Croatia Book Their Spot

Mariano Mandzukic celebrates his extra time winner.

Sorry England, but it isn't coming home this year.  Croatia on the other hand will go toe to toe with France to see who will lift the Cup this weekend.  England started very well and scored after just five minutes on a Kieran Trippier free kick, but they were unable to add to their lead despite several great opportunities in the first half.  The game was pretty slow and uneventful after the break, but when Croatia's Ivan Perisic scored from a long cross in the 68th minute, Croatia seized the game by the neck and the stunned English were never able to recover.  Croatia had control until the full time whistle but England's goal keeper, Jordan Pickford, kept them out and forced the extra period.  In the second extra period, Croatia finally got their deserved winner on a play that reflected the way both teams were playing.  Croatia were playing with heart despite their exhaustion, while England just looked worn out.  So, it was fitting that when the ball was headed backwards toward the goal, Croatian forward, Mario Mandukic, simply reacted more quickly and decisively than English defender John Stones and was able to put the ball past Pickford who was left totally exposed by his sluggish defensive line.  There were ten minutes left for England to mount a comeback and they did manage a few dangerous free kicks and corners, but never really threatened the Croatian goal.  In the end, it was a sad end for England's dream but a very well deserved victory for Croatia. 

For the BISERGS, that moves an amazing five Croatia owners into the top 5.  Never in the history of the BISERGS has a single team had such an impact on the success of their owners.  Rick has both France and Croatia and continues to lead.  Kelley has Croatia paired with Belgium.  Rachel and Levi's only remaining team is Croatia and Lisa has both Croatia and England.  Lisa is training Rick by nearly 9 points, so that means England would have to beat Belgium by 18 goals and Croatia would have to win for her to claim the title of BISERGS.  Heading into the final weekend, Dawn, Gray, Ari, Lindsay and Krista round out the top 10.  They all have a team remaining, except for Ari, who has both teams in the third place game. 

The 3rd place game is Belgium against England on Saturday and the Final between France and Croatia will be played Sunday.