Croatia, a nation of only four million people, has made the final of the FIFA World Cup becoming the smallest country to make the final since Uruguay in 1950. With arguably the player of the tournament in midfielder Luka Modric, what is its secret to producing great players?

The World Cup 2018 should have proven one thing, beyond all doubt, to Kiwi football fans.

Population does not matter.

World Cup tournaments are often defined by those moments when a player creates something spectacular.

Xavi Hernandez made over 500 appearances for Barcelona and won 133 caps for Spain. Along the way he won 31 trophies including a World Cup, two European Championships, La Liga titles, and the Champions League.

So when he describes something that we see every weekend in Auckland junior football as a failure, we should probably question if we are coaching our kids the right way.

Liverpool’s dramatic 5-2 win over AS Roma in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal dominated global football headlines this week.

The Reds’ striker Mo Salah was the standout player with a wonderful two-goal/two assist performance.  The Egyptian is having a sensational season supported by a team that is designed to attack relentlessly for the full 90 minutes.

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There seems to be no stopping Mo Salah.

Liverpool’s Egyptian marksman has scored an astonishing 38 goals for the Reds since June.  His latest, against Manchester City in the Champions League quarterfinal yesterday morning, set the scene for an impressive 3-0 victory.