The Toronto Blue Jays’ 2018 Season So Far

By: Adamo Marinelli

July 24th, 2018

    More than halfway into the 2018 MLB season, about a week after the All-Star break, the Toronto Blue Jays sit fourth in their division of five teams, the American League East at a 46-54 record including today’s blowout 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins and they look like they will miss the postseason for the second consecutive year after losing 4-1 in the ALCS to the Indians in 2016.

     They started the year great, they finished April 16-12, not far back of the Yankees and Red Sox for first in the AL East, despite Marcus Stroman’s April struggles. But ever since their all-star closing pitcher Roberto Osuna was arrested on May 8th, 2018, the Blue Jays have derailed. Their pitching has suffered greatly and as a result, their defence struggled and their bats also stayed quiet. To add insult to injury, their offence created (runs and home runs) were in the bottom half of the league, which is not like the Blue Jays. To add more salt to the wound, ever since they lost their all-star hitter Jose Bautista at the end of last season to free agency where he made his way to Atlanta to play for the Hawks and then to New York to play for the Mets, the Blue Jays have not been as potent on offense ever since. Same deal with Edwin Encarnacion who left before the start of the 2017 campaign.

     Despite all of this struggle in Toronto, Kevin Pillar has turned a few heads with his incredible defensive play, robbing batters of home runs game after game, the best of which was against the Detroit Tigers on July 1st, 2018. But this amazing play from Pillar is not enough to get the Blue Jays back to the playoffs all on its own.

     Marcus Stroman, a Blue Jays pitcher when talking about his recent struggles (similar to the struggles he faced in April at the beginning of the season) and the team’s struggles, said that he isn’t performing as well as he hoped to be and that neither is the team. “But I and the team can perform better and we will.” He also said that he loves the city of Toronto and will do all he can to help the Blue Jays make another visit to postseason baseball in October. But the media only took the part where he said himself and the team aren’t performing as well as they should be and interpreted it as if he said his team sucks right now and so does he. Stroman took to Instagram saying he never said anything the media claims he said, then he said “he and the team are just not playing our best baseball and can improve. We have been great in the past and will be great again now. I do not think I nor our team sucks. We just have reached a bump in the road but will overcome it”. He then added, “I love Toronto and want to win a championship here.”

    This drama between Stroman, the media and the entire Blue Jays organization is the last thing the Blue Jays need in a season in which they have been struggling, at least from May onward. But it’s here anyway, one more thing for the team to focus on.

    In other news, unless, the Jays win 75% of their remaining games this season, which is unlikely based on their performance so far this year which has been taunted by a lack of starting pitchers (especially due to Osuna’s arrest), a lackluster bullpen and very limited offensive capabilities, the Blue Jays look like they will be missing the playoffs for the second year in a row, which is not like the Blue Jays and the team, fans and manager John Gibbons, know this.

    Should the Blue Jays wait until next year and try to make the playoffs with the same team, just they’ll have Osuna amongst others back from suspension and injury, etc., or should the Blue Jays blow it up and just trade all their players away for draft picks and young prospects to start rebuilding? The problem with rebuilding is that it will take a few years to be relevant again and to be a real playoff contender but the Blue Jays will have to rebuild eventually, as I don’t think they can win with their current core, even with Osuna back, especially with the release of Joey Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion despite they have a good amount of talent on their current roster with Josh Donaldson, Roberto Osuna, J.A. Happ, Marcus Stroman, Troy Tulowitzki, Kevin Pillar, Russell Martin and Aaron Sanchez, etc.

Are the Redblacks Grey Cup contenders again?

By: Adamo Marinelli

July 20th, 2018

    After a humiliating 28-3 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in week five of the CFL season, where the Ottawa Redblacks were bad defensively and couldn’t do anything on offense, as quarterback Trevor Harris only had 93 passing yards with an interception and two fumbles lost and the only thing Ottawa’s offense could do was hit a single field goal, the Redblacks, particularly quarterback Trevor Harris needed a huge turnaround game, against the BC Lions tonight.

    On Friday night, the Redblacks let their play do the talking and played a stellar game, both offensively and defensively.

