by everything on Sat Jul 07, 2018 9:36 pm
Croatia "deserves" that outcome but didn't really shine. Definitely outclassed Russia for the most part. If Russia advanced, would've been truly ridiculous. Same with England and Sweden. England have a talented team, but have faced such relatively easy competition, it's laughable how ridiculous that has been, and they haven't really played to their potential or showed their talent yet. A bit of the problem is the FIFA rankings, which are at least switching to Elo (used in chess and adjusts according to strength of opponent until the calibration is more or less accurate) after the tournament. Still, if Sweden had advanced, it would've also been ridiculous.
Final:
England a slight favorite over Croatia, and France a slight favorite over Belgium, so likely France vs. England with France the champion, but it's really too close to call. I think I'll root for Croatia, but expect France to win as the "best" team.
amateur practices til gets right pro til can't get wrong
/ better approx answer to right q than exact answer to wrong q which can be made precise /
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