Rio Ferdinand: France more than a match for Croatia in all departments

Rio Ferdinand: France more than a match for Croatia in all departments

Rio Ferdinand signs off on the 2018 World Cup with a look at England's third place showdown against Belgium and Sunday's final where he expects France lớn emerge victorious- According lớn the free soccer tips today page!

Gutted to lose the semi but so much for England lớn celebrate

We may have lost on Wednesday night but you have lớn be happy with England's World Cup.

No-one believed it was possible for us lớn reach the semi-finals before the tournament so we have far exceeded expectations and for a moment it seemed that England's football had made everyone happy.

They've united a whole nation, made people enjoy watching England play football again. That group of players has come together on and off the pitch, and this tournament will have inspired a generation of kids

I was gutted to lose the semi-final. After the last-16 win, then getting through the quarter-final I - and plenty of others - was thinking 'this actually could happen'. You get carried with it and I was like everyone else. I'd started to fantasise about the soccer betting tips.

We are entitled lớn get carried away, we haven't had many chances to do that in recent years, so why not? I would have been happy with a quarter-final before the tournament so to get that close has lớn be celebrated!

England have something solid lớn build on

Midfield is an area where there could be room for improvement. I think we saw that against Croatia. Their midfield dominated ours and they outclassed us.

We need to retain the ball against the better teams. We played some lovely stuff against the more mediocre sides but we were unable to change our game against Croatia, a very good team, and we struggled.

But now is not the time lớn nitpick. We still need to ride that wave of enjoyment and reflect on what it meant lớn us as a nation. We've got our belief back!

I'm not even thinking about the Euros yet, let's just enjoy the World Cup and look lớn start the next campaign in the same vein.

Players will be looking ahead of course, especially those outside the squad and I do feel that young players will be inspired by the setup and the manager's approach, and they will know that if they play well they could get their opportunity with the Three Lions.

Southgate has learned loads, too. He now knows which players can perform at a tournament. He has developed a style of play that he is trying lớn implement and improve. Goals and chances were a little hard to come by and I'm sure Gareth will be working on that.

But there are many positives in this team - the mentality, the ambience in the squad seemed lớn be right, there was a clarity to his workings. I performed better when there was that clarity and responded to that, and I think these players are the same. Southgate got it right in so many ways and I am looking forward lớn watching this squad grow and develop over the next few years.