Rakitic dreams of going further than 1998 Croatia heroes

Sweden are delighted to make it to the quarter-finals but they are not satisfied yet, coach Janne Andersson told reporters after his side edged Switzerland 1-0 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1994.

In another gritty team performance, Emil Forsberg's deflected shot secured victory over a misfiring Switzerland who were smothered by Sweden's defence, and set up a clash with either England or Colombia on Saturday.

"This team personifies the approach we all share - we work for each other on and off the pitch, and I'm incredibly happy that it's paying off," Andersson told reporters.

"We're going to focus on one thing when we've digested this victory, and that's the game on Saturday. We don't even know what team we will face yet, but that is going to be the focus of our preparations," he said.

The Swedes have now seen off Netherlands from their qualifying group, Italy in a playoff, Germany at the group stage and Switzerland in the last 16, leading to questions about whether other nations have underestimated Andersson and his men.

"I think you'd have to ask everyone else that question. We know we are a good team, that we've earned our successes - we know how we got this far," the 55-year-old explained.

"We've worked this way throughout, we're continuing the same way, and what other teams and countries think about that is not interesting."

The delighted Sweden fans stayed behind to sing their modest coach's name long after the final whistle, and he came back out after the teams had left the field.

"It's a surreal feeling, to be standing in St Petersburg on the pitch afterwards and people are calling out my name. That feels strange - during the match I'm focused on the game," he said.

Sweden may have exceeded expectations in Russia but they are not done yet, and Andersson and his squad will now assess the players and their coming opponents before going into battle again.

"Now it's about taking the next step. We're not satisfied with this, and nothing more," he said.

"We want to win the next match as well - if you start to lower the bar, the level of ambition, that's not going to make for satisfaction."

TOO SLOW AND LACKING EMOTION, SAYS SWISS COACH

Switzerland were too slow and lacked emotion, coach Vladimir Petkovic said after watching his side meekly surrender to Sweden.

"We are sorely disappointed, we wanted to do more," Petkovic said. "Sweden did precisely what they were good at and that was enough to beat us. We should have done things better, but we were not good enough to win this match."

Switzerland had more possession but were too predictable to find a way past the massed Swedish defence.

"We wanted to play down the wings but we were too slow, our passes were not good," said Petkovic. "We played out of defence too slowly and we also tried to play diagonal passes, but we were not good enough."

The defeat was doubly disappointing as the tournament had been seen as a golden opportunity for a generation of players -- many sons of immigrants from the Balkans -- which is regarded as the finest the country has produced.

"We didn't find any fluidity and we got stuck in the middle," said Petkovic. "Our emotions were playing tricks on us.

"Sweden are a strong team but we didn't expect to be losing against them -- but there were tiny details..."

He added: "This game was only ever going to be decided with a own goal or a long-range shot."

David Beckham will be thinking of restaurants with delicious food as he won a friendly England versus Sweden bet against Zlatan Ibrahimovic, with the terms of the bet stating that if England beat Sweden in the quarter-final to book a place in the World Cup 2018 semi-final, Zlatan would be buying dinner for Beckham where ever he wants in the world.

England defeated Sweden 2-0 in their quarter final match of the World Cup—courtesy of goals from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli and booked a place in the semi-finals of the tournament.

The two former Paris Saint-Germain team mates entered into a wager ahead of the quarter-final clash between England and Sweden. Ibrahimovic was the one who initiated the bet through social media and Beckham also responded promptly.

Ibrahimovic vowed to take ex-England skipper Beckham out for a meal at any restaurant in the world if he found himself on the losing side.

That promise was countered by Beckham that Ibrahimovic could pick any item he wanted from Ikea if the Three Lions came unstuck.

As Gareth Southgate’s side continued their impressive run in the World Cup 2018 and came over Sweden after a comfortable 2-0 victory, Beckham can start readying himself for a delicious treat. However, Ibrahimovic would now have to join Beckham at an England game, wearing an England shirt and indulge in an English delicacy at the interval, as per the terms of the bet.

Ibrahimovic is yet to comment on the bet since full-time, but he did express his enormous admiration for the players who reached the quarter-finals.

“Every player should get a golden ball in Sweden,” Ibrahimovic tweeted. “What they did will be remembered forever. Thank you for the show.”

Ivan Rakitic scored the winning penalty as Croatia beat Russia 4-3 in a shoot-out after a dramatic 2-2 draw on Saturday to end the World Cup hopes of the host nation and advance to a semi-final against England.

Brazilian-born Mario Fernandes had kept Russia's dream alive when he headed home in the 115th minute to level the scores and force penalties, but he and Fedor Smolov both failed to convert their spot-kicks in Sochi.

