FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 (Promo)

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic stated outright what he felt regarding the controversial penalty call following his side’s 4-2 defeat to France in Sunday’s World Cup final, saying : “You don't give a penalty like that in a World Cup final.”

A debatable penalty awarded with the use of FIFA's new video replay system proved a turning point in the World Cup final on Sunday as debate focused on erronous referee calls.

France and Croatia were level at 1-1 in an evenly contested match when Argentine referee Nestor Pitana was alerted to a possible handball ten minutes from half time and, after checking the off-field screen, he decided Croatia's Ivan Perisic had handled. While there is no doubt that the ball did hit the Croatian’s hand, the focus will remain on whether the handling of the ball was intentional.

Antoine Griezmann converted the penalty and France went on to win 4-2. Even after the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, it remained a highly contentious call. Many former players called the awarding of the penalty a dubious decision with former England and Liverpool defender perhaps rightly suggesting that ‘It’s the referee’s mistake, not VAR! VAR is just the replay of an incident.’

The decisions proved to be a turning point in the match as France’s influence grew following their second goal. Dalic said he thought such a decision had no place in a game of such magnitude.

“We played well but the penalty knocked the wind out of us and after that it was very difficult," Dalic said after congratulating France on their victory. "I just want to say one sentence about that penalty: You don't give a penalty like that in a World Cup final.”

The Croatia coach conceded that his team had let in two ‘soft goals’ but lamented the fact that things did not go their way when they were in a good position to fight for the match.

“We wanted to win the World Cup so much, but that's football," he said. "The French did not surprise us; we let in two soft goals coupled with an own goal and a penalty.

“What we had in terms of luck in this tournament, we lacked today. When you concede four goals, you cannot expect to win the game.”

Neverthless, Dalic went on to congratulate France and praised his team’s effort after they gave a vastly talented French side a run for their money.

“I congratulate France on their title. We played well in the first 20 minutes, we controlled the game. Then there was an own goal from a set play. We came back to life, dominated and then the penalty was given,” Dalic said.

“I have to congratulate my players, it was maybe the best game we played in this tournament; we controlled the match but we conceded. Against such a strong side as France you must not make mistakes. We are a bit sad, but we have to be proud as well for what we’ve done.”

L-R: KYLIAN MBAPPE, EDEN HAZARD, LUKA MODRIC, HARRY KANE

The semifinal line-up is complete and two intriguing, all-European ties lie in wait. But while the teams in the last four of Russia 2018 hail from the same continent, the similarities end there. France, Belgium, England and Croatia all boast very different attributes. This article on FIFA.COM takes a look at the salient features of the four semifinalists.

FRANCE: VERSATILITY

Not so long ago, Didier Deschamps would have been criticised for this aspect of his France team, with some journalists alleging that Les Bleus had a thousand faces and no real identity. In fact, it is emerging as a vital attribute. Functional during their group matches, France were spectacular against Argentina, then solid and efficient against Uruguay. Three different French teams? No -- the same, but with different tactics.

France know how to adapt their style depending on their opponents, and that is a rare and precious ability. The tactical set-up can be 4-3-3 one match and 4-2-3-1 the next, while Deschamps can decide to use Olivier Giroud's size or Kylian Mbappe's speed to destabilise defences. As we've seen during this World Cup, there are no weak teams anymore and even giants like Germany and Spain had a hard time playing 'their game'. Possession doesn't ensure victory and experience doesn't guarantee success. Options are everything.

BELGIUM: TEAM SPIRIT

The Belgians arrived with one of the best squads on paper, but their biggest success in Russia has been establishing strong collective values.

This may represent their most important asset simply because it has not always been present in the past. Nor has this Belgium team previously been famed for resilience, which they showed in bucket-loads against both Japan and Brazil. Their star individuals, including the magic trio of Eden Hazard, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, have stepped up when needed. But it's also worth noting that the Red Devils have had nine different goalscorers in Russia. Everyone is playing their part.

Roberto Martinez, too, seems to be the right man at the right time, as he looks to have found a way to get the best from his collection of stars and bring them together as a unit. In this Belgian squad, everyone is fit to play and ready to make sacrifices on the pitch or, in some cases, to accept their status as substitutes and support their team-mates.

