Lionel Messi is just two matches away from World Cup glory but his Argentina side must first find a way past Croatia at the Lusail Stadium.
The European side has, once again, upset the odds to reach yet another World Cup semifinal after beating tournament favorite Brazil in the previous round and, make no mistake, Argentina will have its work cut out if its to reach the final. The Croats took a dazzling Brazil team into the trenches on Friday after scoring a last-gasp equalizer to force extra-time and eventually a penalty shootout, which it won thanks to more heroics from goalkeeper Dominik Livaković.
Despite the threat he poses, Croatia won’t become obsessed with stopping just one player, striker Bruno Petkovic says. “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,” Petkovic told reporters 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.
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