Croatia, for whom Andrej Kramaric and Domagoj Vida had earlier found the net, advance to their first World Cup semi-final since 1998. They will face England, who beat Sweden 2-0 earlier, at the Luzhniki Stadium Moscow on Wednesday.

In contrast for Russia, who had taken the lead through another Denis Cheryshev wonder goal in the first half, there is only heartbreak as they finally go out.

The Russians, riding a wave of euphoria after unexpectedly knocking out Spain in the previous round, were determined to carry on to a first World Cup semi-final since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

But Croatia came into this game as the favourites. They may have a population of little over four million, but amongst that number are two of the finest midfielders in the world in Rakitic and Luka Modric.

They dominated the match, but Russia contributed to another fantastic occasion in what has been an outstanding World Cup.

The hosts went ahead thanks to a bolt from the blue just after the half-hour mark.

Cheryshev, who scored three times in the group-stage wins over Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was back in the line-up here after beginning on the bench against Spain last weekend.

He cut in from the left, exchanged passes with Artem Dzyuba and skipped away from a Modric challenge before firing home a superb shot from 25 yards on his left foot.

Croatia were stunned. But the Russian lead had lasted only eight minutes before they drew level, Mario Mandzukic cutting the ball back for Kramaric to head home.

Ivan Perisic hit the post for Croatia in a second half they controlled, yet they had to limp on into extra-time, with goalkeeper Danijel Subasic providing a scare as he hurt a hamstring late on.

However, Croatia took the lead for the first time in the 101st minute, defender Vida getting his head to a corner to send the ball low into the net, helped by substitute Vedran Corluka getting out of the way.

Vida removed his shirt as he ran away in celebration, possibly thinking Croatia were heading through.

However, Russia found the resources to draw level again, substitute Alan Dzagoev holding up a free-kick for Fernandes to head home in the 115th minute.

His shoot-out miss proved pivotal, however, especially after Smolov's weak attempt at a chipped penalty was saved by Subasic.

For Croatia, Mateo Kovacic had his penalty saved, but Marcelo Brozovic, Modric and Vida all netted theirs before Rakitic stroked in the winner.

Earlier in the day, Harry Maguire and Dele Alli scored as England comfortably defeated Sweden 2-0 in Samara to reach the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1990.

Leicester defender Maguire headed in the opening goal from a corner on 30 minutes, with Alli adding a second just before the hour.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford then produced a series of crucial saves in the final half-hour to seal England's long-awaited spot in the last four.

A month ago, if someone had predicted that France and Croatia would play the World Cup final in Russia, most of us would have dumped it as an impossible option. But here we are with that spectacularly different reality -- the Les Bleus and the Blazers lining up for today's final at the Luzhniki Stadium.

France are no rank outsiders -- they are a proven force and won the World Cup in 1998. But Croatia have certainly lived up their nickname -- blazing their way to their first-ever World Cup final. And if Croatia win, they will be the ninth nation to lift the coveted trophy.

Do they deserve it? Let's have the facts -- they played three knockout games on the trot for 120 minutes and more importantly they did it the hard way. Croatia won their semifinal against England in style – coming from a goal down to win it 2-1 in extra time, with Mario Mandzukic slamming the winner on 109 minutes. Not only that, they won their three group stage games which included a thumping 3-0 win against two-time world champions Argentina.

This Croatia team have so far not only demonstrated that they have got the qualities, if not pedigree, to go all the way to win the title. They will be up against a team they lost thrice against two draws in the last five meetings, but Croatia's inspirational coach Zlatko Dalic said past statistics would not win his opponents today's final.

“Statics, tradition and head to head -- I don't buy those. Tradition is there to be demolished. We do not mind who is on the other side of the pitch. We have come here to enjoy the moment and give our best. We deserved to play in the final; we want the world to watch Croatia play; we want most of the world to root for us. This is important. We will give our all, we will enjoy our football and whoever is the better team may they win,” Dalic said ahead of the final.

After that semifinal heart-break against France in their maiden World Cup appearance in 1998, Croatia lurched from bad to worse in the following three editions of the World Cup. They made it to Russia at the last moment but since then it has been a spectacular journey for them with Luca Modric playing the key role in a very experienced side.

They might have played more minutes and got less rest compared to France and they have so far proved that they love to grind their way out of a hole. This tough mentality might prove handy for them against an extremely talented yet raw French side, who had only one tough game against Belgium in the semifinal. France were successful in defending a 54th-minute Umtiti lead against Belgium. But the ploy of sitting back against a vastly experienced Croatia side might prove costly for them.

