Modric proves his majesty as English hearts are broken in Russia

Gerry Cox

So football is not coming home after all.

England went out with a whimper rather than a bang, and much as they can point to a number of extenuating circumstances, the bandwagon ran eventually ran out of steam and the team went out of the World Cup.

On balance of play, Croatia were the better team and deserve to be facing France in the final on Sunday in Moscow.

Having been given the huge boost of an early goal, Gareth Southgate’s team conceded the initiative and two goals to lose a game that should have been in their grasp.

There will be recriminations, as ever, but at least no player will be hung out to dry, no effigy will be hung up on lampposts, as David Beckham’s was 20 years ago.

Southgate knows only too well how it feels to be cast as a pantomime villain for missing a penalty in a semi-final, in Euro 96, but there were no villains in Moscow, nor heroes either.

Possibly Turkish referee Cuneyt Cunir will be criticised for some eccentric decisions, failing to punish some cynical Croatian play early on or allowing Ivan Perisic to score with a boot raised over the head of Kyle Walker.

But a deeper analysis of this game, will show that the bigger problem came when his side reverted to type and started lumping long balls forward rather than play the controlled possession game that had looked so promising and fruitful for them up to this stage.

They also came up against arguably the best midfielder in the world, Luka Modric, who patrolled the pitch like a lion and showed up the biggest weakness in what is an otherwise solid England side – the lack of world-class No.10.

Modric was majestic, recovering from the mishap of conceding the free-kick from which Kieran Trippier gave England the lead, to drive his side into the final. France will be clear favourites to win on Sunday, but any team that has Modric running the show from midfield can do anything — just ask Real Madrid.

England had no answer to his artistry, and their one world-class player, Harry Kane, was increasingly drawn deeper from his natural forward role to try to replicate the control that Modric gives Croatia. Kane is many things but he is no match for Modric.

Yet it could have been so different if England had stuck to the methodology that had got them this far, playing a more modern brand of football and exceeding expectations with theirs.

When Trippier curled in a beauty of a free-kick after only five minutes, the swathes of England fans in the stadium and the millions back home thought football really was coming home.

It should have been the springboard for Gareth Southgate’s men to put the game beyond Croatia.

But football is a strange game, and the mental side of it even weirder. For a while Croatia wobbled, and looked unsettled, hitting simple passes astray and struggling to find any cohesion.

Instead of taking advantage, however, England seemed confused by whether to stick or twist.

In the end, they did neither.

Chances were there for them, though. Kane, deployed effectively as a number ten behind Raheem Sterling, lacked his usual killer instinct and fluffed his lines twice inside eight minutes.

Jesse Lingard missed a golden chance to double England’s lead after 35 minutes.

It was to prove expensive.

Croatia were in control of the midfield, and in modern football that means they ran the game. England held out, perhaps longer than they were rightfully entitled to, until Perisic equalised in the 68th minute.

When John Stones let Mario Mandzukic get goalside of him in the 13th minute of extra-time, there was nothing lucky about the striker’s finish.

It was a blow from which England never looked like recovering, and at the final whistle they were on their knees, literally and figuratively.

It is not the end of the world for Southgate and his young side, who have proved that a change in philosophy can enable the English to get to the last four of a major tournament, and should give some comfort ahead of the 2020 European Championship.

But try telling that to Southgate, his staff and players, as they have to play out the third place playoff in St Petersburg on Saturday, the game that no-one wants to participate in.

It will be cold comfort for England, but a night of celebration for Croatia and a chance to avenge their own semi-final defeat by France in 1998.