Fierce_LiNk

A bit of a lull in this second half. Croatia seem to have more of the ball with England looking to get them on the break...ish. Croatia just look knackered. I think those extra times are taking their toll. Plus, there's no real pace in their side.

I think they'll get another at around the hour mark. Croatia have started the second half well, though.

FINISH HIM

Bring back those Vuvuzelas! They instilled confidence and there's no way that they would ever make one miserable! Such a pleasant sound.

Yeah, that's what worries me. All it takes is one corner or one freekick and Croatia are back in it. Still think they'll close this game out in the second half and there are some good options on the bench. One thing though, they've got to stop all these risky back passes. Don't like them.

England really should be 2-0 with how the game has gone. It'll be interesting to see what happens if Croatia go in at half-time only 1-0 down. They've not really done much in the first half.

He's just so unlikeable and is a bit naff, tbh. Not a fan. He's about the same.

Bluddy hell at that Kane chance! How is that not 2-0?!

Lovren is such a shitbag, isn't he? Can't stand the guy. Send him off, already.

There's so much space behind. May have to revise my original scoreline because this could be a lot more than 2-1. No reason why England can't score 3 or 4.

At this stage, they're both quite similar, pacey players and will probably have the same amount of impact. I think there's a good argument either way for one starting over the other. If it's not working after an hour, I'd switch Sterling for Rashford. Giving him 10 minutes isn't really enough, he needs a good amount of time to get into the game.

Somewhat controversial, but I think Rashford is better suited to an impact sub. You'll need a player like him to come on and run at the opposition when they're tired. I just hope that Southgate brings him on a bit sooner if the first plan isn't working.

He'll come good. All these chances, one of them surely has to go in! I'll stick by him. Would be delighted if Lingard or Rashford get the winner...from a Phil Jones corner or something daft like that.

Almost time. Unchanged lineup since the last game. I'm going for a 2-1 England win. Lingard to score first, Croatia to reply and Sterling to get the winner to silence his critics.

Buuuuuump! How are we all doing? Now that the Summer break is here, I'm planning to do about an hour of Dutch practice each day, with sporadic conversations thrown in throughout the day. My biggest struggle was with the word order, but I've got my head around most of it now and can work out (most of the time!) where each word should go and which parts need to come first, etc. Duolingo has changed quite a bit since I've last used it, so I'm just catching up with that and hopefully can balance that along with Memrise. We're going to see @Eenuh's family in a month, so need to get the practice in!

Great shout! Will ask @Eenuh to see what she thinks.

Might have to play it on WiiU. Even if it means using that hideous Gamepad!

Still haven't played BOTW. Stuck in a tricky position because my gaming time mainly consists of Overwatch, I have no desire to get a Switch and don't fancy playing BOTW on the WiiU as we've long since packed that away. Plus, Zelda and the Switch are still super expensive...I'd be looking at over £300 to play it.

He's right, though. Skyward Sword sucks balls. With or without motion controls.

There we go then. I don't actually have a problem with any set of fans, except the hooligans, because they take it onto another level entirely. What they do is tarnish the reputation for a sport which I, obviously, care about dearly. The other non-hardcore fans of varying degrees, I can live with. Quite easily. It's often quite fun sometimes explaining why a certain player is as good as I believe they are (years of justifying Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick has made me an expert of this!) so I'm not bothered by it really. True, you do get the odd person who makes ridiculous comments that just...make no sense. The gaming equivalent would be something like "My favourite Wii game is Uncharted 4" or something to that effect. There are going to be tons of fans rooting for England now because, frankly, they have done well and have exceeded all expectations, so naturally we're going to get loads of extra support behind the team than before. Also, as a nation, we've seen the national team fail badly for quite a number of recent tournaments, so it's nice to actually make it into a semi-final and potentially get into the final itself. It just means different things to different people, as there are some who have obviously waited years for England to get to another semi-fina/final and who have experienced the heartbreak (I remember watching Southgate's miss as a young guy and it was a terrible moment) and there will be some who are just pleasant surprised that England haven't fucked up for a change.

