Former England manager Glenn Hoddle believes the Three Lions should’ve put their World Cup semi-final beyond Croatia before half-time.
Gareth Southgate’s men were sent crashing out of the tournament after throwing away an early lead, but they dominated for large spells in the first-half.
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Harry Kane failed to double England’s advantage when he was one-on-one with the keeper and Hoddle, like most of the country, can’t help but think ‘what if?’
He told talkSPORT: “We could’ve put Croatia away.
“We had some great opportunities to go two or three-nil up. That’s the frustrating part for me, from the football side.
“If we just kept our heads and had that last little bit of quality, I think we’d be in such a strong position. They can’t come back from there.”
The Croats came out stronger in the second-half and gradually took the game away from England.
Hoddle heaped praise on the World Cup finalists, who he believes were outstanding as the game went on.
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“I’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” he added.
“They pushed us back into a back-five and put us right on the back foot. They played extremely well.
“As the game got further and further down the line they took more control. Strangely enough, I thought they’d fatigued because of the extra time games but they got stronger.
“We just lacked that little bit of experience that they had.”
While the Three Lions’ unlikely challenge has come to a bitter end, Hoddle joins the rest of the nation in feelings of hope and pride for the national team.
“We’re a team in progress, we’ve got to be proud of getting to the semi-final and to within touching distance of the final, but it’s a learning curve and they’ll go on from this.”