ENGLAND: VARIETY

Picking a single strength to define England is increasingly difficult, as Gareth Southgate's side continue to find new and different ways to win. We're all becoming accustomed to how this young, ever-improving side uses confidence, a modern system and togetherness to its advantage. They are prepared for any match situation, any opposition and their game management is ruthlessly effective.

England have even won their first World Cup penalty shootout here in Russia, and that is before we even begin to examine the individual stars, from their heroic goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to the talisman and tournament top-scorer, Harry Kane - each just 24 years of age.

This could be the most complete England side we have seen since 1990, the last time the Three Lions reached a semi-final. Yet this team, with its modern, patient and composed approach to the game, is also breaking the Three Lions mould. They are here to make their own history.

CROATIA: MIDFIELD TALENT

Given the manner in which they sailed through arguably Russia 2018's most difficult group, and survived two stern tests in the knockout stages, Croatia have been one of the teams of the tournament. The greatest asset that Zlatko Dalic's side possess is undoubtedly their midfield, which ranks as one of the best at this World Cup. The players in that department of the team almost always seem composed, organised and unruffled.

Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are the lynchpins of this Croatia team. It is not often that players from Madrid and Barcelona combine to such devastating effect, but that is exactly what Rakitic is doing with Modric at the heart of the Vatreni engine room. They are far from alone though. Add in Inter Milan's Marcelo Brozovic, Real Madrid's Mateo Kovacic, Fiorentina's Milan Badelj and it all adds up to a truly superb generation of Croatian midfielders.

Four years ago, Cristiano Ronaldo produced an emphatic performance as the forward bagged his maiden World Cup hattrick to help Portugal draw 3-3 against Spain in their Group B encounter of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Sochi. 

With just two minutes left in the regulation time, Ronaldo swerved a sweetly-timed freekick past the Spanish wall and keeper David De Gea as Portugal roared to level terms. 

Ronaldo also made yet another record in that game as he became the first player to score in eight consecutive major international tournaments when he converted a fourth-minute penalty after drawing a faul from his then Real Madrid teammate Nacho Fernandez to put Portugal 1-0 ahead in the game. 

With that goal, the Portugal skipper extended an unprecedented streak of scoring at major tournaments. Since finding the net at Euro 2004, he has gone on to grab goals at three further European Championships and four successive World Cups. 

Thanks to the goal, Ronaldo also became the fourth player to score in four World Cups, following in the footsteps of Uwe Seeler, Pele and Miroslav Klose.

Ronaldo scored once again just before half-time to give Portugal the lead after Diego Costa equalised it for Spain. Portugal conceded two goals in the second half and it looked like Portugal would go on to start their 2018 World Cup campaign with a defeat. 

Ronaldo, however, had other ideas as he curled in a late freekick to ensure a point for Portugal.   
 

Didier Deschamps proclaimed France’s second World Cup triumph was “just as beautiful” as their first after leading them to glory again 20 years on, but Croatia defender Dejan Lovren said that Deschamps' team "did not play football."

"I'm disappointed because we lost the game, we played much, much better football than them, but on the other hand I'm proud of this team and what we have achieved," Lovren said.

"We played beautiful football again. France were one of the favourites to win the World Cup and they did it. I think we were better. They did it another way. They didn't play football, they waited for their chances and they scored. They had their own tactic and you need to respect that. They played the tournament like that, every game, but when you look at all the countries behind us, we're second.” he added.

"There's nothing to talk about now. It's difficult to describe. Maybe after a week or two, a couple of months... right now, it's difficult. Some moments I feel sad, some moments I'm happy. Overall, I'm proud."

Ivan Perisic conceded the first-half penalty after referee Nestor Pitana penalised him for handball following a VAR review.

"I was sure he would not give the pen," said the Liverpool centre-back. "From my point of view, he [Perisic] could not react.

"It was a critical moment, we came back at 1-1, and then this penalty and then 3-1, 4-1, but even then we didn't stop playing football, we still believed, we gave everything, and this is why people are proud now in Croatia."

