Japan have earned this! I’ve been really impressed with theirs short corners – it’s not often we see any that are any good – but what happens here is it goes to Doan, he goes one more to Morita, and when the ball comes back, he curls in a delectable cross to the far post, where Yoshida’s challenge squirts it square and Maeda forces home from close range!
42 min Here come Japan again, Ito stepping inside and crossing from the left, Juranovic taking the law into his own hands and thunking a header behind as Livakovic comes to collects. The corner yields another…
40 min Croatia win a free-kick when Yoshida fouls Petkovic, hurting himself in the process. The ball in, though, is poor, and Japan counter at pace, recycling when they don’t find an immediately telling ball, then Ito backheels and Kamada collects, a fine first touch and clever chop earning him a shooting opportunity down the left of the box … but his floaty curler drifts over the bar. Japan are much sharper and more cohesive in attack.
38 min “The only Murakami I’ve read is Kafka on the Shore,” says Joe Parson. “Intriguing, for sure, but it did not entice me to further pursue his oeuvre. I’m probably just a philistine. Shrug.”
I quite enjoyed it, but it’s a long way off Wind-Up Bird, I’d say. Norwegian Wood and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running are also good.
37 min Nice spin from Kamada, whose ball out wide is intercepted by Brozovic’s slide. Then “Modric gives it away again,” not words anyone supposed to ever speak, but Jermaine Jenas says them and he’s right.
36 min Doan looks really dangerous. Nominally, he’s playing on the right-wing, but actually, he’s buzzing about there and in central areas and Croatia haven’t got to grips with him.
34 min Morita lofts long and Doan controls well at an awkward height knocking off. Japan can’t find the right pass immediately, but they keep the ball well and one pacey pass, fed into Doan facilitates a one-touch turn around the corner into Maeda, who collects on the half-turn … but whose control means the ball doesn’t come with him.
33 min We’ve not seen much attacking from Japan these last 10 minutes, but they won’t mind that, because the more Croatia attack, the more the open themselves out to being countered on.
31 min It’s occurred to me that I’ve been talking about Japan for a good 90 minutes now, and haven’t recommended Haruki Murakami’s Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. So allow me to address that now: it’s an unbelievably good book, which I know is no revelation, but if you’ve not read it, you definitely should. He has other good ones too, but this is the best – by far, in mine.
30 min “Croatia’s kit is pretty smart”,” reckons Charles Antaki, “but it’s a shame they’ve given up on the big squares they had in 2018 – that was an aesthetic classic. In the same vein, I thought the Poland kit this year was absolutely beautiful: simple, clean and not contaminated with bizarre ad hoc decorations (like, for example, the ludicrous flames on the Belgian sleeves, not to mention the meaningless blue-stripey epaulets on the English shirts).”
I love all Croatia kits because of the uniqueness of the flag it represents. I enjoyed the white Ghana kit too – the red was dreadful – and think South Korea have captured a luscious shade of red.
28 min Croatia create, Modric lofting a trademark outside-of-the-boot ball for Perisic, on the left of the box; his volleyed cross it just too strong, but pressure is maintained and the attack sustained, Barisic crossing well, Perisic flicking on, and Kramaric only just unable to apply the far-post poke that would’ve put his team in front.
28 min “We played a version of Green Pig,” says Joe Pearson, “but you put your thumb to your forehead with your fingers fanned out. No one says anything. The last person to notice has to ‘sniff it up’. I know, I’m sorry.”
26 min Here come Croatia, a hopeful ball from Gvardiol missed by Yoshida and releasing Petkovic! He trundles into the box, on its left, and has Perisic shrieking for a cut-back and Kramaric squealing for a square-pass … so he hangs onto it until a defenders comes close, before trying a nutmeg ball towards the latter, with predictable results.
24 min A foul on Gvardiol gives Croatia a free-kick 40 yards from goal and he goes forward. Modric curls the free-kick into the middle of the box – I’m not sure what he’s aiming for there – but it’s not properly cleared, and from the edge, Gvardiol – with a decent angle and a bit of time – finds an angle of elevation that looked impossible given the speed on the ball and his body-shape.
22 min “My children regularly leave me black and blue with a variation called ‘Mini Punch’ whenever a Mini is seen,” brags Ben Campbell. “And it’s not the punches which are mini…”
They have a tremendous grasp of irony, so must be very advanced. Top, top parenting.
20 min Yup, Japan have Croatia on absolute toast – mmm, absolute toast – in wide areas, Ito skinning Barisic again and crossing low … but Livakovic is able dive onto the ball, unchallenged, at his near post.
19 min This time, Doan intimates a shot from 35 yards, then dinks into the box and Croatia clear. This game’s tempo is like that of the finest Not Kosher.
18 min Japan play into Doan, who sees Gvardiol coming so gets body between man and ball, wearing the inevitable flattening. Free-kick Japan…
17 min Kamada finds Nagatomo down the left, and he comes inside then curls in another gorgeous cross that Maeda looks like he’s up for first … but isn’t, Gvardiol doing just enough to stop him heading for goal. Japan look really dangerous going forward – more so than Croatia so far.
