Russia ready to roar

Ivan Rakitic is hoping this Croatia team can go a step further after matching the country’s heroes of 1998 by making it to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Barcelona midfielder Rakitic scored the decisive spot-kick as Croatia beat Russia 4-3 on penalties after a dramatic quarter-final in Sochi on Saturday finished 2-2 at the end of extra-time.

“We worked so hard and gave everything we had to get through to the semis. I think for a country like Croatia it is impressive and we want to keep going further,” said Rakitic.

“We want to enjoy this victory and not put more pressure on ourselves with what happened in 1998 -- what they did was impressive but we want to keep writing our own history and enjoy what we are doing which is very positive.”

Croatia will play England in the last four in Moscow on Wednesday, as they aim to outdo the team of 20 years ago. Back then they lost to hosts France in the last four.

“I hope we can outdo them. Their generation are more than heroes for us,” added Rakitic.

Croatia came from behind in Sochi with Andrej Kramaric cancelling out Denis Cheryshev’s opener as the tie ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Domagoj Vida then headed Zlatko Dalic’s side in front in extra time, only for Mario Fernandes to make it 2-2 in the 115th minute.

However, Rakitic ensured that Croatia prevailed in the shoot-out, their second in a row after beating Denmark on penalties in the last round.

They must recover quickly from a draining night before facing England, who were 2-0 winners over Sweden earlier on Saturday.

“We enjoy playing against big teams as we showed against Argentina,” insisted defender Dejan Lovren.

“England are one of the favourites to win the World Cup and you need to respect that, but we have nothing to lose. We will enjoy this game and hopefully we can make history.”

Lovren added that he was confident right-back Sime Vrsaljko would recover from the muscle injury that forced him off in extra-time against Russia.

Croatia set up a dream final with France as they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in a nail-biting semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Mario Mandzukic struck the winner in the 109th minute after the game headed into extra time following a 1-1 stalemate in regulation 90 minutes. England defender Kieran Trippier gave the Three Lions a fifth-minute lead with a spectacular free-kick before Ivan Perisic levelled the margin in the 68th minute with a first-time flick into the left-hand corner of the net.

And the moment Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir blew the final whistle after four minutes of added time, the Croatian players burst into wild celebration for having made it into the final for the first time in their history, leaving England to eat the humble pie 28 years after that gut-wrenching defeat against Germany in Italia '90. 

Despite the defeat, this young England team showed they can play entertaining, fearless and not conventional football. Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Jasse Lingard, John Stones and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, whose brilliance under the bar ended the Three Lions' shootout jinx in the round or 16 against Colombia, were really pushing a seasoned Croatian side into tight corners.

And England needed only five minutes to take the lead through a magnificent free-kick from Trippier, who whipped the ball over the wall and into the top right-hand corner that Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic could only watch. England got the free-kick just outside the box when Luka Modric pulled Alli, who looked ominously poised after being nicely fed by Lingard. It was the Tottenham Hotspur winger's first goal on England shirt.

The early goal fuelled more energy into the England attack, with Sterling making those sprints down the right flank. They won a corner in the 14th minute and it was time for another defender to bury it for a team that had proved to be the most successful side from dead-ball situations in this World Cup. But Harry Maguire headed the ball wide off the mark.

The pace of England attack created all sorts of problems for Croatia's defence and a terrible mispass from Domagoj Vida, who was jeered by his the fans whenever he touched the ball, almost allowed Sterling to score another. But the Manchester City forward killed that opportunity by trying to feed it to Harry Kane, who was offside.

Kane, the Tottenham Hotspur forward and the leading scorer in the World Cup with six goals, had his share of chances in the 30th minute. But his shots were amazingly saved by Subasic. After being nicely set up by Lingard, Kane drove a low sided-footed shot that Subasic partially parried and Kane's second attempt off the rebound from a tight angle hit the post before the ball somehow bounced away after hitting the goalkeeper.

Having survived the early onslaught, Modric finally showed up in the final third as he sent through an overlapping Rebic, who sent a rising shot towards the top left post. But that only allowed Pickford to warm his hands for the first time in the evening.

But the post-lemon session offered a completely different picture, with the Croats coming firing in all cylinders. And it turned into anybody's game after Perisic restored parity in the 68th minute.

