Messi chases history as Argentina, Croatia meet in semi-finals
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Argentina and Croatia will meet on Tuesday in Qatar for a second straight FIFA World Cup as both teams chase a spot in Sunday’s Final. Lionel Messi is also chasing history.
The Albiceleste looks to join Italy, Germany and Brazil as the only teams to play in at least six World Cup Finals as Lionel Scaloni’s team tries to return to the Final for the first time since 2014, while Zlatko Dalic’s Croatia side attempt to become the first team since Brazil in 2002 to reach back-to-back World Cup Finals.
Argentina and Croatia are no strangers to one another. En route to the 2018 Final in Russia, Croatia blew by Argentina in a group-stage matchup. With second-half goals from Ante Rebic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, Croatia picked up a 3-0 win and inflicted upon the Albiceleste their worst defeat in a group-stage match in 50 years.
But revenge is unlikely to be on the mind of an Argentina side that has gotten better as the tournament has progressed, even with some obvious flaws remaining in their game.
After a shock 2-1 loss to Saudi Arabia in their Group C opener, Argentina has won their next four matches – group-stage victories over Poland and Mexico, followed by a win over Australia in the Round of 16 and their thrilling win on penalties against the Netherlands in the quarter-final. It’s these last two matches that will leave Scaloni concerned as he preps for the final four.
Argentina was cruising and were on course for the quarters when Julian Alvarez scored in the 57th minute against the Socceroos to make it 2-0 last week. They would still get there, but not without a great deal of consternation. Simply put, Argentina fell asleep at the wheel.
Craig Goodwin pulled Australia within in the 80th before Aziz Behich made the run of his life, only to see his shot blocked by Lisandro Martinez, and Emi Martinez deny Garang Kuol with a beautiful save on what was essentially the last shot of the match to preserve the 2-1 win.
If Australia was a wake-up call, then Argentina didn’t learn from it against the Netherlands. Once again, Argentina appeared to be well on their way to the semis. Messi’s beautiful pass to set up Nahuel Molina gave the Albiceleste a 1-0 lead at half-time and then Messi’s penalty in the 73rd minute should have cinched things up, but once again, Argentina allowed an opponent back into the match.
Substitute Wout Weghorst was the difference-maker for the Oranje, scoring in the 83rd with a perfectly time glancing header and then forcing extra time on some free-kick trickery after an absolutely needless foul by German Pezzella on the edge of the area in the dying seconds of stoppage. Argentina would prevail after spot kicks, yet the story here again was the self-inflicted wounds.
Should Argentina fail to play for a full 90 minutes on Tuesday, its luck could very well run out at the worst possible juncture, but Lyon defender Nicolas Tagliafico insists that won’t be a problem.
“We have enough experience to be like this at the moment,” Tagliafico said. "In knockout matches, there will be moments where we will have to suffer. We have the necessary personality to live it and make it something to enjoy. We are defending the colours of the national team.”
Scaloni says his team knows exactly what to expect from a strong Croatia side.
“They have a specific playing style. I don’t think they are going to change that. It is neither defensive nor attacking,” the former Argentine national team player said. “They have very good players. And they have a long-lasting football tradition. We have our system and our style. We won’t change our style. We know they have excellent players. They have players that can hurt us. I won’t mention names.”
Croatia’s issues have been the opposite of what ails Argentina. In all three victories at the World Cup thus far, Croatia has conceded the opening goal.
After falling behind Canada in the second minute of their group-stage match on a goal by Alphonso Davies, the 2018 finalists stormed back for a 4-1 victory. But Croatia lived much more dangerously in their two knockout round ties.
Both of Croatia’s knockout-round victories – in the Round of 16 over Japan and Friday’s quarter-finals meeting with Brazil – came on penalties with the latter victory truly being last-gasp. After a Neymar golazo in the first half of extra time appeared to put Brazil on course for the final four, Bruno Petkovic evened things up only three minutes from time to force penalties where Dominik Livakovic continued his strong play from the 120 minutes that saw him make 12 saves.
The reason why Croatia has proven itself so capable of bouncing back during matches is the players’ unrelenting spirit, talisman Modric says.
“This team is made of players who are desperate to wear the shirt and want to show the world how much it weighs,” the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner said. “We are all driven to play for our country and for the shirt. We fought a lot to win our independence as a nation – and we continue to fight for the last drop.”
Modric and Messi have done battle on numerous occasions while at Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively, but Tuesday could be the last time that these all-time greats share the same pitch with the former now 37 and the latter 35. For Messi, the remaining two World Cup matches that Argentina will feature in (should he appear) are an opportunity to add even more records to a career full of them.
Now in his joint-record fifth World Cup, Messi has appeared in 24 games, tied for the most ever with Germany icon Lothar Matthaus. He will become the sole record-holder with an appearance in either the Croatia match or in the Final or third-place match. He can also set the new mark for World Cup minutes played. Currently sitting on 2,104 minutes, Messi trails Azzurri legend Paolo Maldini by 113, a mark that can be bettered over two matches (or a single one that reaches extra time). Should Argentina defeat Croatia and then win the Final over France or Morocco, Messi can match Miroslav Klose for most victories at a World Cup with 17.
Then there is the record goal-scoring mark for the Albiceleste. After his goal against the Netherlands brought him level with Gabriel Batistuta with 10 World Cups goals, one more will give Messi the outright record in an Argentina shirt.
But for all of these accolades that Messi has earned, the one still missing is the World Cup trophy itself – an honour for which Messi would undoubtedly trade all the others.
Argentina heads into the match down two men to suspension, with neither Marcos Acuna nor Gonzalo Montiel available due to booking accumulation as the duo were among 17 recipients of yellow cards during the Netherlands match.
On the injury front, Papu Gomez is still a doubt after leaving the match against Australia with an ankle injury and not featuring against the Netherlands. Angel Di Maria and Rodrigo De Paul, both dealing with muscular injuries, will be available for selection, but could see their minutes limited.
Croatia is fully fit.
POTENTIAL ARGENTINA XI: Emi Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro Martinez, Tagliafico; De Paul, Fernandez, Mac Allister; Messi, Alvarez
POTENTIAL CROATIA XI: Livakovic; