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11m agoCroatia v England 'behind closed doors' … but mainly full
Bringing a couple of ideas already discussed together, I once attended an England v Northern Ireland schoolboy international as a kid. To this day, I can still hear the squealing wall of sound generated by thousands of children whose voices hadn’t broken. Harrowing.
Despite the belief that Croatia v England is being played behind closed doors, that isn’t quite the case. The match in Rijeka officially has that status due to a Uefa punishment for Croatia following crowd trouble involving their supporters during a Nations League quarter-final against France. However, Uefa’s disciplinary rules include an exception for children up to the age of 14 from schools and/or football academies in the local Rijeka area, who have been invited to the match free of charge.
Uefa had initially anticipated around 3,000 children plus guardians, but the Croatian federation now expects between 5,500 and 6,000. In an 8,200-seat stadium, that puts it somewhere around 70% full.
Add in the 100 England fans allowed to attend and there will be more atmosphere than expected. Perhaps very high-pitched, screechy atmosphere but surely that’s better than eerie silence. Possibly.
Ukraine 0-3 Northern Ireland! Okay, it wasn’t quite up there with John Motson screaming “Armstrong!” after the striker’s goal against Spain in the 1982 World Cup finals (what the heck was Arconada doing parrying the ball straight into his path?) but that was surely one of the great night’s for Northern Irish football.
You’ll find the detail in our Nations League round-up which also features:
Why Kevin De Bruyne’s 127th cap for Belgium went very well indeed
Frustration for Zinedine Zidane in his first home game as France boss
A hat-trick for Robert Lewandowski
A winner from a Liverpool full-back
Those with long memories may recall how England boss Ron Greenwood used to alternate between Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence on a match by match basis in the late 1970s and early 80s. Are we seeing something similar with Jordan Pickford and James Trafford? They’re getting two games each in this quickfire round of Nations League fixtures and Pickford is in goal for the first of his pair against Croatia later today.
Here’s Jacob Steinberg on the battle for the England No 1 jersey. Is Thomas Tuchel being smart in hedging his bets?
Let’s go to the the very top and see what Barney Ronay has to say about Andy Burnham. BR ponders whether the PM’s contortions over the Manchester City verdicts have landed him with an early test of what he wants to stand for. Realpolitik, or real values?
Good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! While the Premier League takes a back seat once more, the football headlines continues to flash hard due to the fallout over Manchester City’s guilty verdict and the raft of Nations League games during this extended international brek.
We’ll try to untangle and add more perspective on the former throughout the day and also focus on the latest group outings for both England and Scotland. The Three Lions play Croatia at 5pm BST while the Scots travel to North Macedonia for an evening kick-off at 7.45.
And how about that result for Northern Ireland last night?! News on that coming up and we’ll even tell you what happened in Kazakhstan v Moldova.
Come and join us!
