Sports Reporter :
Spirited France will take on Belgium in the first semi-final of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 at Saint Petersburg in Russia tomorrow. The match kicks-off at 12.00 am BST (Bangladesh Standard Time).
‘Dark Horse’ Croatia will face England in the second semi-final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the capital city of Russia on July 11. The match starts at 12.00 am. Local satellite channels Maasranga Television and Nagorik Television will telecast the matches of ‘Last Four’ live.
On way to semi-final, France defeated Uruguay by two goals to nil in their quarterfinal match on July 6, while Belgium beat favourites Brazil by 2-1 goals in their quarter-final match on the same day.
Meanwhile, England stormed into the semi-final after crushing Sweden by two goals to nil in their quarter-final match on July 7, while Croatia reached the semi-final beating hosts Russia by 4-3 goals in the tie-breaker of the quarter-final on the same day.
The winners of the two semi-finals will face each other in the final at the Luzhniki Stadium on July 15. The match will begin at 9.00 pm.
France coach Didier Deschamps intervened amid the melee to speak with Pogba and admitted that he was worried that he might needlessly lose his midfielder for the semi-final in St Petersburg on Tuesday.
“Things got a bit hot and, bearing in mind he did have a yellow, I didn’t want him to lose his temper and get a booking for the next much,” said France Coach Deschamps. “Blaise Matuidi and Olivier Giroud got cards earlier in the tournament for words that were said.”
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said he was the “proudest man on earth” and lavished praise on his “underdog” team for having the belief to upset five-times champions Brazil on Friday to reach the World Cup semi-finals for only the second time.
“England’s appearance in a first World Cup semi-final since 1990 is an incredible feeling”, said England’s Coach Gareth Southgate.
“Croatia will have enough energy to face England in the World Cup semi-final despite back-to-back games going to extra time and penalties”, said Croatia Coach Zlatko Dalic.
