Key events
Ghanaians know how to get in.
The Ghana team sings and dances on the way to the dressing rooms. Photograph: Ezra Shaw/FIFA/Getty ImagesShareJonathan Wilson
double quote. Starting with Argentina in 1978, there were two new winners, and these were France and Spain, born in the heart of UEFA, their success based on making the most of European advantages and wealth; no country has been so successful in industrializing youth manufacturing, so much so that they now provide models for every country looking to invest in academic programs.
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It’s a little damp.
People play in the rain near the stadium. Photograph: Peter Ciborra/ReutersShare
The players have arrived!
Luka Modric gets off the bus and enters the stadium. Photograph: Pilar Olivares/ReutersShare
It must be a big change, moving from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to Carlos Quieros’s Ghana instead of Antoine Semenyo. He hasn’t stunned yet, but at least we’ll be able to see his long shot.
Antoine SemeñoShare
Starting lineups
Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Sutalo, Pongracic, Perisic, Modric, Kovacic, Vlasic, Petar Sucic, Baturina, Budimir
Spare parts: Pandur, Kotarski, Guardiol, Kaleta-Car, Moro, Kramaric, Mario Pasalic, Jakic, Fruk, Matanovic, Luka Sučić, Vušković, Marko Pasalic, Erlic, Musa.
Ghana: Asare, Senaya, Adjetey, Lucassen, Mensah, Partey, Owusu, Sibo, Sulemana, Ayew, Semenyo
Spare parts: Ati-Zigi, Anang, Seydou, Yirenkyi, Mumin, Fatu, Thomas-Asante, Baah, Baba, Opoku, Williams, Boakye, Oppong, Nuama, Adu.
Referee: Drew Fisher (Canada).
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Obviously if you’re more mainstream you can follow England vs Panama with Scott Murray.
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John Bruin on Football Daily duty? Yes please.
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Croatia will likely need a draw with Ghana to secure their place in the last 16, but striker Ivan Perisic is confident of his side’s performance against their African opponents.
The runners-up in 2018 and third in 2022 have three wins and draws against their African World Cup opponents since 2014, including a win over third-place Morocco.
“We commented on this,” Perisic said. “And we have played against many teams in the last 10 years and all the results have been positive. So I believe that this time it will be the same and that we will play a very good match, just like against other teams.”
England and Ghana The team enters the final round of Group L with four points, while Croatia has three points and Panama is already eliminated. The question is whether this will remain the same Croatian side of the last decade. After losing 4-2 to England, Croatia narrowly beat Panama 1-0 thanks to Ante Budimir’s 54th-minute goal.
Perisic is 37 and captain Luka Modric is 40. And even coach Zlatko Dalic admits their performances looked unfamiliar.
“We need to up our game,” he said through a translator. “We are not what Croatia can be. That’s why we didn’t play our best, but tomorrow we’ll have the opportunity to do that. We’ve never made so many mistakes in some passes or when we had the ball. We had strength here and we were really strong, but we seem to lose the ball easily. We need to be faster and we need to improve our concentration levels.”
Perisic was also unsure whether Ghana’s low-block approach, which has been the mainstay of several teams managed by Carlos Queiroz, would continue. “They are a very good team,” he said. “Very compact. They may have played in the bottom block in the last two matches. With that in mind, maybe they will switch for tomorrow or something like that, but we have to be prepared for both options.”
“But yes, we are concentrating on ourselves, our game and what we need to do. And we need to be much better than we were in the last two matches.” Reuters
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Luka Modric has not yet found himself in this tournament. Perhaps he will be given more time and space against Ghana if they defend as deep as we expect.
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Pre-match reading courtesy of our very own Adrian Chiles.
Wasn’t Adrian great with ITV News’ Dan Hewitt on radio this week?
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Preamble
This is a real group quiz. Winner takes all for second place, but Ghana have a one-point advantage and a draw will be enough for them. Carlos Quieros is the perfect man for the job because he knows how to bore everyone to tears with defensive discipline and organization.
Croatia, however, is a decent team when you think about it. Admittedly, they have shown little sign of this so far, losing to England and beating Panama thanks to the performance of goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic. Luka Modric made his 200th cap in the match but needs extra help because the 40-year-old can’t do it all alone.
It should be an exciting watch.
Start: 22:00 BST/17:00 EDT/7:00 AEST.
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