Embrace the World Cup Dream.
Eoin Morgan, England’s Cricket Team Captain, told his team to ‘embrace’ their world cup hopes and dreams as they prepare themselves to face the defending champions, Australia, in the second semi-final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Entering the finals would be the highlight and realization of all the team’s hard work, preparation, and determination after their subpar performance in the 2015 World Cup.
A day before the match, Morgan rallied his team to be proud of their achievements thus far and to just enjoy the moment rather than succumb to the pressure.
“Sometimes, I’m guilty of it. You can lose sight of the position you’re in and the fact that you’re living your dream,” he said. “I think it’s possible to play with a smile on your face tomorrow.”
When asked if they are excited, nervous, or just simply focused on winning, Morgan said that “It’s all of those things. However, I think that excitement should stand-out among the rest… Everyone is excited to play in this semi-final. The fact that through the group stages getting to this stage looked unlikely, or was called into question, makes it even more exciting for us.”
The Brits have managed to beat the Aussies 10 out of the 11 times they met in one-day internationals prior to this world cup. However, the loss to Australia in the group stages weighed heavily on them. Morgan admits that the team wasn’t themselves during that match which was made worse by their freak loss to Sri Lanka and losing Jason Roy to injury.
“We’re probably more confident than we were three games ago, we’re a different team,” he said. “The loss against Sri Lanka hurt us. I don’t think we were playing anywhere near our best cricket, there was a hangover from the Sri Lanka game. It feels like we’re back to the team we are.”
With the second semi-finals match upcoming, odds for the teams are +122 and -143 for Australia and England, respectively. To find out more about cricket odds, visit Betwala's page.
READ MORE: Cricket Odds
