just realised i haven’t written my review of this match, so here it is. the match was alright, nothing special happened aside from spain “almost” losing their winning streak. during the second half, i doubted that croatia would win, even tho croatia was very determined not to allow another disaster after the england match. spain was playing much better, but it wasn’t their full potential. that made me think about the tournament and the number of games in the span of 3 weeks. yeah, thank god the international break is over. yet there’s a problem i think we need to address, the intensity of the matches and how tight the schedule was for players. just look at it: games usually started around 9 pm and lasted till 11 pm. then the team had to change, etc., then the airport OR they went to sleep - yet not for long, since they had to travel the following morning. “recovery” time, then training, and another game. all of this, while also keeping in mind that the club games are coming back soon, and with that, ucl matches. we just witnessed messi’s heartbreaking farewell at the age of 39. modric is still playing at 41, lewy is still playing at 38. and this is impressive as hell, but idk, i can’t shake the feeling that it won’t happen again. players are playing with such an intensity we’ve never seen before, their bodies are being exploited beyond limits. we can already see how tired spanish players were, and it’s not like they’re really old by football standards. how about pau cubarsi? he plays all the time, and he of course delivers, but for how long? idk it seems just wrong to me. all of this yapping aside, bookd chat carried the game as always. ily oomfs.