Croatia will be looking to eliminate another South American nation when they face Argentina in their World Cup semi-final clash at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Tuesday evening.
But to do that, Croatia must stop Lionel Messi, who now has four goals and two assists.
In fact, Argentina comes into this fixture after they scraped through the quarter-finals after beating the Netherlands 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 2-2 after 120 minutes of play at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail.
Croatia, meanwhile, comes into this game high in confidence after they handed favourites Brazil a shock 4-2 defeat on penalties after the match ended 1-1 after 120 minutes of football at the Education City Stadium in Doha.
Croatia striker Bruno Petkovic: “We don’t have a specific plan yet for stopping Messi and usually we don’t concentrate on stopping one player but the entire team.
“We will try to stop them as a team and not with man-marking. Argentina are not only Messi, they have a number of great players. We have to stop the entire Argentina team.
“I think we have improved with each game, as the opponents got stronger, we got better and better.
“For me, the goal gives me huge confidence. In the extra-time periods we still believed and we supported each other. The confidence is not only at a personal level, we believe in one another.”
Argentina and Croatia have met twice before at the World Cup with the first match taking place back in 1998 when Argentina secured a narrow 1-0 win followed by Croatia cruising to a comfortable 3-0 victory back in 2018.
Argentina’s World Cup Form:
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Croatia’s World Cup Form:
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