     Trevor Harris had an absolutely wonderful game against BC, throwing for 363 passing yards and a touchdown with no interceptions after potentially the worst performance of his career last week in Calgary. Performances like these are huge for Harris as this year he is on a one year contract with the Redblacks and the time is now for him to prove he’s an elite quarterback that deserves to get a long-term high paying deal with the Redblacks.

     Another player with a big game after the blowout loss to Calgary who promised to be better next week against BC was running back William Powell, who rushed for 50 yards on the night, including scoring a two-yard rushing touchdown in the final minute of the game to give the Redblacks a 29-25 win against the Lions. He also had seven catches for 61 yards and Lewis Ward, the Redblacks’ kicker hit all five field goals he attempted, having a good game himself.

    “We can't have those stalled out drives and we have to keep the pace up. Whenever we keep the pace up and we're flowing and we're moving and we won't stop and we get the defence tired we always have success”, Trevor Harris said after the win against BC.

     That was clearly the case on Friday night as the Redblacks kept the pace up all night and when they got on a roll, they moved the ball well going down the field with efficiency. The whole team worked together, especially the offence, which was invisible against Calgary. Now the Redblacks move to 3-2, claiming first place in the east division while dropping the Lions to 2-3, giving them control of last place in the west division and handing them their eighth loss in their last nine road games.

    “We have a new attitude and everyone believes. When the chips were down we came back and won,” Powell said in a post-game interview with Matthew Scianitti.

    Clearly, the turning point of this game came with just over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The game was tied 22-22. The Lions had a 2nd & 7 at the Ottawa 11 yard line and had a chance to lead by a touchdown. However, Lions quarterback Travis Lulay took too long to take the snap and they were charged with a time clock violation penalty which resulted in a loss of down for the Lions and forced them to go for a Ty Long 20 yard field goal to lead 25-22. This gave Ottawa 1:59 to drive down the field and Trevor Harris orchestrated an 80 yard drive with the help of a circus catch from Ellingson and a 26 yard catch and run by RB William Powell to give the Redblacks a first and goal at the BC two-yard line followed by a two-yard rushing touchdown from Powell the very next play to give the Redblacks a 29-25 lead and the defense secured the win for Ottawa with three stops against the Lions’ offense in the last 45 seconds of the game.

    “The parity in this league is amazing. The close games we've got to be able to pull it off and tonight we did so we have to take a lesson from it, which we talked about as a team after the game,” Harris said.

    “It's gratifying to get the win, but just like last week that was one loss, this is only one win”, Harris added.

    Travis Lulay, coming off a game-winning drive of his own which led to a game-winning Ty Long field goal to complete the comeback and pick up a 20-17 win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week after being down 17-0 at the half, had a spectacular game in Ottawa where he threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions, including a 78-yard catch-and-run play to Emmanuel Arceneaux inside the final three minutes of the game that led to the Ty Long field goal to give BC the 25-22 lead.

    “We had too many dropped balls. I don't know that we stalled, but at times we just didn't capitalize on plays and it hurts us along with the time count violation that cost us a chance to go for seven,” Lions coach Wally Buono said, regarding his team’s close loss to Ottawa earlier tonight.

    Buono also added: “Give [the Redblacks] credit though, they played hard and at the end, they scored a touchdown at the end and we didn't.”

     An incomplete pass by Lulay on third down with 25 seconds to play sealed the win for the Redblacks.

    The Redblacks earned 11 first downs and 203 yards of total offence in the first half, compared with 13 first downs and 169 yards of offence during the entirety of their loss against Calgary last week. That just shows how much more their offence showed up this week against the BC Lions. Furthermore, despite the Redblacks got the win, the game was really evenly matched as BC had 444 total yards compared to Ottawa’s 422 and the Redblacks had 30:12 possession time compared to the Lions’ 29:48 possession time. That is the definition of a very close game.

    Now, with the Redblacks sitting atop the eastern division at 3-2, after week 6 of the CFL season ahead of Hamilton by one game, who are sitting at 2-3 after their loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in week 6 and two games ahead of the Toronto Argonauts and the Montreal Alouettes who are both 1-3 and tied for last place in the east division, the Redblacks are in the driver’s seat to win the east division and get a bye to the east final game for a chance to play in another Grey Cup game.

