Suker's goal intensified the flow of the match.
England's counterattack after conceding was also very aggressive; they didn't want to play so passively.
Furthermore, from their previous encounters, they knew clearly that once drawn into Croatia's rhythm, their chances of winning would gradually fall.
The strength of the Croatian team lies in its comprehensiveness!
It's not outstanding in one particular aspect, but rather has no weaknesses, with every position well-honed.
"Push up! Push up!" Lampard shouted loudly.
When the ball reached Sterling's feet, he once again began charging at Croatia's defense.
But just like before, he would dribble on his own, with absolutely no intention of passing.
Vukojević also stuck tightly to Sterling.
To be honest, this guy's dribbling skills are indeed strong, his feints are very good, and he's very agile.
Keeping up with him isn't easy, but the good thing is, this guy is really selfish, almost never passing, which meant Vukojević only needed to mark him closely without worrying too much about him passing or switching play.
Vukojević herded Sterling all the way to the wing.
And there, Srna immediately closed in, the two directly forming a pincer movement.
"Sterling! Lost possession again!" The English commentator slammed the table in anger.
Once or twice is one thing, but being dispossessed several times in a row after dribbling forward is just infuriating.
It's not that Sterling's dribbling is useless; he provides a lot of help in advancing the ball when England needs vertical penetration.
But the problem is, this guy advances, but he has to pass!
The other teammates follow eagerly, only to end up with nothing.
"FXXK!" Lampard also cursed under his breath upon seeing the ball lost, before turning back to defend.
Sterling's expression showed no anger, he just spread his hands and shrugged, not a hint of remorse.
In contrast, Croatia's counterattack after gaining possession was very rational.
The ball was moved to midfield, Modrić distributed it based on the situation.
He wouldn't pass every ball to Suker, but assessed the circumstances.
If Suker's position was poor, with too many markers, he wouldn't force the pass.
After switching the ball to Perišić on the wing, Modrić continued his run forward a few steps.
Observing that no one was marking him closely, Modrić again signaled for the ball.
When Perišić failed to break through, he passed it directly back.
Modrić received the ball and turned in one fluid motion, but he didn't switch it to the wing; instead, he slid a diagonal pass through the half-space.
The next moment, Suker burst forward, while simultaneously, England full-back Johnson immediately turned and sprinted desperately after him.
Both charged towards the ball, but Johnson's positioning was slightly more advanced, allowing him to slide and clear the ball out for a throw-in.
Suker, meanwhile, jumped to avoid Johnson's tackle.
After landing, Suker looked back at Modrić and shouted, "The pass was too short, I couldn't build up speed!"
Suker was confident he could beat Johnson.
But the problem was the runway provided was too short. Probably Modrić also instinctively chose this passing line.
Compared to these shorter through balls, Suker preferred those with a longer lead.
That allowed him to fully utilize his speed!
Modrić also raised his hand acknowledging his mistake.
He was used to playing at Manchester United, where there weren't extreme speedsters like Suker, so Modrić's through ball weight needed slight adjustment.
Now back with the national team, he instead needed to adapt to Suker's speed and preferred pass weight.
However, possession still belonged to Croatia!
"England's defensive pressure is immense. They must restrict Suker on the left flank, while also watching for attacks from other channels." The English commentator felt very uneasy; England's current defense seemed restless.
It's not that England was stopping Croatia's attacks, but rather Croatia was still in an adjustment phase, hence playing somewhat restrained.
Once Croatia's understanding gels, then England's defense will be in for a pounding.
Boom!
"Welbeck crosses!"
Rooney, Sterling, and Sturridge all converged towards the center.
They wanted to find the optimal landing point.
But just then, a tall figure abruptly rose in front of them.
A powerful header directly cleared the ball away.
"Šimunić! Croatia's tall center-back, he wins the first ball!" Klausović felt excited.
In such moments, the value of a tall center-back is evident.
With Šimunić's height and precise judgment of the ball's flight, he was an aerial dominator in Croatia's defense.
Although his form had declined previously, upon returning to the national team, he regained his confidence.
And starting this match, his performance was very steady.
The ball was controlled securely by Modrić. Following Šimunić's headed clearance, England's entire team was pushed forward, making a swift retreat impossible.
Therefore, Modrić wanted to find a reasonable passing channel to directly create a counter-attacking situation.
Thinking this, he spotted a red-and-white figure already starting a forward run in his peripheral vision.
Simultaneously, that player was also pointing forward.
Modrić didn't even need to look closely to know who it was.
He turned his body and launched a long pass, just getting the ball into the space was enough.
The rest was Suker's business.