16 min Croatia knock it about, Lovren lofting a ball down the inside-right channel, Modric – how’s he got the energy to get down there? – controlling, on the run, with the chest-shoulder junction. He’s penalised for handball, which looks pretty harsh to me.
14 min “Nutmeg Rush of course!” says Kieran Monaghan. “It combined the skill of football with violence. No goals, no teams just your footwork against a pack of ravenous school chums that wanted you to taste their leather. The aim of the game was to avoid the ball going through your legs and should such an event occur, proceed with handing out a beating to the guilt party. It was strange as there was no official time limit or severity relating to any ‘rushing’, the tough lads would accept maybe a punch each from the nerds and at times there could be a real solemn moment prior to them taking a whack, more of an obligation to dish out one punch, in the arm mostly. Others, well, the less said the better. I remember a lad missed the ski trip as he’d been protecting himself from being kneed in the tailbone repeatedly and broke two fingers. A game of fine margins, indeed.”
12 min Modric tries to pick a way through the centre of the Japan defence but his pass is intercepted and Japan build, a pass out to Ito followed by a sensational low cross that Maeda, who steals away from Lovren, can’t quite reach on the slide … then Nagatomo, at the back post, fouls Juranovic trying to force the ball in. Japan have made two really decent chances here, and this is a really good game already.
10 min “Did anyone else play Secret Service?” wonders Guy Stephenson. “One person discretely puts their finger to an imaginary earpiec and waits for others to catch on and do the same, until only one person is left not touching an earpiece. That person becomes the President, and is quickly tackled to the ground and piled up on for their own safety.”
Altruism at its finest.
8 min A ball down the left sees Perisic pursue Tomiyasu and give him a crafty shove in the back – not enough excuse for the backpass he tickles nowhere near Gonda! Persisic, entering the box from the side, is in! He’s got so much time, but can’t measure his finish into the far corner, Gonda shoving out and Kramaric unable to get around the ball to force hit home through the 63 defenders gathered between it and goal.
7 min Croatia’s midfield are starting to impose themselves; is starting to impose itself, I’m not sure. I think both might work. Meantime, Casiano Martinez returns: “Oh, I’ve got another. Dark Fights. On your birthday, black out the bedroom and have all your friends wail on each other, for a minute, ideally but impossible to be certain, targeting the birthday boy. You know, typing this down I can see why my wife looks aghast at me when I tell her about these games, or why she mutters about boys being so stupid.”
We did birthday beats, and also pole jobs, which involved you getting a hiding till you went horizontal, then you were charged at the nearest upright metal – fence, goalpost – legs apart.
5 min “Growing up in NYC in the mid-60s,” says Barry Ragin, “friends and I had a game called Green Pig. To put it in family friendly terms, if anyone passed gas in the room, everyone had to put their fist to their chin and say ‘Green Pig.’ Last one got a pummelling. Imagine my surprise meeting someone nearly two decades younger than me who had grown up in rural North Carolina who played the same game.”
Art transcends geographical differences.
4 min Croatia, though, are like a boa constrictor, gradually strangling opponents until they can’t breathe. They won’t be fazed by any of this; six of their last seven tournament knockout games have gone to extra time.
3 min Croatia try to play out and Maeda slides in on Livakovic, almost robbing him! This is a really good and intense start from Japan.
2 min …and Doan’s ball in is a belter, flying flat across the box and missing a decent touch from everyone. Someone, though, sticks it behind and Japan go short with the corner, Ito swishing in another tremendous ball … that Taniguchi heads wide of the far post! He should’ve done better, but Japan are into this!
1 min Maeda advances down the left and Juranovic fouls him, so Japan have an early chance to stick a ball into the box…
1 min And away we go!
Tiesto’s Lets Get Down to Business pumps. It’s actually the tune my wife plays when doing the Passover cleaning; I’m not sure what that tells us.
“Yellow car?” says Casiano Martinez. “We played a variation of it called Punch Buggie, where instead of yellow cars we went by Volkswagen Beetles. You just yelled the color of the car along with the phrase punch buggie. All of the mentioned rules apply. Incidentally, this didn’t have a name but I’ve wondered if others played it, when I was in middle school the boys used to come behind each other when one of us was at the urinals and either pull you out or push you in (mid-stream of course), and to this day I don’t know what was worse.”
If you stand with one foot in front of the other, you prevent the push in. I realise this tip comes too late to be of much use.
Anthem time…
Question, perhaps the most Guardian question of all-time: does Croatia have the best beaches and the best ice cream in Europe? If there are and is better, I’ve not experienced them and it.
Here come the teams!
BBC telly have also done a little Gvardiol spot, prompting Alan Shearer to quip that he’d look good in black and white – based on the below, I guess he’s dropping Sven Botman. Gary Lineker points out that he’s said that every time a player’s done well in Qatar; “makes a change,” replies Shearer, without taking a second to wonder why.