    In reality, unless a massive momentum swing happens to the Argonauts and the Alouettes, Toronto and Montreal will not win the east division, which will only leave Ottawa and Hamilton competing for the top spot in the east. Although, Ottawa is the better of those two teams and their week six win showed that whereas Hamilton blew a 17-7 halftime lead in their 31-20 loss to Saskatchewan, so Ottawa should get the first place in the east division.

    But regardless, at least the top two teams in the east division make the playoffs, the first place team gets a bye to the east final and the second place team plays a third-place team in the east division or a fourth-place team from the west division in a crossover east semifinal game as first place in the west division would get a bye to the west final and the second and third place west teams play in the west semifinal.

     So the Redblacks should be able to win the east division or at the very least make the playoffs -- unless they collapse in the second half of the season which is unlikely -- but whether or not they win the Grey Cup or not is a different story as the west division is clearly better than the east division, especially with powerhouses like the Stampeders who are 4-0-0 so far on the year, scoring 120 points while only allowing 38 in those four games thus far in their season and the Blue Bombers who are 3-3 but have a lot of talent on offense and defense.

    In conclusion, it’s still too early in the season to say predict who will play in the east and west semifinal, the east and west final and the Grey Cup, but I predict the Redblacks will win their division, get a bye to the East Final where they beat the Tiger-Cats after Hamilton stunned the Roughriders in a crossover east semifinal and then the Redblacks will beat the Blue Bombers in overtime to win the 106th Grey Cup and their second Grey Cup in three years after the Blue Bombers beat the Stampeders in the west final thanks to an Andrew Harris rushing touchdown in the final minute of the west final to give the Blue Bombers a ticket to the Grey Cup final.

Will Kawhi fit in with the Raptors?

By: Adamo Marinelli

July 18th, 2018

    This morning, NBA fans around the world woke up to the news that longtime Raptor Demar DeRozan, a cornerstone in the franchise had been traded to San Antonio with Jakob Poeltl and a conditional 2019 first round pick in exchange for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.

    Kawhi Leonard, an NBA champion with the Spurs in 2014, a finals MVP in 2014 and a two time Kia Defensive Player of the Year, didn’t even want to go to Toronto, he even threatened to sit out the whole season in Toronto.

    Trading your best player for someone who didn’t even want to play for your team seemed like the beginning of the end for the Raptors.

    This move justifies Boogie’s move to Golden State and proves loyalty is just a word in the dictionary to the people in the NBA. It means nothing to any of the players or teams.

    This is evident in Demar DeRozan, potentially the franchise player in Toronto who led them to many playoff appearances and a conference final appearance in 2016, where they were two games away from the NBA finals being traded away for a player who in theory might get bring a championship but in reality might not even play for Toronto. That’s a waste of Demar’s talent and a future team member with a conditional first round 2019 pick.

    I realize that the NBA is a business and teams will do all in their power to achieve the ultimate goal - to win a championship, but trading your franchise player for a player who doesn’t even want to play for your team just seems like more of a personal attack rather than a business transaction.

    DeRozan wanted to be a Raptor for life, and Kawhi had apparently made it clear he never wanted to come to Toronto. Yet, here we are after the shocking but expected trade as the two teams have been working on a deal involving Derozan and Kawhi for a while.

    Raptors owner, Masai Ujiri apologized to Demar DeRozan regarding miscommunication as Ujiri said DeRozan wouldn’t be traded at the 2018 draft on June 21st, 2018, despite he was traded today. He then thanked Derozan for all he brought to the Raptors in the nine years he was with the team and anticipated an excellent era with Kawhi. Then, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich addressed the trade, saying: “We wish him well as he moves into Toronto. I think he’ll be great,” Popovich said. “I think this trade is going to work out great for both teams. We wish [Leonard] well, but at this point, it's time to move on. It's time to move on…. Kawhi is not going to stop being a great player. But we’re thrilled with DeMar.... To get back a proven NBA player and a proven all-star, we have to be thrilled.”

