Yes, I am re-using pictures that I deem good luck for certain “most favoured nation” sides.  Wanna fight about it?

Croatia (+250) v. England (+130; draw +205) (14:00 EST, Fox)

As usual throughout their charmed tourney lives, the Cuck Liouns are favoured, despite not really being one of even the five or six best sides in the field.  Plus, with Les Frogs winning yesterday, the “written in the stars” shite will be unbearable.  I shall watch the match, but only the match and only on mute.  Fuck right off, world.  Except all hail Jordan Pickford’s badonkadonk.  Too bad the one man Army that is Luka Modric will be ded-ass tired in this one, especially once it goes to extra time (sorry FOAR the spoiler, but FUCK OFF, I am angry Hippo).

Wild Ass Guess: 1-1 Draw (England advance on pennos)

Balls: Croatia has an unbelievable midfield with Rakitic and Modric but the rest of the team should not be discounted.  Those guys NEVER give up.  You saw it in the Russia game and you saw it in the Denmark game.

It didn’t matter that things didn’t go their way. They stuck to their gameplan,  didn’t panic,  and came through in penalties.

On the other side,  you have the England team that has admittedly played pretty well albeit against light competition. Their toughest game so far was against Belgium and they promptly lost that one.

I feel England have taken full advantage of the opportunities that other teams have given them.  Will Croatia provide any? They certainly did to Russia and Denmark.

Prediction: This will be a tight game with a possible Croatia mistake leading to an England goal and Croatian brilliance leading to a Croatia goal.  1-1 after 90. Then,  Croatia scores the decider in Extra Time.  Croatia 2 England 1 after 120.

Litre_Cola: So what are we looking for here? The best schadenfreude is the English getting curbed stomped in the finals.  I am not sure I want to take that chance. Modric and Rakitic are world class and have more experience than the young midfield of the English. Modric looks to control the midfield and he wont shrink on the big stage. He has won eleventy hundred Champions League titles with the Madridistas. Up front Mandzukic looks like he works at the rent a car desk in Zagreb but is an effective finisher. Can the back four of Croatia keep up with the English pace down the flanks? That is the only flaw that I see going into this one for the murder checkerboards.

Here is a reason I want the English to lose. The betting houses have lowered the odds that Harry Kane, and Gareth Southgate get knighted if they win. Also, Twitter is deplorable right now and when I hear the “It’s coming home song” I instantly fly into a rage. I will admit I do like the viewing parties in England, when they score the beer showers are fantastic. The problem for me is that I really like this team. There is no Rooney, Terry, Lampard, Ferdinand, Or the two Coles. These guys are likable as is their manager who has brought waistcoat fashion back to England. It pleases me that so many Tottenham players are on this team instead of the usual United arrogant asses.

There is a Turkish referee for this match and I really don’t know who that helps.

Prediction: England 1- 1 Croatia, and it goes to kicks and England goes through and makes the local pub have a line up at 5 am on Sunday for a 9 am kickoff.

Wakezilla: As much as FIFA wants to deny that Lesser Footy and politics don’t go together, the truth is, sports and politics have gone together like peanut butter and jelly since time immemorial. Even with lesser footy being a multi-billion dollar industry, it’s still political. You cannot have players, representing a country, where their respective national anthem is played, playing against another team representing a country and then be shocked that politicians back home are using their success as a vehicle to promote their own bullshit.

I start off with this preface because England’s right wing/centre right has been the most vocal and benefited the most from The Crumpets’ success. Yes, most right wing parties in Europe have benefited, but, for the sake of length, and the fact I am currently very drunk, we’re only talking about England. While UKIP is mostly just cannon fodder at this point because the Tories—or should I say Theresa May—embraced their right wing populism, which has resulted in a blending of voters and party members. The blend in ideology is most evident in her policies towards immigration, despite  over 90%  of the masses in favoUr of immigration. Her hostile environment towards these people has resulted in decades long residents of Britain being denied access to healthcare, housing and jobs. That’s fucked up.

The truth is, not only do I actually like a lot of the players on the Crumpets’ side, but also enjoy the style of lesser footy that they play. I also think it’s pretty cool that 7 of their starting 11 players are immigrants or first generation players. But for political reasons, I can’t have England win. Not when it’s going to benefit a more intolerant side of society. Especially with whatever is going on in America right now (breastmilk is bullshit and any country who disagrees faces severe sanctions, America? Really?), we need a major power to not be so got damn nutty. This nutty right wing side, is the same side that talks about “Football coming home.” Pakistan is the capital of making balls for lesser footy. These same people wouldn’t even let football in, let alone play lesser footy in 2018. Fuck them with a rusty spoon.

Anyway, England definitely has an advantage as they are running on house money and they have not played over 240 minutes of lesser footy over the past two games. They have played 30 fewer minutes, and those minutes were not nearly as physical or as intense as the Croatia vs Russia match. Most importantly, their entire roster is intact.

On the other side, Croatia became the first team to win consecutive penalty kicks in a World Cup since Argentina in 1990.It should be noted that Argentian lost the third game. Psychologically, going to penalties once is incredibly draining. Doing it consecutively almost makes it seem inevitable that the team will pull up lame for the third match. Add in the fact that Croatia had to fire their assistant coach on Monday for praising the Ukraine while in Russia—in order to ensure Vida wasn’t suspended—and all of a sudden, laying an egg seems the likely scenario for Croatia, especially since they are also battling the injury bug. Right back Sime Vrsaljko, a guy whom led many attacks this tournament, is likely out. Danijel Subasic is going to be a game time decision. I’m not sure what exactly is wrong with him, but, Marcelo “Come at me” Brozovic is still smarting from an injury. He may have to be a sub, again.

Prediction:

Just like France vs Belgium, there’s a result I want and a result I think will happen. Since I’ve been banging the Croatia drum since before the tournament, I’d like them to prove me right and beat England. Unfortunately, I think they’re going to show up fatigued, resulting in an uninspiring 2-1 victory for England. Kane will score the game winner on a penalty kick in the second half of extra time.