Africa-Press – Lesotho. Croatia has already ended the World Cup dream of Brazil’s Neymar; now they hope to do the same to Argentina’s Lionel Messi. But, the Croat side will not attempt to stop the Argentina superstar by man-marking him, instead they will focus on immobilising the entire team in their World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, members of the team said.
“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,” Croatia’s striker Bruno Petkovic told a news conference on Sunday.
“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,” he said.
Croatia are bidding to make it to the final for the second World Cup in a row after losing in the 2018 showcase match to France, and with no players suspended and no injury concerns, the Croatian side is brimming with confidence.
They stunned tournament favourites Brazil in the quarterfinals after going a goal down in extra time but dug deep to bounce back with a late equaliser and forced a penalty shootout that they ended up winning.
Brazil’s star striker Neymar was left in tears after the game when Croatia emerged victorious 4-2 on penalties. Croatia is now on a mission to do the same with Messi’s team and prevent him from winning the one major trophy that has eluded him — a World Cup.
Croatia’s midfield comprising captain Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic will be key to dictating the pace, as they did against Brazil, and Croatia defender Josip Juranovic said on Sunday that the three were utterly dependable.
“Mateo, Luka and Marcelo are the best Croatia midfield in history. I don’t think it can be repeated.
When you pass them the ball it is safer than having your money in the bank,” Juranovic said. “I don’t think we need to fear anybody. We need to look at ourselves to play our best game,” he said.
“I would say the secret of our success is our togetherness, our unity. The fact that we act and play as a family. ”
Brazil’s forward Neymar sitting on the pitch in tears after his team lost the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarterfinal football match between Croatia and Brazil.
Seven-time Ballon D’Or winner Messi has so far been the driving force for Argentina, who also needed penalties after squandering a two-goal lead against the Dutch in their quarterfinal match.
Messi has been inspired during Argentina’s run to the tournament semifinals, scoring four goals in five games, and it appears he has taken it upon himself to lead his country to a World Cup triumph.
Argentina last reached the final in 2014 — losing 1-0 to Germany at the Maracana Stadium in Brazil. That was as close as Messi has come to lifting football’s biggest trophy and he is just one game away from having another shot at it.
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