"Great ball!" Seeing the ball fly high forward, Suker's spirits lifted.
He powerfully pushed off the ground, sprinting forward like an arrow.
"Suker!! He's off!" Klausović roared. "Croatia's counter-attack!"
Croatia's counter-attack was as fierce as fire.
Suker sprinted ahead, with Mandžukić, Perišić, and others chasing slightly behind.
Further back, Rakitić and Srna were also following up.
In contrast, for England, besides the defensive line, only the defensive midfielder Gerrard was there.
Gerrard quickly closed down Suker.
For a 34-year-old veteran, catching Suker's speed wasn't easy.
Even though Gerrard swung his arms wildly, increasing his stride frequency, the distance didn't close at all.
Seeing Suker slow down to control the ball, Gerrard immediately seized the chance to get closer.
Just as he was about to reach him, Suker abruptly stopped, wanting to shake him off horizontally.
At that moment, Gerrard couldn't control his momentum to turn.
With Suker about to evade him, in desperation, Gerrard could only reach out and grab hold of Suker.
He clutched Suker's jersey, refusing to let go, and was dragged for two meters before his teammates tracked back.
"You mother..." Suker turned around furiously, glaring at Gerrard.
Gerrard felt bitter inside, knew his action was problematic, and thus didn't retort.
By then, the referee had run over and directly showed Gerrard a yellow card.
The earlier tackle in the opening stages was just a warning, but this shirt pull really couldn't be overlooked.
"To restrict Suker on the left flank, England is really using every method possible!"
17 minutes, Gerrard booked.
This also shook England's defense a bit more.
This booking would certainly make Gerrard behave more cautiously, but fouls from others one after another became unpredictable.
Not only unable to restrict Suker, but England also not wanting to lose the match, they could only resort to fouls.
"Huuu~~" Suker couldn't help but let out a breath.
He knew he might face many fouls in the World Cup.
After all, when unable to contain him, fouling is the most effective method.
And how to avoid these was something Suker needed to consider.
This foul occurred just outside the penalty box, in the left half-space.
Wanting to shoot directly, the distance was still a bit far.
Therefore, Suker gave up taking the free-kick himself and ran into the box preparing to challenge for the header.
Seeing Croatia's decision, England immediately understood and deployed plenty of players to mark Croatia's aerial threats, with Suker naturally being the primary focus.
Modrić stood at the spot, looked towards the box, thought for a moment, and when the whistle blew, took the kick decisively.
"Modrić takes the free-kick. How will this be contested?... Isn't it a bit too high?" Klausović was stunned. If it's a cross, this ball is a bit too high.
Even Suker jumping at full stretch might not reach it, and it also had a curved trajectory.
Who curves a crossing ball like that!
So, the only conclusion is Modrić was aiming for goal.
Modrić, after taking the kick, leaned his whole body to the left, hoping the spin imparted on the ball would make it curve back.
In fact, he was imitating Suker's earlier free-kick.
However, compared to Suker's free-kick, this position was more difficult.
But this curve... very similar!
The ball flew towards the far top corner of the goal.
Joe Hart made a desperate save, cursing inwardly.
This curve, just like Suker's, was almost identical!
Was he going to be beaten by it twice?
Just as the ball slipped through Hart's fingertips, flying behind him, he even felt despair.
But then, with a clang.
The crossbar denied the goal.
To be precise, it was the junction of the crossbar and the right post, an absolute dead corner.
"Ohhh~~~ Dear me!!" Klausović clutched his head in shock.
On one hand, he marveled at the quality of Modrić's free-kick, on the other, he regretted not converting this chance into a goal.
Modrić also grimaced in disappointment; just a bit more curve, and the ball would have been in.
Suker also looked at the goal, blinked, then gave Modrić a thumbs up.
It's not that only goals count as good plays!
Even though it didn't score, it further pressured England.
Two consecutive set-pieces, one a direct goal, one precisely hitting the frame and beating the keeper – let's see if England still dares to give away free-kicks recklessly.
The English players were somewhat dazed now.
They couldn't let Croatia players run in behind, couldn't let them win headers, couldn't let them shoot from distance.
And now, they couldn't even give away set-pieces.
That meant they had to perform defensively extremely well, otherwise, they couldn't stop Croatia.
But with their currently shaky defense, how could they withstand such attacks?
"I thought we would see some changes in their penetrating attacks, achieving better results, but I didn't expect two consecutive set-pieces to pose threats. Now England won't want to foul casually. Both Suker and Modrić have a hot foot; a few more set-pieces and England's goal will be turned into a sieve!"
