*** WORLD CUP FINAL - FRANCE V CROATIA - MOSCOW - 15TH JULY - 4PM - RUSSIA WORLD CUP 2018 ***

I've been on Croatia for a while as a dark horse, I think they were everyone's dark horse!

are they the smallest ever country to make a World Cup final? half the population of New York.

I have been green on France all the way but they are a mug bet now.

The 2 X 120 minutes was supposed to catch up with Croatia last night.

People just grasping at straws to justify backing favs at shocking odds.

France will probably win but they sure won't have it easy.  And their 90 minutes odds look a bit short to me.

Think when Uruguay won the World Cup there were a grand total of 16 teams present and only 4 games played to win.

Uruguay were supposed to play 5 games in 1950 but the French didn't bother turning up. Hope the same is true on Sunday.

Time to bump this and end the wallowing in self pity.

Going to be one if the dullest finals on record - possibly on a par with 1994 - unless there is an early goal and pref for Croatia.

For football's sake I hope France tear them a new one.  But I won't be backing them.

I think the Croats have a chance. After all, they've never lost to the French have they ?

Croatia look susceptible to set pieces and pace which are two of France's attacking strengths. They are also very solid defensively and can't see Croatia having it as easy against pogba and kante in the centre of midfield.

France are actually a very dull team.

Their basic tactic is to have 6 or 7 players whose job is to prevent their opponents from attacking through the centre. They force them out wide and are happy to defend anything crossed in with Varane, Umtiti, Pogba and even Giroud making defensive headers. Their 'attack' is, every now and then, to launch it towards Griezmann or Mbappe, with the hope that they can draw a foul and get a decent set piece position. (the one hope for viewers is that Mbappe might tear up this script and try to do something but in the Uruguay game he seemed under orders to just keep the ball until he is fouled).

Denmark had much the same gameplan as France and so the game between them was the dullest of the tournament. The entertaining France v Argentina match was I think entirely due to Argentina not having the players to perform any sort of modern tactical plan and so any game involving them was going to be chaotic.

its been a tournament of pop gun strikers

some brilliant goals and brilliant play but poor poor finnishing by the most
expensive strikers assembled en mass.


oh for a rossi, or muller or lineker or fat ronaldo

France bored everyone to death with their bunker-defense midway of the second half, they're just a scrappy team which relies on its talent and does not much more than it has to. But come sunday they will be get their a$$es handed to them, wait and see.

son of a gun 13 Jul 18 15:37 Joined: 18 Sep 05 | Topic/replies: 566 | Blogger: son of a gun's blog
France bored everyone to death with their bunker-defense midway of the second half, they're just a scrappy team which relies on its talent and does not much more than it has to.

the definition of a team to follow. overpriced and underbet. will do what they need to do once again.

played 5, france won 3, croatia won none

Revenge final for France, after Blanc missed the final due to Bilic getting him suspended faking injury

I have to say its been a strange experience the old world cup.
France and Croatia both know their identities, which is maybe why they are in the final.
Croatia are a small nation and have done wonderfully well to get here.
Their best chance is not to engage the french at all with anything other than their 3 forwards. Perisic, Rebic and Madzukic.
Deschamps is ultra conservative. His team is just Mbappe, Giroud and Griezmann plus 8 defenders.
I can not find it in me to consider backing a team like that at twos-on.
For one thing, a big nation like france with all the creative players at their disposal, they dont deserve it.
fekir and tolisso will be on the bench to name but two.

Its been a world cup which has shown once again that europe is king.
Thats four on the trot now and the south americans look miles behind in terms of physicality. Africa is still a mess while there has been positive signs from korea and japan.
Maybe one day all the superstars of world football will have to locate to the chinese super league which may tilt the balance to asia.
That being said, the major european nations have by and large been bl00dy awful.
Aside from france the germans and spanish are in utter disarray owing to the fact that bayern and real are now bigger than the game in their respective nations.
The portugeezers are having to face up to the fact that cristiano is slow and old.
The Italians and Dutch need a major reality check and face dropping off the cliff edge and becoming a european irrelevance. The sad fate of scotland.
As for England they are still a thousand miles off fulfilling their potential.
There can be no doubt the talent is available to win one of these things. But playing a back 5 and placing reliance on the same eleven players over the course of 7 games in a month is not the way to do it.
Perhaps it would be fitting if tomorrow Croatia, a committed determined small nation from europe were to be the 9th name on the list of world cup winners....Here's hoping.

Mesmug - "Have backed France the whole way and can only see them winning." Pretty sure before the tournament you were on Brazil

Croatia are fighters and have more heart than the French. That's about the only thing they have over this French side imo. But France are likely to reduce this to a tight game and play within themselves instead of taking it to the inferior team. They did the same v Portugal in the Euros final and looked cowardly and lost. 

Croatia know they have a great chance here and will have huge belief that they can win, even if a goal behind.

The prices are correct if you believe France will come out and play their best but I wouldn't be so sure and the longer it goes on without things going their way the more pressure will be on them and the more belief Croatia will have. If France come out nervy or playing ultra defensive then I hope they lose.