    Despite Kawhi’s talent, with all the rumors and gossip surrounding his name like how he wanted to go to the Lakers but he didn’t want to be the second man to Lebron even though he could have been just as good, if not better than Lebron (as with more good teammates in Los Angeles, his points, rebounds and assists should theoretically decrease as other players excluding Lebron will have high stats) but he isn’t even willing to actually go to the Lakers and compete with Lebron to be the best player on the team, he just wants to go to the Lakers but doesn’t want to be Lebron’s sidekick and this makes him seem like an ‘obnoxious diva’ according to sportscaster and journalist Michelle Beadle. What’s ironic about this though, is the Lakers would have signed him or traded for him if the Raptors didn’t trade for him. With all things considered, why would the Raptors even want to have a player like that? I guess it’s pretty obvious that talent trumps rumours and personality. Although, Popovich was clearly getting annoyed by all the talk surrounding Leonard, which was potentially one of the reasons for the trade.

    And Kawhi has talent. He’s talented on both sides of the ball, he can shoot, he has handles and he can make plays on offence and on defence. His accolades speak for themselves: an NBA champion, a finals MVP, and a two time defensive player of the year. In addition, he’s a good teammate for the most part, except recently when he made it clear he wanted to leave the Spurs and go to the Lakers but didn’t want to be Lebron’s second man while he’s there.

    But, he got traded to Toronto and fans all over the league, even Raptors fans criticized the Raptors’ management for giving up their superstar for an all-star, but an all-star in Kawhi Leonard who doesn’t want to be in Toronto, doesn’t want to play with the Raptors and who threatened to sit out for the entire season, despite the possible consequences that might arise if he sits out the season. Essentially, if Kawhi didn’t play, the Raptors would have given up Demar for nothing.

    However, an hour ago at about 8:30pm on July 18th, the day he was traded, he started to lighten up to the idea of playing to Toronto and said he wouldn’t mind playing in Toronto and trying to win a championship in Toronto alongside Lowry, Valanciunas, OG Anunoby, Serge Ibaka, Pascal Siakam and former Spurs teammate Danny Green who are now both teammates in Toronto.

     Despite Kawhi has lightened up to the idea of playing in Toronto and possibly winning a championship for the Raptors, he still hasn’t publicly declared himself as a member of the Toronto Raptors, although it is only his first day here, most of which he spent not wanting to be in Toronto, so with some time, he’ll eventually publicly declare himself as a Raptor.

     Demar DeRozan meant a lot and brought a lot to the Raptors and we praise him for that, but a deal has been done, that we as fans must accept, and now we must move on to a new era: an era where Kawhi Leonard plays for the Raptors and uses his talent to potentially bring a championship to Toronto, once-and-for-all.

The referees help to beat Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Final

By: Adamo Marinelli

July 15th, 2018

    Croatia is down 2-1 at the half, but deserve to be up at least 1-0.

    France’s first goal came off a free kick from Griezmann deflected into the Croatian goal by Mario Mandzukic, the 12th own goal of the 2018 World Cup, that should not have been awarded in the first place. Griezmann was already going down before he was cleanly tackled by the Croatian midfielder.

    France’s second goal to take a 2-1 lead came off a penalty kick awarded from a VAR review that took four minutes to decide. First of all, four minutes is way too long to make a simple decision. Second of all, that should not have been a penalty shot. The ball hit the Croatian defender’s arm, not the other way around - it’s just like hockey in a sense where it’s a goal if the puck hits off a players skate, but not a goal if the skate kicks the puck in the net - and the Croatian defender jumped up in the air to try and get the ball, it’s only natural that his arms are in front of him, not behind him and thus a non intentional handball and should not have been a penalty kick.

    Both of France’s first-half goals shouldn’t have counted, but it is biased by the referees that give France hope to win their second World Cup despite France has not played so well in this game and Croatia have been the much better team today, playing like all-stars, moving the ball well, earning lots of opportunities and dominating in possession, 61% to 39%.

    Apart from a beautiful strike from Paul Pogba to give France a 3-1 lead in the 60th minute, the referees won this game and the World Cup for France.  

    Even Kylian Mbappe’s goal to give France a 4-1 lead, though a beautiful strike, shouldn’t have counted as Griezmann on the setup, fouled a Croatian defender in Croatia’s box which should have resulted in a yellow card. Also, Croatian goalkeeper could have potentially dove and saved it.

     In the 69th minute, Mario Mandzukic got revenge from his own goal earlier in this game and capitalized on a mistake from the France keeper who gave the ball right to Mandzukic who put it in the net to cut France’s lead to 4-2. The French keeper should have prevented this goal.

