And it was not without its stresses, Lucy, but it was really impressive.
Yeah, I mean, I paint the scene now. So I'm out in LA with you, but not with you. I'm doing some games for ITV and we've got our first game tomorrow, Switzerland-Bosnia. So I went to the stadium, got my accreditation and then walked to a bar full of Bosnians and some Croatians to watch this. Quite a small screen, but I sort of got the gist of what was going on because the Croatians were cheering like mad and one screen was five seconds in front of the other. So that's just an explanation. Okay, we've got the context. Okay, so I think first half, Defensively, I was a little bit concerned, but I just think that going forward, we just look so accomplished. You've got Bellingham, who's full of confidence.
You've got Kane, who's obviously scoring. But my only worry in the first half was defensively, we looked like... We were sort of defending in sort of a zonal defence. But then when Croatia came on to us, we didn't go and engage. And I think that's probably where at least a second goal came from. But other than that, it's 4-2. I think that by the end when Rashford scored, it was quite comfortable. And we had a lot more shots on target than they did. So in terms of that, we created better chances. So, you know, initial thoughts, quite pleased with that.
And Nick, it was a brilliant second half, wasn't it?
Yeah, it was a fantastic second half performance. I think a lot of the players talking after the game have, I think, paid tribute to Tuchel's halftime team talk. I gather Anthony Barry came on at halftime on the TV at home and was being quite honest about the pitfalls of the game. first half performance. And really, they really cut loose. They look like men possess, committing men forward, moving the ball quickly against a Croatia defence that was there to be got at. I watched them play a friendly against Slovenia in Croatia about 10 days ago and have to say that they look quite porous there.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:48
2
What were the highlights of England's match against Croatia?
0:48–13:55
3
How did England's performance change in the second half?
13:55–20:07
4
What concerns were raised about England's defense?
20:07–23:25
5
How did Thomas Tuchel's substitutions impact the game?
23:25–40:25
Speakers
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