The monumental Lusail Iconic Stadium will host the first of two semi-final meetings and this battle promises to be thrilling again. The Argentines continue to dream of the Scudetto and, after the Netherlands, another confrontation with the European representative awaits them. But Croatia surprised the big favorite last time out, and after Neymar’s entourage, they’re also gritting their teeth on Messi’s team.
The Qatar championship is quite amazing so far and has already prepared a whole host of unexpected results for the spectators. If we were looking for a game that was chaotic, edgy, emotional and overall unpredictable, then the recent match between Argentina and the Netherlands would probably be the best. A match in which the head judge dealt as many as 16 cards! At the same time, from the very beginning it seemed that the Argentines, led by the ruler Messi, would comfortably secure their transition to the next stage.
But as the fans began to celebrate slowly, lanky forward Wout Weghorst took to the pitch. He reduced seven minutes before the end and even secured his team unexpected extra time in the 100th minute! But it was only a momentary hope, because in the end, thanks to goalkeeper Martínez, the Argentines managed the penalty shoot-out better and became the only South American team in the fight for the title.
The current Copa América winner is quite confident heading into the semi-finals and, at least as far as history is concerned, there’s nothing to be surprised about. The Argentines have never lost in the semifinals and every time they have gotten this far, they have managed to fight their way to the final. They succeeded five times in total, most recently in 2014, before the Germans made it a good day.
The Argentines had a bad start to this league when they fell behind Saudi Arabia, but have won every time since then. In four other duels, they scored at least two goals and kept clean sheets twice. Argentina has already managed to score in the last fourteen games in a row. But now the Argentine has to face a very high quality and stubborn defensive opponent, of which coach Scaloni is well aware.
“Of course, we saw how well Croatia played against Brazil and how well they prepared. Brazil never had enough composure to finish, but what I appreciate most about Croatians is their indomitable faith and ability not to give up never. The match against Brazil didn’t go well at all, but he handled the pressure and was able to take the duel to penalties and win. The moral strength of their team is really a great weapon.”
Speaking of weapons, the Argentines have lost quite a few. Because of the cards, Montiel and Acuña won’t play. But the positive is the return of Alejandro Gómez, and Di Maria and De Paul should also be fit, afflicted with muscle injuries. Croatia are even better, as Borna Sosa and Mislav Oršić are slowly getting into the rhythm of the match.
They are probably building a statue of goalkeeper Dominik Livaković in Zagreb, because his contribution to the Croatian national team is huge. In the match against Brazil, he regularly drove his player crazy and thwarted one chance after another, he also excellently managed the entire defense in front of him. But he only showed the pinnacle of his skill on penalties. The Croatians did it even if they conceded in the 106th minute after Neymar’s wonderful goal.
But a few minutes later, substitute Bruno Petković was able to respond, and it was the turn of the favorite discipline of the Balkan side. Sanctions. And right at the start Livaković showed up again, neutralizing Rodrygo’s attempt, also helped in the final by the post after Marquinhos’ shot, and the Croatians went ahead.
They will be playing in the final for the second time in a row and, if they succeed, they will become the sixth country in history to contest back-to-back finals. So far Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands have done it. Four years ago, Zlatko Dalić’s side made it all the way to the final, despite not winning a single knockout game in regular time. It became the first country to do so. And now he can do it again…