Feel free to send in your other childhood – or not – games. Another I recall is a group standing in a circle with arms around shoulders and tripping each other until only one person was left standing. I went home, told my dad about it, and turned out he’d played it at primary school too, so it’s at least 65 years old.
“There is no way a taxi on tv should count!” says Joe Pearson. “If media were allowed, one could simply keep a picture of a yellow car on their phone and pull it up whenever they wanted to give their competitor a smack. Fine margins, you know.”
I can’t lie, the other day I did ask my daughter to step outside, so I could yellow car her using a strange van-type thing that parks down our road and never moves.
Email! “Yellow Car was officially banned in a small Scottish enclave in North Northants,” says Jack Roe, “because my mate James McCallum refused to stop belting me whenever he saw any vehicle even slightly jaundiced. For the record, I’m a purist: cars only, in person, one dig, above the waist. Anything else is just violence.”
Funny you say that, my nine-year-old has recently been grousing because I’ve started giving her a few little shots as she’s clocking me as hard as she can. Tangentially, I’ve just remembered a similar game of my youth which we knew as Not Kosher. The bed was kosher, everywhere else was not kosher, and the last one left remained kosher so was therefore the winner. Er, and I’ve just consulted with Wikipedia, learnt that the first Royal Rumble was in 1988, and have instructed my lawyers to sue Vince McMahon.
I think it took five minutes for BBC to start talking about England. What kept them?
Here’s today’s World Cup Football Daily:
Breaking news: I think Gary Lineker has new glasses – and surprisingly, they’ve got a crossbar. I absolutely did not see that one coming.
On 5 live, Harry Redknapp’s Niko Kranjcar is talking about Josko Gvardiol, who looks a very serious player. His best attribute, says Kranjcar, is his decision-making, but he also reads the game really well and is good on the ball whether passing or carrying. I mentioned that Croatia have only scored on one game, but they’ve also only conceded once, and he’s a big part of the reason why.
Yellow car rule verification: does the game apply solely to cars, or are other vehicles, such as lorries, buses and ambulances allowed? And do the cars have to be seen in person?
Yours, someone who got whacked when a New York taxi appeared on television yesterday.
Croatia might also fancy themselves out wide – as any team playing an opponent fielding three at the back should, but I also reckon they’ll expect Japan to leave gaps there when they fly forward. They’ve struggled to score in this competition – both Belgium and Morocco have shut them out – so have rearranged their front three once again in a bid to find some edge.
Thinking about how the game might go, my guess is that Japan will look to get at Croatia down the sides. They’ll know they’ve no chance of dominating possession so I doubt they’ll even try – in picking two central-midfielders against Croatia’s three, they’re effectively ceding control of the game. Which makes a lot of sense, because even if they had a third man in there, they’d still be struggling to dictate, so may as well try and create overloads out wide.
As for Croatia, Borna Sosa is ill, so Borna Barisic, of Rangers, replaces him while, in attack, Marko Livaja loses out to Bruno Petkovic.
So what does it all mean? Well, Japan are without the suspended Kou Itakura, who is replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu on the right side of the back three. Ao Tanaka, meanwhile, is on the bench, with Wataru Endo coming in, and Ritsu Doan, the supersub who scored against both Germany and Spain, replaces Takefusa Kubo, who I think is injured.
Japan (3-4-3): Gonda; Tomiyasu, Yoshida, Taniguchi; Ito, Morita, Junya, Nagatomo; Doan, Maeda, Kamada. Subs: Kawashima, Mitoma, Saai, Hato, Schmidt, Minamino, Machino, Yamane, Tanaka, Ueda, Shibasaki, Asano, Soma.
Croatia (4-3-3): Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Barisic; Brozovic, Kovacic, Modric; Petkovic, Kramaric, Perisic. Subs: Grbic, Ivusic, Erlic, Majer, Vlasic, Livaja, Pasalic, Budimir, Orsic, Vida, Sutalo, Sucic, Jakic.
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)
So who had this one on their predictor? Er, not me. But what a match is in prospect – let’s be real, it’s the only one of the eight ties in which the outcome seems in doubt at the outset – and feels by far the most likely to give us extra-time and the lottery of successfully executing a precision-skill under intense pressure.
Japan have been an absolute rush and one of the most affirming joys of this World Cup. Beating Germany and Spain is one thing – well, two things – but beating Germany and Spain from behind is one of the – well, two of the – most reeeediculous feats in recent times. And that’s only part of it: what’s been just as wondrous is the inspirational invention and screeching intensity of their play; if they can find similar this afternoon, we’re in for a treat.
However, if anyone has the antidote for that, it’s Croatia and, in particular, Luka Modric. He may be 37-years-old, but his ageless genius allows the last of the great schemers to somehow orchestrate proceedings involving 21 other, younger players. I say somehow because, like all the most gifted exponents of any art, quite how he does it is shrouded in mystery. But he is also abetted by the all-round efficiency of Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic, a midfield trio accomplished enough to decide which of these teams progresses.
This is going to be really, really good.
Kick-off: 6pm local, 3pm GMT
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