Masters of improvisation: how Croatia reached semi-finals without a plan | Aleksandar Holiga

As Zlatko Dalic’s side face England in the World Cup last four with no system for developing players at home, is it chaos that makes them good footballers?As Croatia won the coin toss before the penalty shootout against Russia in the World Cup quarter-final, Luka Modric, their captain, shouted across the pitch to his goalkeeper, Danijel Subasic: “Are we gonna go first?”They did not. Despite evidence that the team taking the first penalty wins 60% of shootouts there was a certai