Argentina and Croatia meet at the Lusail stadium on Tuesday night for a place in the World Cup final next Sunday. Both teams qualified for the semifinals on penalties.
Lionel Messi and Argentina beat the Netherlands in a World Cup classic. Meanwhile, Croatia upset pre-tournament favorites Brazil.
Luka Modrić hopes to go one step further from Russia four years ago. Back then, the European team finished runners-up to France. At the same time, Argentina is looking to capture the coveted trophy for the first time since 1986. It narrowly missed out in Brazil in 2014 after losing to Germany after extra time.
The World Cup battles between Argentina and Croatia
Here are the key battles that could decide the delicious clash.
The midfield sets the tone
With Modrić, Mateo Kovačić and Marcelo Brozović, Croatia arguably has the best midfield trio in world football. Zlatko Dalic’s men line up in a 4-3-3 dominating play in midfield. In addition, he can go to a 4-5-1 without the ball. In doing so, Andrej Kramarić and Mario Pašalić work tirelessly in a midfield of five.
Croatia aim to slow down Argentina’s pace with their ball retention. Moving the ball makes it difficult for the Albiceleste to establish itself in the game.
Lionel Scaloni has dealt very well with the lack of Giovani Lo Celso throughout the tournament. Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul made a formidable partnership. The winger has a vertical transition to contribute to the attack at every opportunity.
Earlier, De Paul nursed an injury scare before the match to play 65 minutes against the Netherlands. Argentina need their midfield metronome to be fully fit for the World Cup clash in Croatia. The Atlético star will be a key piece to finish off Brozović and Modrić. The former ran over 10 miles against Japan in the round of 16. Once again, he put on a full-throated display against Brazil in the quarterfinals.
Argentina need to close the gap to prevent Croatia from dictating proceedings and will need to hit the European side with a quick build up of pressure at the top of the field and in the final third.
Wingplay could decide the result
Argentina enters the game without full-backs Marcos Acuña and Gonzalo Montiel. Both collected suspensions after the accumulation of yellow cards. Acuña’s absence will be a hard blow for Scaloni. The Sevilla star has been a revelation in the tournament. The 31-year-old is solid defensively and contributes tirelessly on the left flank.
Acuña turned off Denzel Dumfries against the Netherlands. In the same match, he won the penalty kick that took Argentina to a 2-0 lead. With Acuña out of the clash, Croatia will seek to exploit the left flank with Pašalić and Josip Pašalić hunting in pairs, especially the latter who played a great game against Brazil managing to keep Vinícus Jr and Rodrygo calm throughout.
The right flank is where Argentina have an advantage, Nahuel Molina scored the opener against the Dutch thanks to Messi’s amazing reverse pass assist and the Atlético full-back will imagine his chances against Kramarić while also taking on left-back Borna Sosa with his fast races.
De Paul has played admirably in a right-back role and if Angel Di Maria is fit and ready to go, Croatia will have to deal with constant pressure on the right flank.
Moments Messi and Gvardiol
Joško Gvardiol is arguably in the shape of his life. Once again, Croatia is relying on the 20-year-old centre-back to keep Argentina at bay. The RB Leipzig star performed beyond his years. Alongside Dejan Lovren, the pair proved to be a solid pairing at the heart of the defence.
Argentina will seek to press high with Julián Álvarez in front, while Lionel Messi will live his ‘moments’. The 35-year-old PSG star has looked unplayable over the course of the World Cup. Despite Croatia’s wealth of talent, he has to keep a close eye on the diminutive left-footed genius.
Messi seeks to drift into the middle of the spaces dragging defenders out of possession. Then he either goes in the final third himself or looks to create a chance when there seemed to be little danger. As Dalic said, his team needs to be disciplined to contain the threat of Messi.
PHOTO: IMAGO/Xinhua
World Cup 2022 Guide
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