Didier Deschamps' side had claimed a 1-0 over Belgium in the semifinals with a defensive masterclass which left Belgium star Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois deeply unimpressed with what he felt were overly cagey tactics by France in the semi-final, and now Lovren also felt the frustration of coming up against Deschamps's style. Not always the most entertaining, however, in the end, French squad just had too much talent at its disposal to get the job done.

Football's claim to being the global sport has strong merits. FIFA is an international organisation with more members than the United Nations, and the football World Cup is one of the top two most watched sports events in the world. Even the national leagues in England, Spain, Germany and Italy are enormously popular outside their borders. The chequered football made of sewn black and white pentagons, despite its relatively late adoption in 1970, is recognisable to any child anywhere in the world who has a notion of what sports is. But when you realise that it took 92 years and 22 tries for the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of a FIFA World Cup, it makes you want to examine this "global" sport.

Morocco may as well have been the first non-European and non-South American country in World Cup semi-finals, but that credit goes to a distinct anomaly. USA finished third in 1930, in the first ever football World Cup. In more modern days, it was last done by South Korea in 2002, in their own backyard. Success in the global sport seems to be universal in two continents out of six, leaving others in relative irrelevance. Why is that?

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Well, of course, it has everything to do with who came up with the sport and who ran it. Professional football developed in Europe and exploded in South America. FIFA has only ever had European men as presidents, other than the one Brazilian (also a man) who ran it for 24 years. That is concerning, given FIFA's (admirable, on the face of it) policy of allowing every member to have one vote in elections, regardless of footballing prowess or tradition. The Netflix documentary FIFA Uncovered explains how this international governing body for the sport exploited this situation, morphing into a cartel of sorts where power is held onto as long as possible, where votes are bought and sold with money.

This money is most often disbursed to lower ranked teams from poor countries as "development funds." But money ill-begotten is often ill-spent, and seldom do these funds make their way to the grassroots. This process powers a toxic cycle, where poor nations with lower FIFA rankings tend to stay there, while the people representing these nations line their pockets, and FIFA keeps on being corrupt. The European and South American nations with rich footballing traditions generate their own revenue to keep the sport alive and well in their own countries, and it's nigh impossible for anyone else to emerge.

But this doesn't change the fact that football really is the global sport, because it's loved globally. Every country has football fans, if not a proper football league or a national team, and each and every one of those fans dreams of seeing their nation represented on the global stage. Most live and die without ever seeing that dream realised.

But Morocco did it; they found a way, and the way they did it may just be an inspiration, if not a template, for other teams outside of Europe and South America. Morocco's 26-man squad has 14 players born in foreign countries, including some of their best players. Hakim Ziyech and Sofyan Amrabat were born in the Netherlands, Achraf Hakimi in Spain. Defender Roman Saïss and even the coach, Walid Regragui, were born in France. They all have ancestors who were from Morocco, and they chose to play for the North African country. Clearly, they chose well. The Dutch crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals, Morocco knocked out Spain themselves, and now they line up to face France in a semi-final, for a chance to play Argentina in the biggest game of all.

The brand of football Morocco played to get here has had European flavours as well. They have been tactical, nullifying opposition threats, and taking their own chances to score, as opposed to previous African teams who would play exciting football to go out in a blaze of glory. Contrary to Spanish midfielder Rodri's claim that "Morocco offered absolutely nothing," Morocco have actually offered a lot. The tactical know-how of beating technically superior teams is an invention of the Italians of the distant past, or the Portuguese Jose Mourinho in modern times. Morocco applied their own spin on it, based on the players they had and the challenges in front of them, and look at them now!

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With overwhelming support, Morocco ‘dare to dream bigger’

If you look at FIFA and football administrators at the top, I think their interpretation of why football is the global sport would be that it makes money globally. But if you asked players and fans, I think they would say that it's global because it's played globally, because the truth of football being accessible to anyone with a round thing to kick and a stretch of grass to run on applies to all nations across the world. If that is the case, why should the story of non-European and non-South American success in the World Cup be so limited?

It's clear that Morocco have found their method, their way forward, and football's universality and global appeal – as a sport and not a business – ensures that other nations will too.

Azmin Azran is editor-in-charge of SHOUT, The Daily Star's weekly youth supplement.