     Despite France got two goals on their own without relying on own goals or penalty kicks, even though Mbappe’s goal shouldn’t have counted, it was the refs that gave France the push they needed with those two first-half goals that shouldn’t have counted on their way to win their second World Cup, in 2018. Regardless, France showed what they were made of on offence and it paid off with a World Cup win. Excellent tournament by Croatia and congratulations France on their World Cup win!

2018 FIFA World Cup Final Preview - France vs Croatia

By: Adamo Marinelli
July 14th, 2018

It’s incredible! It’s Christmas time for all soccer fans! We are now just a single day ahead of the
2018 edition of the World Cup Final, where Croatia and France will do battle for the right to call
themselves ‘Champions of the World’.

    Croatia, who had a 3% chance to win the World Cup entering the tournament now has a 50%
chance to win their first ever World Cup against a powerful and well balanced France team in Russia.

     Both Croatia and France are talented teams but France has a younger core, and not that having
a younger core is bad, it just results in more inexperience. Although, the way France has played so
far in this tournament, you'd think they're one of the most talented teams in the world and their young
core has helped a lot with that their talent and success.

      Having said that, France has been to a World Cup Final twice before winning in 1998 beating
Brazil 3-0 and then losing to 5-3 on penalties to Italy in 2006. Croatia has never been to a World
Cup Final before, losing 2-1 in the semis in 1998, to eventual tournament winners, France. They
went on to win the third-place match 2-1 against the Netherlands. That was their best showing at
the World Cup. Until 2018.

    Despite France has the advantage in previous World Cup Final appearances, this means
nothing as none of the players on France’s previous rosters in 1998 and 2006 are on the team
today. Same for Croatia, their 1998 squad are all retired from football. But both team's current
roster and coaches are very talented and deserve to be in the 2018 World Cup Final.

     But, to find out who has the advantage, we need to dissect each team’s current roster, so the
depth and skill of every position on both teams, both coaches and the style of play to of both teams.

     First, let’s analyse the style of play of both football teams.

    Croatia relies heavily on a strong midfield from the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric and Ivan
Perisic to create plenty of offensive opportunities, which is why Croatia already has 12 goals thus
far in the tournament and they use their midfield to also compress the defensive half of the field to
cause turnovers, to take the ball back and to get back on offence with their spectacular transition
game. This explains why Croatia has dominated in possession in almost every single game, beating
Russia 64% to 36%, beating England 54% to 46% and despite the close numbers, Croatia had more
chances than England and could actually capitalize on their chances, unlike England who missed
several chances in the first half to take a 2-0 lead and to book their spot in the finals. They also beat
Denmark 54% to 46% and had over 65% of possession in their blowout win against Argentina.
They are also mostly able to generate more chances thanks to their great midfield and transition
game. They had more chances than their opponents in all their games and only had fewer shots
on target than Russia. Not to mention their goalkeeper Danijel Subasic has been amazing the whole
tournament, especially in the two penalty shootout wins.

    On the other side, France is a well-balanced team who has talent all over the roster, in their
defense, led by youngsters Umtiti and Varane; in the midfield led by superstar Paul Pogba and in
their attack led by Griezmann, Giroud and teenage superstar Kylian Mbappe who has three goals
at age 19 in the tournament. Even their goaltender, Hugo Lloris has been spectacular in this
tournament to this point. France’s midfield isn't as good offensively as it is defensively but the
way France plays defence, and the size, speed and strength of their defenders, it can just wear
you down. France is just a well balanced and young team and is not better at a certain position
like most other teams at this World Cup.

    Next, we will analyse the coaches of both teams.

    France’s coach Didier Deschamps is more experienced and more well known than Croatia’s
coach Zlatko Dalic and Deschamps has also coached the Marseille Olympic team from 2009-2012,
Juventus FC in 2006-2007 and AS Monaco FC from 2001-2005. His latest achievement was a final
appearance in the 2016 Euros where France lost 1-0 to Portugal and he can add to that list by
winning the 2018 World Cup in his sixth year coaching the team. He’s a brave coach with an
exceptional knowledge of the game and great formations and game plans. He’s finally got the
players on team France playing well. It's great!

