Well, that was a boring match wasn't it? Not! England's World Cup campaign is off and running but why, oh why, do they have to put us through such agonies? The nerves were there for all to see, from both sides, and that made for a shaky opening to the match. Jordan Pickford, our centre-half, at least that's what it seemed like for much of the first half especially, was receiving more passes than the custom officials at the US borders!

England were being pressed by Croatia in the early stages and they were forcing England back, and too many passes from England ended back with Pickford. Reece James in particular, every time he received possession he would turn back towards our goal and pass backwards. This went on for the next five minutes until, surprisingly England took the lead. Harry Kane had a shot at goal which was deflected for a corner and from that Noni Madueka was brought down in the box by Luka Modric. Penalty! Up stepped Kane to take the kick and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic dives to his left to push the ball out with Josip Sutalo completing the clearance by heading out for another corner, or so we thought. But after a little time the referee ordered a retake because of encroachment by Sutalo and probably the goalkeeper too. So up stepped Harry Boy again and this time he cut out the stuttering run-up and rifled the ball home for 1-0. My immediate thoughts at the time were "It's going to be a long night!"

At the other end Croatia came back and when on 15 minutes a Croatian went down in the box one feared the worst, but play continued in a hectic hustle and bustle way without any real pattern developing in the game. Both goalkeepers had to show plenty of footwork in the next five minutes as the passes continued to bring them into the play. Is it me, or is your heart in your mouth when the ball is at Pickford's feet?

The first quarter finished with the busy Elliot Anderson cleverly intercepting a pass but then losing possession and that sort of summed up proceedings so far. The Hydration Break that followed was relief to the jangling nerves to be honest, with both sides finding it difficult to settle down. England's line-up looked a little disjointed but we were still winning.

On the restart England continued with their backward thinking which was driving this reporter nuts! It gave Croatia a licence to push England further and further back at times, but then, suddenly, on the half-hour, they lost possession and England broke quickly down the right through Madueka, and his low cross into the box was so close to Jude Bellingham's desperate lunge. That was a near miss and then on 34 minutes Madueka again runs clear but this time he delays his cross too long and the chance was gone. Two minutes later and Croatia punished England with an equaliser. England failed to clear properly and Martin Baturina roared in to hit a powerful drive into the far corner with Pickford well beaten.

That spurred Croatia on and for a short while England looked dejected with Croatia's crisp passing looking more effective than England's and it seemed that England didn't quite know what to do next. But, hey ho, what do I know? On 41 minutes England won another corner and this time Declan Rice's kick saw an unmarked Kane come from a deep position to meet the cross and power home a fine header. It was a good goal and much relief from the general mayhem of the game.

It looked as though that might be it for the half but Croatia had other ideas and once again they found chinks in England's weak defending. A clever chipped pass, a nod down in the box and there was Peter Musa to fire a low shot past Pickford. And that was half-time. England had been all over the place at times and certainly words would have to be said at the break.

Whatever was said by Thomas Tuchel, the restart began with a long pass to the right by the impressive Anderson that sent Bellingham on a run. His pace took him past a defender and he only had one thing on his mind, go for goal! And he did just that in style, striding forward and hitting a cross-shot into the far corner to make it 3-2. That goal really knocked the stuffing out of Croatia and not only that it lifted England to a new level. More urgency, more positive play and a new found passion to win the game.

Over the next ten minutes, but for Livakovic in the Croation goal, England could have had three or four more goals. Bellingham saw another effort saved, and then Nico O'Reilly should have scored with a far post header which went just the wrong side of the goal. Rice then forced another save before taking another corner which so nearly brought goal number four. First O'Reilly's header was brilliantly saved and from the follow up the goalie saved again, this time from Anthony Gordon. It was an amazing five minutes but it was definitely a case of Livakovic keeping Croatia in the match.

Then came a period where play calmed down a little before we reached the next Hydration Break. Croatia took off Modric and put on Mateo Kovacic to add strength to their midfield. One of the subs first involvement was to flatten Anderson with a foul! During the break we were treated to pundit Emma Hayes playing noughts and crosses on a blackboard. As Peter Kay might say, "What's that all about?"

England brought on Morgan Rogers for a tired looking Rice and then Marcus Rashford replaced Gordon. That was followed by Bukayo Saka replacing Madueke. On 76 minutes Pickford saved well, diving to his right following a shot from Marco Pasalic, and then shortly afterwards he saved another effort, this time from Igor Mantanovic. It proved that the game was far from over and it showed that England needed to regroup again as their defence still looked vulnerable. With that, Jed Spence replaced the excellent Bellingham and almost immediately the Spurs man brings another good save out of Livakovic.

The tension was still there for all the England fans but on 85 minutes we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. Rogers and Saka were involved in the build up, and Saka's pass found Rashford. He cleverly manoeuvred the ball onto his right foot and calmly stroked it into the far corner with Livakovic this time well beaten. Croatia kept going to the end and it was thanks to Kane's midriff that they didn't pull a goal back as the striker blocked a goalbound shot.

And that was about it from an incident packed match, the archetypal game of two halves, with England so much better after the break. My last word on this spectacle has to be

 PHEW!!
  

Source Notes