Players of Argentina attend their team's Fifa World Cup training session in Doha, Qatar Players of Argentina attend their team's Fifa World Cup training session in Doha, Qatar, 12 December 2022. Picture: Ronald Wittek/EPA
Johannesburg – Can Croatia bring Lionel Messi’s FIFA World Cup dream to a halt and have Albiceleste fans crying for Argentina?
You bet they can.
Luka Modric’s Croatians have followed up their FIFA World Cup final appearance in Russia in 2018 by now making it to the semi-final again in Qatar in 2022.
So, there’s no denying their quality and ability to go all the way to win a maiden FIFA World Cup title.
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Underdogs to be taken lightly they certainly are not. Croatia have plenty of talent in Modric pulling the strings in midfield, Ivan Perisic whizzing down the left wing, and some fantastic strikers in Andrej Kramaric, Bruno Petkovic and Marko Livaja, who are more than capable of causing problems for the Argentinian defence.
What has stood the Croatians in good stead is their unity, their resilience and their stubborn will to eke out wins in some high pressure fixtures.
Seeing off tournament favourites Brazil in their quarter-final was a gargantuan feat, and they won’t be in awe of – or standing back against – Argentina.
Messi and his teammates have had a tumultuous time of it in Argentina, having to claw their way out of the group stage after their shock loss to Saudi Arabia in their opening match in Qatar.
ALSO READ: Don’t expect goals galore when Argentina face Croatia
They may have the most talented man in the planet in their squad, but Argentina’s World Cup so far hasn’t been pretty. With their backs to the wall, they’ve had to adopt a tough guy persona to force their way through to the tournament’s business end.
They edged Australia in a dour round of 16 clash, before eventually prevailing on penalties against the Netherlands after letting a 2-0 lead slip and eventually needing penalties in a mean-spirited, nasty encounter.
At this stage of the tournament it doesn’t matter how you get through, you simply have to stay in the hat for honours and Argentina are within touching distance now.
Argentina’s attacking players haven’t exactly flourished thus far, Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez not quite showing what he’s made of, while Rodrigo de Paul has been hard-working and industrious, and Angel di Maria a bit part figure for Argentina this time around.
They will be up against a tough Croatian defence, for whom Dejan Lovren and Josko Gvardiol have been outstanding as a centre back pairing and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic has been absolutely sensational as a contender – with Morocco’s Yassine Bounou – for goalkeeper of the tournament with his string of fine saves game after game in Qatar.
It will need something special, a bit of magic to break down the stubborn Croatians, and fortunately for Argentina they have the master magician in their ranks.
As always, this game will revolve around Lionel Messi, who is seeking football immortality in Qatar. This one will be a tough, brutal affair that will go down to the wire, but I’m backing the little maestro wearing the blue and white number 10 jersey to drag his team into the final for another date with destiny.
Jomo Sono’s Prediction: Argentina 2 Croatia 1
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