And somewhat like that, after the final finisher yesterday ended and we learned which teams occupied the third (Belgium) and fourth (England) position in the final ranking respectively, all the looks and lights are now turning to Luzhniki, where 18: 00 the big final between France and Croatia will start the afternoon and we will learn about the new world champion about one and a half later (perhaps a little more if needed).
Generally speaking, this is a couple who, when they started the tournament, few predicted that they would be the two finalists, even though France was in it, which was anyway the first favorite to win. This, however, few were counting on Croatia, even if comparisons with 1998's golden generation had begun very early. At that time, the company of Sucer, Buban, Prosenetsky and Asanovic (among many others) had led Croatia to the nation's biggest national success at the World Cup semifinals, where they were excluded from ... France, taking third place in tournaments, being the winners in the small final against the Netherlands with 2-1.
This time, Monitors, Rackic, Mantuck, and Pericic took over the baton and not only met the high expectations, not only justified the above comparisons, but also overtaken them, excluding England in semi-final with a starter appearance and ensuring their first participation in a grand final of the World Cup.
So twenty years after their first meeting in the biggest football event, France and Croatia will meet again for the second time at the highest level, with the typical French hosts hoping for a similar success as before (we reminded they excluded Croatia in the semifinals before finally imposing Brazil on the final and conquering it) and the typical Croatian guests, according to the "hungry loaves dreams", aim at one step further so that the big dream becomes reality.
I have, of course, the French, because after the success of 1998, there have been unsuccessful efforts both in the World Cup and in the Euro, even though in some cases it was presented as the favorite. To recall some characteristic examples, 2006 had come back to the final with Italy, where he was defeated in the tricky penalty shootout, while at the 2016 Euro, where he was a hostess, he reached another big final, but he was defeated in the extension from Portugal to Santos (0-1), disappointing her world.
For France, this will be the third World Cup final in which he will participate, counting as we mentioned a 1998 against Brazil and a defeat (2006) in the penalty shootout from Italy. Didier Desamps has an extra incentive (not that he needed it), as France will pick up the trophy, it will enter a very closed club as it will be the only third that has managed to conquer the top of the world as both a player and a player and as a coach (Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer the other two of this elite group).
Talking about 1998, being the year of the greatest national success for France, the comparisons of the current team with the then one began, on the one hand, and the mention of some coincidences that may be good owls. For example, they are very much in the fact that the current coach Desamab has basically adopted the thinking behind the coach of the time when he is defensive, defying the high spectacle, without even hesitating to leave some "hit" names, as his predecessor had done.
In that tournament, among others they scored three defenders of the team, Lizarazu, Loran Blan and Turam - Paarden, Baran and Urumti respectively made it this year. Then the big star of the team was without a doubt Zinedine Zidane - this year's "brilliant star" is Ebapé. Also, the then main striker, Gjvars, though fighter and in the phases, had not managed to score any - this is the case with Ziro this year. Finally, for those who think that "charm" also has this meaning, during the 1998 World Cup, "charm" was Laurent Blanc's kiss in the ... head of the goalkeeper Fabian Bartez's head. This year's charm is the pastime of ... Rami's mustache, a move that was first begun by Empape before playing Argentina with the 16 of the event.
On the other side, the backround for Croatia may not be as rich, but it does not say anything about the substance. If France is thirsty for her return to the top of the world, Croatia is eager to conquer her for the first time in her maiden participation in the final, and the only thing is that no one can but pull her hat for perseverance, zeal and (with Denmark in "16", Russia in the quarter-final and England in the semifinals) to overcome himself, play three extensions and need the brisk and psychopedic penalty shootout process to qualify.
As far as dealing with the game itself and looking at some other stats or other shorts of the finals, it is worth mentioning initially that for France this will be the sixth final of a major event in which it will participate (third in World Cup, having three more entries in the final Euro) by measuring three conquests in the previous five. In addition, it is impressive that throughout the tournament, France has been losing (to be, back on the score) for just nine minutes of twelve seconds (in the match with Argentina) while Croatia was found chasing the score and in the three knockout matches he gave this year, with Denmark, Russia and England, managing to tie them all up and then win their qualifying. It is the first and only team that managed to reach the final, although it was first to lose all three knockout games before.
On the other hand, Croatia will hope for the fate of the rookie, being 13 a different nation that reaches the final. The last two "firsts" were France 1998 and Spain 2010, both of which eventually ... lift. If we do not need to be prolonged, it will be the first time in the history of the World Cup team (Croatia in this case) will have played four consecutive extensions.
In closing with our reference to the numbers of the final, it is worth mentioning that of the previous twenty, seven were judged after the end of 90, including the last three. More specifically, the 2006 in France - Italy was dominated by the Italians in the penalty shootout, while 2010 and 2014 winners were Spain and Germany ahead of Holland and Argentina respectively. We remind 2010 of the winning goal in the lead was Anders Iniesta, while in this 2014 gold scorer for Germany was Mario Guece.
In the purely racing part, neither Desamps nor Lazic is expected to see surprises, both of whom are going with the known and successful recipes for them. So it is almost certain that we will see Matthew again cover the left side in front of Hernandez, and on the other hand, it is almost certain that the most aggressive Kramaric will "sacrifice" to take up space in the middle line most defensive Brozovic.
Assessment: For many, including betting companies, France is a favorite of the show, and probably not unfairly, but when we talk about a final World Cup, in our humble view, any prediction is always risky. Clearly the most experienced France has a lead, but we do not think that the average 1,95 is telling the truth about the difficulty of the race, nor do we think it is enough to confront a group that, very simply, defeated.
Instead of selecting a point, we decided to resort to some special bets where we think there is some value above and that can make a profit.
One of them is Ivan Perisic having an effort inside Croatia. We are talking about a player who is constantly stepping on an area, who gets a lot of effort on him and who is generally always a threat to the opposing teams. In fact, Perisic has participated in 10 goals of Croatia in major competitions (six goals, four assists), having equalized the relative performance of the great Davor Suker (nine goals, one assist). This option is offered to us by bet365 at 2,25.
Second thought, to accept a card in the fight ... the usual suspect from Croatia's Domagoji Vida. We proposed him in the semi-final with England where he actually missed the ... feather, but we still think that the chances of being "yellowed" are increased, as he will certainly give help from the left to Ebapé's branding.
At the same wavelength, an interesting choice for a player to "turn yellow" is Paul Pogba, who will naturally have a lot of "work" in the middle line with Montrectic special attention.
Finally, a small bet on the exact 1-1 score, keeping in mind the fact that there is already a streak with three World Cup finals that went into prolongation, on the other hand that Croatia especially has done it ... bread because this was the score in the previous her three games.
Briefly our choices:
Exact Score: 1-1 @ 7,00 (goalbet)
Ivan Perisic over 0,5 home effort @ 2,25 (bet365)
Accept a card in the match: Domagoi Vida @ 3,40 (bet365)
Accept a card in the match: Paul Pogba @ 4,00 (bet365)
