Extra-time winner: Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic firing home the second goal against England in the semi-final match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Wednesday. — Reuters
MOSCOW: It was no surprise that Croatia cavorted on the pitch in celebration with fans and family long after beating England in the semi-finals of the World Cup, but a wiser head might have ushered them quietly to ice bath and bed.
It was never going to happen, of course, as the ecstasy of taking a tiny nation to the final of the World Cup for the first time needed to be worked through with the people that provided the players with support and inspiration.
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