France will bank on the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe to create something on the break. But the key player for the Les Bleus would once again be again Antoine Grizemann and it will be interesting to see who controls the midfield.

France captain Hugo Lloris is well aware that this Croatia team is not only very experienced but have the quality too. He also reminded that they would have to be at their best if they want France to lift the World Cup for a second time and put behind the home disappointment of the Euro 2016 final against Portugal.

Twenty years ago, France joined the exclusive group of World Cup winners, defeating Brazil in the final. Croatia made their first appearance in that year and bowed out, suffering an agonising 2-1 semifinal defeat against France. They will get a second chance at redemption. And if they can do that, it will be gift to the dreamers. Croatia is a county of only four million people, but Dalic promised that the seismic wave back in Croatia would be even bigger than Brazil and Argentina if they win the final.

Belgium shot Brazil out of the World Cup with a 2-1 quarterfinal win yesterday to set up a semifinal clash with France on Tuesday.

The five-time champions did everything in their power to crawl out of the 2-0 hole they had found themselves in within the first 30 minutes -- which saw Fernandinho head the ball into his own net before Kevin de Bruyne fired in a clean right-footer into Allison Becker's far post -- but could only pull back one in the 83rd minute of the game. It was a Renato Augusto header that finally beat Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who made at least half a dozen saves to take the men in red close to dreamland.

Earlier, in the first quarterfinal match, France had made light work of Uruguay in a 2-0 win, who looked lost in attack without star striker Edinson Cavani to complement Luis Suarez. Raphael Varane soared high and headed home the opening goal from a brilliant Antoine Griezmann free-kick in the 40th minute before Griezmann doubled the lead in the 61st minute courtesy of goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's incredible blunder.

For Brazil it was a chastening blow after playing so well in the last three games. Interestingly, it was the very ground where young French forward Kylian Mbappe destroyed Argentina with his pace and guile a week ago. Last night it was the turn of Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku, who rattled a Brazil defence that conceded just one goal in the last four games.

Brazilian superstar Neymar (L) lies on the floor in anguish after just his second ever competitive defeat with Brazil in a World Cup quarterfinal against Belgium yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Belgium's opening goal came off a quick counter attack. Lukaku made a darting run down the middle before releasing the ball to Marouane Fellaini, whose shot was blocked for a corner. Belgian defender Vincent Kompany's backwards header from the near post was deflected into Brazil's net by Fernandinho, who actually had a miserable game after coming into the team as a replacement for the suspended Casemiro.

Belgium silenced the five-time world champions again in the 31st minute. Although De Bruyne scored with neat right-footer past Alisson, the instigator was once again a giant Lukaku. The 25-year-old powered through the middle and drew almost all of Brazil's defensive pack towards himself before releasing a perfect through pass wide on the right-hand side from where Manchester City forward De Bruyne made no mistake in drilling a low shot.

By time Brazil captain Miranda was entrusted with the duty to defuse Lukaku, the Belgian had already done the damage. After that it was the Courtois' turn, the Chelsea goalkeeper who kept Brazil at bay time and again.

It is not that Brazil were at the receiving end in a game that was played at a frantic pace. They were not only unlucky to have one of their many attempts come off the post, but they had at least four shots saved by Courtois in the first half.

On the opposite end of the scale were the Red Devils, who revelled in their victory with a healthy mixture of disbelief and euphoria. Photo: Reuters

Brazil made two changes in the second half with Roberto Firmino coming on in place of Willian at the interval before Gabriel Jesus made way for Douglas Costa in 55th minute to bolster the attack.

They created a lot of opportunities but were only to be blamed as they wasted at least four chances with only Courtois to beat. Augusto replaced Paulinho in the 70th minute and headed a Coutinho floater into the net in the 73rd minute.

Brazil still had plenty of time to score but somehow managed to shoot the ball wide from advantageous positions.

With the game heading into the last ten minutes and a tiring Belgium resorting to time wasting, Neymar dashed down the flank before providing a neat cutback to Firmino, whose left footed shot on the turn flew over the bar.

Augusta had only Courtois to beat in the 80th minute but shot the ball miles over the bar. Brazil had a final chance to take the game into extra-time when Neymar nicely fed Coutinho with a superb cutback in the 85th minute. But the Barcelona forward, who had earlier in the tournament scored a couple of magnificent goals, somehow managed to shoot the ball over the bar from top of the box.  And when Courtios tipped Neymar's curler over the bar, a defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Brazil's departure from the tournament means that six out of the eight teams who have already won the World Cup have left the biggest stage. France, who dispatched former champions Uruguay 2-0 in the first match of the day, are one of two remaining heavyweights alongside England.