World Cup digest: Croatia don’t fear England and ‘can stop Harry Kane’

Croatia vs. England

• What: World Cup semi-final  
• When: Wednesday 11 July 
• Where: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow 
• Kick-off time: 7pm 
• TV channel: live on ITV

Zlatko Dalic says Croatia will play with no fear against England in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Dalic praised the Three Lions for their “fast” and “direct” football, but the 51-year-old believes his defence can handle the threat of England skipper Harry Kane, who has scored six goals in the tournament so far.

After his defence stopped Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Denmark’s Christian Eriksen in previous games, the Croatia head coach told the BBC: “We believe in our strengths. We don’t fear England. He [Kane] is top scorer - he’s not easy to stop. But we have top centre-backs. We managed to stop Messi and Eriksen so hopefully we can stop Kane.”

England forward Raheem Sterling is yet to score in the finals but Dalic singled out the Manchester City star as one of the main threats for the semi-final.

On England’s World Cup so far, Dalic commented: “I wouldn’t say there are any glaring weaknesses - they are in the semi-finals, that says it all. They showed from the games I’ve seen so far that they play direct football and they are very fast.

“They are really good at set-pieces and their tall players are dangerous at corners. I think Raheem Sterling is an important player because he is really fast and his combination with Harry Kane is really dangerous.”

Henderson a doubt

England midfielder Jordan Henderson could miss the semi-final against Croatia because of a hamstring issue.  

Sky Sports reports that Henderson’s tight hamstring “is not too serious” but England’s medical team will “manage the Liverpool captain’s fitness carefully ahead of Wednesday’s match”.

Striker Jamie Vardy missed the 2-0 win against Sweden on Saturday and is another injury concern for England coach Gareth Southgate.

All white kit for England

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Three Lions will wear white shirts, white shorts and white socks for the semi-final in Moscow.

Croatia, despite being the “home” team, will wear their black and blue away strip. Their traditional red and white checks would clash with both England kits.