    However, Zlatko Dalic has been exceptional in Croatia. Nobody thought that this team would
have a chance to win the World Cup, that they’d be as good as their 1998 counterparts, but Croatia
is one win away from their first ever World Cup title. And it’s all thanks to Zlatko Dalic, who with an
amazing grasp of the latest styles and ways football is played, with his amazing style of play, using
a strong midfield to control the game offensively and defensively, and the way he drafted his players
and who he chose, only picking the best Croatian players for each position, it’s all just sensational!
Dalic has only been coach of Croatia since October of 2017 and they are already in a World Cup
Final. That’s incredible! He’s also coached Al Ain FC from 2014-2017. Dalic won the Arabian Gulf
League, UAE President’s Cup and Arabian Gulf Super Cup during his reign over Al Ain, and had
no shortage of success but his biggest achievement with Al Ain the big one came in 2016 when he
guided them to the final of the AFC Champions League.

    Overall, Deschamps is a great coach, but I give the edge to Croatia’s coach Zlatko Dalic.

    Next, we’ll analyse the depth and skill of each position for both teams and determine which team
has the advantage in each position.

    In the goalkeeper position, I say Croatia has the edge with Danijel Subasic. Hugo Lloris is an
amazing goalkeeper and his stellar play with Tottenham shows for it. He might also be a top-five
goalkeeper in the world and his robbery of a save against Uruguay’s Martin Caceres in the
quarterfinals proves his stellar ranking worldwide, but in this tournament, Subasic has been better.
He plays exceptionally well with Monaco but in this tournament, he’s looked more
like a God, making more saves than his French counterpart and Subasic has been better in the
clutch when his team needs it, especially by showing how good he is against penalty kicks making
four saves in two penalty shootout wins for Croatia, three against Denmark and one massive one
in the first round against Russia excluding a missed net in the third round. It’s a close battle, but
Subasic is victorious.

     In defence, France has the edge. Despite Croatia’s defence are all extremely talented, Croatia
has more possession time in the tournament than France, which the defence plays a huge part of,
and they are the backbone of an amazing transition game which turns defensive takeaways into
attacking opportunities, Umtiti and Varane are simply bigger, stronger and better than Domagoj
Vida and Lovren. The Croatian defence is not bad at all, in fact, they’re one of the best in this
World Cup, it’s just France’s defence is better and stronger than the Croatians. France has also
conceded fewer goals in the tournament, only conceding four whereas Croatia conceded five.
That is a close comparison, only a one-goal difference and so it is not a one-sided battle, but the
edge goes to France in defence. Both defences do get involved in the scoring though, with Vida
scoring the go-ahead goal in the 101st minute of the quarter-final match against Russia and Umtiti
scoring the only goal which ended up being the game-winner for France in their 1-0 semi-final defeat
over Belgium to send them to the finals.

      In the midfield, I give the edge to the Croatians. France’s midfield is good, with young talent like
Paul Pogba but France’s midfield is not very good on offence, way worse than the offensive ability of
Croatia’s midfield and only slightly better than Croatia in the defensive side of midfield because
they’ve conceded fewer goals in the tournament. Also, France’s transition game starting with good
defence from the defenders and in the midfield leading to attacking chances for the forwards is not
nearly as good as Croatia’s -- not even close -- as Croatia have been relying on a strong midfield
and a defence that can turn the ball over from their opponent to lead to offensive chances of their
own, resulting from a good transition game is how Croatia plays. Croatia also has much more
possession time than France and has dominated or at least won the possession percentage battle in
each game they played, which the midfield and defence play a huge part of. France is too balanced,
not enough midfield depth to do that every game. Also, Modric and Rakitic are top-tier midfielders
and way better in attack than France is. Modric can control a match for 90 minutes with his turns and
superior passing and Croatia’s stellar midfield crew including Modric, Rakitic and Perisic can almost
win a game on their own with all that they do; always scoring and being so good on defence, but
they’re going to have to be sharp against France and Kante as France’s midfield isn’t excellent, but
it isn’t a pushover.

