2018 FIFA World Cup | ‘Croatia will be fresh for semi-final against England’

Croatia football coach Zlatko Dalic (Photo: AFP)


Croatia have the vitality to beat England in their World Cup semi final despite playing in two consecutive matches that have gone to extra-time and penalties, coach Zlatko Dalic said.

After overcoming Denmark on penalties in the last 16, Croatia defeated hosts Russia in another shootout last Saturday.

On Wednesday, Croatia will confront England at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium for a place in the final on July 15.

“Of course there is some power left for the English,” Xinhua news agency reported quoting Dalic.

“We will not stop, we will try to play to get the best out of ourselves. We have two matches to play, we are very motivated, we will give our all,” he said.

While Croatia endured a gruelling 120-minute battle against Russia, England progressed to the last four with a relatively straightforward 2-0 win over Sweden last Saturday.

Croatia will be sweating on the fitness of goalkeeper Danijel Subasic after he played through the latter part of the quarterfinal with a hamstring injury.