If you have any English friends or follow the English football media, you know that the last and only time England won the World Cup was 1966 and they have been 'rubbish' at major tournaments ever since. Before every World Cup or European Championship the English swing violently between being sure they have the best team in the history of the world throughout the buildup to the tournament and then being filled with dread and doom minutes before the opening kickoff. Their most frequent means of being eliminated over those many dark English years has been the dreaded penalty kick shootout. They slayed that beast against Colombia in the round of 16 and the characteristic English pessimism has been slowly giving way to the dare to dream lenses that most Americans view their sports teams through. The song 'It's Coming Home' has been the theme song for the 'Three Lions' and it captures the glory of the past and the mix of hope and angst of an English World Cup summer. The lyrics say '30 years of hurt' but that was when this song was written in 1996. It could be updated to 52 years of hurt for this summer.
Today is the next step in the English dream, but it is also the first time in Croatia's history that they've come this far and they have every right to think this is their year. Croatia demolished Argentina in the group stage, and survived two heart stopping penalty shootouts against Denmark and Russia to arrive in the semifinals. Croatia has an excellent team at every position, but lacks a striker to fill the net with goals. They've been able to overcome that glaring weakness so far, but many think it will catch up with them at some point. If Croatia can win in the penalty kick shootout, then maybe a world class goal scorer isn't necessary for them. Lisa, Levi, Rachel, Rick and Kelley hope that's the case again today.
England do have a striker this summer. In fact, Harry Kane has six goals this summer and is leading the race to the golden boot. (We'll politely ignore the fact that five of those came against Tunisia and Panama and 3 have come from the penalty spot). This is a different England team. They are young and energetic. In past tournament individual egos have been bigger than the team and made them impossible to coach. This summer they are playing as a team and Gareth Southgate has managed to put his stamp on the way they play. There is reason for optimism for Shelby, Ari, Ivan, Carol and Lisa and all of England.
In the race for the BISERGS, the scenarios are becoming clearer. Rick leads and a Croatia victory would make him hard, but not impossible to catch. He shares Croatia with second place Kelley, who also has the Belgians in the third place game, so she can pick up two victories next weekend and overtake Rick. Lisa has both teams in today's game, so she would do well to see a highscoring tie with England winning on penalty kicks. A convincing win for England would put Ari within striking distance to win the BISERGS and the chance to pass her grandpa on the final day. Even Ari's mom Rachel could sneak her way to victory if Croatia win the cup and Kelley, Dawn and Rick get enough negative points in the last two games. This years BISERGS continues to be thrilling to the end with many routes to victory for those at the top.
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