      In the forward and striker position, the edge also goes to the Croatians. Griezmann is great,
Olivier Giroud is solid, Kylian Mbappe is a teenage superstar, but Croatia is complete in the final
third as well. They are so dangerous with Mario Mandzukic’s ability to run score and create open
space to give Croatia an offensive opportunity and Ivan Perisic’s exceptional talent on the wing.
Perisic, the Inter Milan star, could be the difference in this match. Croatia’s attack and midfield just
create more chances to score and have scored more goals than France in the tournament. Croatia
has 12 total goals, 11 from midfielders and forwards and France only has 10 total goals, nine from
midfielders and attackers as Vida and Umtiti are both defenders who scored goals for Croatia and
France respectively. Although for Croatia at least, despite the midfielders and forwards got most of
the goals, those scoring opportunities came from the defenders, defence in the midfield and Croatia’s
amazing transition game from defence to offence. I’d assume the same thing for France as they’re a
balanced team, Croatia just puts more emphasis on a good transition game. Also, Croatia has 100
shots compared to only 75 from France and Croatia has 26 shots on target compared to France’s 24
in the tournament. This results from better midfield and forward play by Croatia and the surplus in
shots and shots on target also comes from a more possession time, which Croatia has over France.
Croatia has been more dominant in possession time and a great group of forwards, midfield and
defence help with that. Entering this match, I like what Croatia has in attack more than what France
has because of Croatia's experience playing together and chemistry on the field, as well as their
dominance in possession time and shots, shots on goal and the number of goals they’ve scored.

     Finally, when overall talent and team chemistry is concerned, I have to give the edge
to France. Both teams have some fantastic players, 10 of which play in what I think is the top league
in the world, La Liga. But overall, France is a really balanced team, good in every position with many
superb players and are really fast and physical. From young star Kylian Mbappe and Antoine
Griezmann up top to a midfield led by one of the best central defensive midfielders in the world
in N'Golo Kante alongside Paul Pogba, the team is superb. Then considering the French have a
really good goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris and a talented central defensive pairing in Barcelona star
Samuel Umtiti and Real Madrid's Raphael Varane, you just see a team oozing with talent. Croatia
has a very talented group of guys no doubt with Ivan Rakitic, Ivan Perisic and Luka Modric in the
midfield among others, Mario Mandzukic, Ante Rebic and also Ivan Perisic playing forward, Domagoj
Vida, Ivan Strinic and Dejan Lovren on defence along with an amazing goaltender, especially against
penalties in Danijel Subasic, who will blow your socks off. It’s just that France is just slightly more
talented than the Croatian side due to their players having more experience, as the current French
players have more World Cup experience than the current Croatian players as France advanced
further than Croatia in the 2014 World Cup and most of both team’s current roster were playing in
2014 but not before. Also, France lost in the finals of the 2016 Euros and Croatia lost in the round
of 16. That gives France more experience. Finally, because France is a well-balanced team with
talent everywhere and Croatia focuses mainly on a having a talented midfield which carries
everything else, although their defence and forwards are great also is another reason why
France is a slightly better team than Croatia despite both teams have been excellent in this
tournament, France has five wins, one draw and no losses and Croatia having six wins, no draws
and no losses thus far.

    Finally, I will make my prediction of who I think will win the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

    Considering the past three World Cup Finals have gone to extra time and one of which went all
the way to a penalty shootout where Italy beat France 5-3 on penalties to win their fourth World Cup
despite the game being tied 1-1 after extra time in 2006, I will put my money on the 2018 World Cup
Finals will go to extra time. In fact, I think it will go to a penalty shootout. Because of this, I think
Croatia will beat France 5-4 on penalties to win their first ever World Cup despite the match being
2-2 after extra time as in this World Cup, Croatia has been unstoppable in extra time and penalty
shootouts winning both matches in which they went to extra time and then penalty shootouts
against Denmark and Russia and like he did against Denmark and Russia, Danijel Subasic will be
incredible in this game, particularly in the penalty shootout making one crucial save in the fifth round,
that sets up the Ivan Rakitic World Cup winner. Also, France has bad memories of penalty shootouts
in the World Cup Final after their heartbreaking defeat to Italy in 2006, so that will be lurking in their
minds -- even though none of the current France players played in 2006 -- and this haunting memory
will also be another reason why Croatia wins their first ever World Cup title tomorrow in Moscow,
Russia.

    Who do you think will win the 2018 World Cup? France or Croatia? Tune in tomorrow, Sunday,
July 15th, 2018, at 11:00 am Eastern Time across the TSN Network to find out the winner. Best of
luck to both teams and may the best team win.