"Moreover, England's defense is already struggling. Facing Suker's continuous attacks, Gerrard could only stop Suker by fouling. This shows that besides fouling, England can't find any better method!"
England was indeed playing very passively.
Every World Cup, England is hyped up, but the matches they play often fall short of expectations.
Therefore, many also mock England, calling them a media team.
Player market values are inflated, all relying on their English nationality.
In fact, England isn't weak, but to say they are strong isn't quite accurate either.
Furthermore, in this match, they were facing Croatia!
They also couldn't bring themselves to park the bus, so they could only be played off the park.
Croatia had already withdrawn, looking hungrily towards England's half.
The match time was approaching 30 minutes; their form was gradually improving and now felt very good.
They also believed the second goal should come soon.
Moreover, under continuous pressure, England's defense was currently unstable, a perfect opportunity to score.
They just needed one good enough chance!
Boom!
England took the goal kick, the ball passed to the full-back.
But after receiving, the full-back immediately passed back to the keeper.
There was no choice; Croatia had already begun pressing high.
The English defenders didn't dare make mistakes now, nor dare to attempt anything, afraid of errors.
After the ball was passed back to the keeper, Joe Hart had no choice but to hoof it long under pressure. With the midfield area crowded by Croatian players, they immediately engaged in aerial challenges.
However, no one connected properly, everyone was jostling, and the ball was eventually controlled securely by Šimunić at the back.
Šimunić controlled the ball, and England didn't rashly press forward.
He had ample time to observe.
In fact, Šimunić was also feeling somewhat eager.
Don't forget, besides his aerial ability as a tall center-back, he also possesses accurate long-passing technique.
When his gaze fell on Suker, the latter was also looking at him.
Their eyes met, Suker visibly paused for a second, then turned to look at England's somewhat松懈 defense.
"There's a chance!"
The moment Suker gave an affirmative look, Šimunić became excited.
Of course, he didn't pass blindly.
Instead, he passed forward to Modrić and made a hand signal.
Modrić also understood Šimunić's idea and immediately began orchestrating.
Modrić dropped deeper, strengthening the link with the defense, while continuously exchanging passes with the backline.
The English players took a glance – weren't they trying to kill time?
"Push up! Don't let them slow the tempo!" Lampard immediately shouted.
England's formation began pushing forward as a unit.
Rooney charged the most fiercely; having had no impact in the match so far, he was full of anger, charging around the pitch recklessly.
But Croatia continued passing methodically.
Just as Modrić was being pressed, he passed back to Šimunić.
England immediately switched direction to press Šimunić.
But the latter had already lifted his head, looking towards the far end, and Suker was also preparing to make his run.
"Suker!!—" Šimunić roared, set himself, and met the ball with a long pass.
The ball soared high, flying towards the space behind the English defense.
And Suker directly launched his run.
Because his starting position was advanced, the distance was relatively shorter.
Johnson tried to pull and drag Suker back.
But Suker forcefully overtook on the outside using his raw pace, squeezing ahead.
Johnson's footwork clearly became disordered, and even panicking, he tripped over his own feet, falling forward uncontrollably.
Suker seized this opportunity to cut inside a bit more, not only avoiding Johnson's instinctive grab but also completely shaking off the defender.
"Suker!!! He's broken through!!!—" Klausović jumped up.
The entire stadium erupted in loud cheers once again.
Suker accelerated to reach the ball's landing point. Without noticeably slowing down, he turned his body sideways, raised his left thigh, and cushioned the ball with his thigh.
The control was simply elegant.
Not only was there no awkwardness, but he also cushioned it, allowing Suker to accelerate without needing to slow down to control the ball further.
And relying on this detail, Suker accelerated again, evading Cahill's desperate, potentially card-worthy, sliding tackle.
By now, Suker had reached the edge of the six-yard box.
Only then did Suker slow down.
When he looked up, Joe Hart seemed completely frozen.
He crouched low, his right knee turned inward to protect his groin, arms spread wide to increase his coverage.
He didn't know how Suker would shoot, or what angle he'd aim for.
But facing this situation, Suker calmly chipped the ball.
The ball described a parabola, lofting over Hart, descending towards the side netting at the far right post.
England's other center-back, Jagielka, desperately rushed towards the goal, launching himself into a scissor kick, attempting to clear it.
However, a miss is as good as a mile; he failed to make contact, could only watch the ball drop into the net.
34 minutes, Croatia scored again!
Simultaneously, Suker also bagged his second goal of the match, his 13th goal in World Cups!
Suker is now only two goals away from tying Ronaldo's World Cup goal record!
And after tying comes surpassing!