Croatia prepares for ‘big game’ against England – defender Vida

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SOCHI, July 8, 2018 (BSS/TASS) – After defeating hosts Russia on Saturday night in Sochi, the Croatian national football team is preparing for a ‘big game’ against team England in the semifinals round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Croatian footballer Domagoj Vida said.

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The Croatian national football team entered the semifinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup knocking out hosts Russia in the quarterfinals match on Saturday night in Sochi with the 4-3 penalty shootout win following 2-2 draw in the regular and 30-minute overtime period.

“The whole team played at its best,” Vida told journalists after the match. “We experienced minor problems at the beginning of the game, but it is not important anymore.”

“We are now ready for the big game against England,” the 29-year-old defender of the Croatian national team stated.

Team England also cleared the quarterfinal round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on July 7 with a 2-0 win over Sweden at the stadium in Samara. England and Croatia are now set to meet at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on July 11.

After a pair of the quarterfinal matches played on July 6, team France enjoyed a confident defeat of 2-0 over Uruguay in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, while Belgium went for 2-1 win over the legendary Brazilian team in the city of Kazan.

Russia is staging its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a spectacular opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of June 14.

The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.