It was a reward for constant pressure. Vrsaljko curled in the ball towards the far post that Perisic buried with a first-time flick. Four minutes later, Perisic almost got his second goal but his low shot past Pickford came off the far post. Rebic's shot on the rebound came straight at the young England goalkeeper.

England got a golden opportunity to take the decisive lead in the ninth minute of extra time, but Stone's goal bound header was cleared off the line by Vrsalijko. Few minutes later Pickford made an equally brilliant save at the other end off a Mandzukic shot on a Perisic cross from the right.

But the experienced Juventus striker made no mistake to pounce on a loose ball three minutes into the second half of extra-time. After England failed to clear a high ball down the left, Perisic beat Trippier to a header to the left of the box. Mandzukic was first to get the dropping ball and fired an unstoppable left-footer into the bottom right. And that meant dreamland for Croatia.

The biggest change for Brazil at this World Cup is not on the field, or on the training ground, or even in the dressing-room. It's on the team sheet.

For the first time since 1974 Brazil have arrived at a World Cup without a player better known by his nickname than his given name.

Brazilian players usually go by one name but while they might all sound exotic to foreign ears, there is a big difference between those who use their given names and those better known by their nicknames.

This year there are no little coins (Tostao in Portuguese), no superheroes (Hulk), and none of the seven dwarves (Dunga, or Dopey).

In their place are Fred, Douglas and Marcelo, names that would not be out of place in a London accountant's office.

The slow death of the Brazilian nickname is a consequence of football becoming more corporate and less irreverent, said Marvio dos Anjos, sports editor at Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Globo.

From an early age, players now aim to become brands and that is harder if you are named after a body part, such as Bigode (Moustache); a nationality, such as Alemao (German, because he was blonde and blue-eyed); or a colour, like Branco (White, because he was the only white player in a team of Afro-Brazilians).

"Agents and the directors of football clubs have stopped players from using nicknames," Dos Anjos said.

"If your name is Hulk then you will be painted green and made to look like your name. It is a way to neutralise any irony or folklore and make them seem more serious."

Had seriousness been a factor in years gone by the story of Brazilian football would be very different.

Instead of Pele, a nonsensical name he picked up as a child, the record books would be filled with the legend of Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

Garrincha, who was named after one of the birds he so loved, would be known as Manuel dos Santos, a name as common in Brazil as John Smith is in England.

And rather than chant the name of Zico, one of their most illustrious successors, fans would sing the praises of Arthur Antunes Coimbra.

Brazilian supporters might not care what their players are called if they win the World Cup for the sixth time and many foreign ears will not even notice the change.

But the standardisation of monikers has drained some colour from the most vivid of all footballing nations, according to Dos Anjos.

"You start to see that they are taking some of the fun out the game,” he said.

It has been like rainbow after rain in Moscow for the last couple of days as fans from across the world have thronged the Russian capital and other cities in their thousands ahead of the World Cup, which kicks off at the Luzhniki Stadium today.

The iconic Bolshio Theatre square, Karl Marx square and the opposite end of Red Square in the city centre are the popular destinations for the travelling fans, who are painted in different colours on the streets of Moscow, turning it into a truly global centre of sporting festivity.

Argentina fans, draped in their famous white and sky-blue shirt, appeared at the Bolshoi square with a banner of their superstar Leonel Messi. The five fans from the city of Salta were singing a song and looked very confident about winning the title in Russia.

Not far away from them, four Brazilian fans, attired in yellow, were enjoying their time with a young Russian playing a guitar to a samba tune. The Brazilians showed six fingers while uttering hexa, which means they were confident that the Selecao would win the World Cup for a record sixth time. They were, however, reluctant to talk about the disappointment from four years ago and when asked if they had watched that fateful 7-1 defeat against Germany, they said in unison: “No, can't remember anything about that game”. 

Mexican's are famous for sombreros. But a young group of five preferred to carry Mexican wrestling mask. When asked which team they would follow after the probable early departureof their team, one of them protested vehemently: “We will win the World Cup in Russia. We love [Coach Hector] Hereera.”