In terms of the whole "gatekeeping" thing: There are definitely some fans who just prefer to watch the internationals rather than club football. They may have their own reason for that, or maybe it's partly down to time commitments. It can be a huge commitment following a club team, especially if you do go to games. Even if you don't go to games, watching the highlights weekly, following the team news, transfers, etc. There are some who also maybe don't feel an affinity to one particular team, whereas with England or a national team, they feel that they maybe have that affinity. E.g. if you've moved from area to area, you may not choose to follow a specific team. Or maybe your family have never "had a team" either. So, in that respect, following a national team may suit. About getting people into the game: football isn't some hidden, unknown secret that is locked away somewhere. It is, by far, the biggest sport in the country and is one of the most popular sports on the entire planet. News websites have entire sections dedicated to the sport, so there is coverage there. However, it is now far harder to actually go to games due to the rising cost of ticket prices and, also, it's expensive to follow on tv due to all of the heft tv packages and deals out there. To actually follow your team (if they are Premier League level) you'd need to buy Sky and BT Sport (unless that's changed again) to watch most of your games. Not all are televised. Going to the games isn't just a time commitment, it is just so pricey, too, at least at the top level. There's always the option of going to local games, so that's worth exploring. Even just playing the sport is a way to get into it and there are tons of 5-a-side leagues knocking around the country. I do an afterschool club every week and many of the pupils that I teach are football mad, so it's quite easy to stay "into it". It isn't really the same as, say, getting your friend into SEGA games. Once you've given someone a Megadrive and a load of games, that's it. Football is continuous and there are so many intertwining stories that, to explain something such as the Munich Air Disaster or Hillsborough, would take an awful lot of time and specific subject knowledge to do so. One of my favourite ever goals is the goal that Cantona scored in the 1996 FA Cup Final. To explain the significance of that one goal would take ages due to all of the history behind it. The fact that it's between two of England's biggest teams, the history and rivalry between the clubs, the stature of the teams at that specific moment in time, the ban that Cantona had received prior to that fixture, etc. You'd need an hour long tv documentary just to cover it, if that. It wouldn't simply be a case of "watch a 5 minute highlight reel of this game, look at this goal...it's good, isn't it?" A large part of it is also down to the person on the other end of it and how much they want to be educated about it. If they are willing to watch the youtube videos, Match of the Day, or even go to games, then good for them and that should be encouraged. It's a good thing to have more people interested in the sport, especially if they are willing to stick with it and do it respectfully. But, I wouldn't go to all of that effort of explaining to somebody why Zidane is, in my opinion, one of the greatest footballers that ever lived (etc) if they weren't willing to listen or would just not take an interest. But, that's person to person and you'll get mixed results on that one. @Eenuh is very good and, although she doesn't have the same level of affinity for Manchester United that I do, she often watches the games with me, knows all of the players names, knows who's having a good season or not and follows the news around the club with regards to transfers, recognises that some tactics aren't working, etc. So, she's a very good example of someone who was willing to listen and put the effort in and now we can have actual interesting football conversations. So, it can happen!

Yeah man, some of the stories that I read after the game were downright appalling. People jumping on cars, even that story about somebody jumping on that ambulance. They're the ones that anger me the most as that's just taking it to the next level. People could get hurt and it puts our nation in a bad light. It's a shame because the vast majority of fans are just regular people who want to enjoy the game. I know that @Eenuh wasn't impressed reading these stories and it still seems like England fans have a non-favourable reputation, especially outside of the country. Unfortunately, that's something that is more cultural and there isn't a lot that the FA and people such as Southgate can solve themselves. There's only so many times you can go on camera and ask fans to be respectful. Aside from that, there are always going to be fans who just jump onboard when an international tournament comes around. It happens in every country. I guess the ones who irritate most are the ones who do make up daft statements, e.g. "I think Beckham will score 10 goals tonight in the third quarter!" but it's quite easy to just laugh and accept those. They're fairly harmless. I just want a good result tonight.

Arsenal are going to win 3-1 tonight against Croatia. The thing about Arsenal is they always try and walk it in.

Forgot about Karius. Here's a radical idea...why don't Liverpool put in a cheeky bid for Pickford? That would really wind the Evertonians up! The part-time fans are annoying, but they're only part-time annoying, too! They're very easy to sniff out and see through. The ones that annoy me are the ones who trash stadiums or start riots, as they give the sport a bad name. I dislike these ones most of all.

Which part do you agree with? Fairweather fans? That's always going to be a part of football and every club or country will have many of these fans. Every country experiences it. It's like the Olympics and Tennis. Most people don't really care about the athletes until a big tournament comes around. The rest of it is all the same sort of stuff that has been said many times over the last decade. England finally put a load of players out to make a team, rather than just playing "the top class players" all together. There are no more issues such as "Gerrard or Lampard", "who should go up front with Rooney?", etc. Southgate has got to where he is because of his experience managing at England Under-21 level, so he's got to know his players from working with them at that stage. It was a smart move on his part and it's given him a unique insight to the International game that other managers simply won't have. He's done a good job and it's clear that future England managers should take a similar path. Let's not pretend that this current crop of England players are just any old crap, though. They are all important player for their clubs in different ways and still all play for their top teams in England. (with the exception of Pickford, but that's because the other top teams have the best goalkeepers from other countries) They may not all be star players for their clubs like Gerrard and Lampard were, but they start week in week out and are important players.