After the draw against Iceland, Messi and Co. will need to step up their game if they want to beat Croatia.
Kick off time
Thursday (21 June), 20:00, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium (Nizhny Novgorod)
Argentina’s 1-1 draw with Iceland opened a lot of people’s eyes regarding its current state and World Cupwinning potential. Iceland’s strong, organized unit has been training together for years showed that Lionel Messi can be stopped. The way La Albiceleste play at the moment, stopping Messi means stopping the team. Those who followed Argentina closely over the past period were not surprised. They have already watched how opponents saw right through its tactics and made life miserable for Messi, which basically was the reason for the grueling qualification campaign.
When Jorge Sampaoli took over as the head coach, he immediately said that this is Messi’s team. That was good news for La Pulga, but not good news for Argentina’s World Cup chances. Why? Because teams during the qualification process already showed how that type of Argentina can be dealt with. Additionally, Sampaoli’s biggest success came with Chile. There, he had players that fit his system. Here, he doesn’t. Chile’s players were hard workers for whom the team came first, not Alexis Sanchez or any other player. Even if it’s the co-best player in the world we’re talking about, it still becomes an issue.
Croatia was far from impressive too, but Vatreni got the result they wanted by defeating Nigeria 2-0, thus enter this clash as the first placed team. Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric were far from dominant, even against a less than inspiring Nigeria midfield. Rebic and Kramaric spent plenty of energy, but weren’t very effective, while Mario Mandzukic was underused. The defence was solid overall, although Domagoj Vida was overaggressive at times, which could turn out to be detrimental at some point in the tournament.
The Balkan team had to deal with some controversy after the Nigeria game as well. Manager Zlatko Dalic blamed striker Nikola Kalinic for refusing to come in as a substitution and sent him home. Rules don’t allow for someone else to be called up, so Croatia will continue with one player less. Dalic would be smart to swap Kramaric with either Mateo Kovacic or Marcelo Brozovic on Thursday. With Rebic, Perisic and Mandzukic, the Croatians have enough weapons up front that can catch Argentina napping on the counter attack.
As far as Argentina’s concerned, Angel Di Maria was not his usual self. Cristian Pavon, Boca Juniors’ youngster, showed great promise and could have earned himself more playing time for the rest of the tournament. Ever Banega’s introduction provided a spark. He’s more offensive than Lucas Biglia and should definitely be in the starting lineup. Giovanni Lo Celso is another player who should get an opportunity at some point.
Regardless of which moves the coaches make, their styles of play will not change. The Argentinians will be considered to be the favorites, but they are not. This is a 50-50 game that’s either going to be decided by some misfortunate error, a moment of inspiration or end up goalless.
Odds
Argentina 2.05
Draw 3.40
Croatia 4.10