As one crosses the road and walks past the Karl Marx square, he will be attracted by the electrifying presence of three young Egyptian fans, draped in their red and white flag and the image of Mohammad Salah in their T-shirt. They were singing a song, which in a nutshell, means 'Mo Salah is the Pharaoh of Egypt'. There were two Moroccan fans in the mix and they warned that their country would spring a surprise in Russia.

A French couple, wearing dresses matching their national flag, felt that the present team blended youth and experience well and have the ability to win the World Cup. Fans of Peru appeared more imposing in the mixed zone until the Iranians outnumbered them. The army of green and white paraded in a way as if they had won the World Cup. They were so big in size that they partially blocked the main road. The atmosphere was vibrant and consuming. It was really a sight to behold. Football is not only a beautiful game but also the most entertaining one, on the field and off it.

Brazil took a firm step onto the World Cup quarterfinals when they beat Mexico 2-0 at the Samara Arena yesterday.

After an evenly fought first half, Neymar gave the five-time world champions the lead sliding in from close before Roberto Firmino came off the bench to stab in the insurance in the 88th minute. Both goals were scored from five yards, from where it is very hard to miss the target.

The defeat meant Mexico made their exit from the round of 16 for a seventh straight time and despite their magnificent 1-0 win against Germany in the group stage, their dream of a World Cup win against the Selecao remain unfulfilled.

It was a high-quality game and despite playing in searing heat under the spaceship-like giant metal structure, both teams played with pace. 

Interestingly it was Neymar who served the first salvo in the fourth minute of the game. The star striker sent down a scorcher that Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa somehow managed to fist away despite being blind-sighted.

But after that Mexico took the game to the Brazilians with their forwards Carlos Vela and Hirving Lozano, operating wide, simply tore through rightback Fagner, looking like a fish out of water especially against Vela, who frantically switched ends. Vela also forced Filipe Luis to go for a risky tackle and was booked in the 40th minute, which means he will miss the next game as he was already on a yellow card.

Mexico got their first real chance in the 14th minute. Lozano took control of a long ball down the right side in expert fashion before sending a perfect cross but Javier Hernandez was too late in coming through to take advantage.

After absorbing the pressure in the first half, which ended with ball possession evenly split, the men in the gold shirts launched a blistering attack only to be denied by Ochoa, who stood tall under the bar. Neymar broke through the defence but his close-range shot was blocked by Ochoa in the 25th minute. One minute later Coutinho fired a shot from just inside the box over the crossbar. Mexico defender Edson Alvarez brilliantly tackled Neymar in the box, when the Brazilian superstar almost opened up space after being fed by an overlapping Fagner.

Brazil superstar Neymar is the toast of his teammates after he combined with Willian (not pictured) to give the Selecao their opening goal in the World Cup round of 16 clash against Mexico at the Samara Arena yesterday. Photo:Reuters

Ochoa then palmed a Gabriel Jesus shot as both teams headed in to cool their burning feet after a blistering half.

Mexico could have scored early after the break had Jesus Gallardo not fired a left-footer over the bar when he had the better option of feeding Vela.

Brazil finally ended the evening's duck in the 51st minute. Neymar backheeled to Willian on the edge of the Mexico penalty box and continued a curling run into the box. Willian drove through the penalty box and drilled the ball low and hard across the face of goal. Both Jesus and Neymar were chasing it and Neymar got it with a sliding shot.

Brazil were actually hardly troubled by Mexico after the goal and were surging more with Willian operating down the flank brilliantly. Brazil's second goal was a combined effort of two fresh legs and the brilliance of Neymar. Fernandinho, who came in for Paulinho, sent a through ball to Neymar who galloped down the flank before releasing a neat minus which Firmino, coming on as a substitute for Willian, stabbed it from close. It was a tough game for Brazil, who however showed rigidity in defence and the tenacity to withstand pressure, which is a hallmark of a team capable of going all the way.

The only disappointing aspect of the game was yet another Neymar playacting. He screamed in pain when he had a soft touch with Mexico's Miguel Layun in the touchline. Layun was actually trying to collect the ball from Neymar with his hand so that he could take a quick throw. But the way Neymar reacted it was as if he was kicked, which was not the case. He was jeered by the Mexican fans after that, something he can't complain about.