Alli: 'Would be nice to repeat Modric nutmeg'
Dele Alli is a key example of England's younger generation stepping up, and will carry his youthful fearlessness in to the game against Croatia.
The young Tottenham midfielder had an unfortunate start to the tournament after he picked up an injury in his side's first group stage match against Tunisia which ruled him out of England's two subsequent games.
However, he returned to the side and managed to grab his first goal at a World Cup when he headed England 2-0 to the good against Sweden in the quarter-final.
In the opposition midfield, much has been said about the accomplished performances of Croatia's captain Luka Modric, and Alli is looking forward to the challenge of playing against him.
The two players last met when Alli's Spurs and Modric's Real Madrid were playing each other in a preseason friendly some three years ago. In the match, where the Englishman was making one of his first appearances in a Tottenham shirt after a move from lower-league MK Dons, Alli managed to pull off a nutmeg on the now four-time Champions League winner.
While that shows the confidence of the player in virtually any situation, he admits that he was not happy with his first performance in the tournament.
“I said to my family afterwards that it was weird because I didn’t feel nervous or anything like that. I don’t really ever get nervous anyway. But you know sometimes that you can have games where your control isn’t as good as it should be, or your decision-making isn’t as sharp as normal. I felt like it was one of those games." Alli explained to the 'Guardian'.
"I felt like my movement was good but I just wasn’t sharp enough. I didn’t keep the ball as much as I should have. To score ... it gives you a lift. But I’m my own biggest critic. I know I can play better than that.”
Alli will start in the game against Croatia in Moscow, hoping to become to take his side to their first World Cup final in 52 years.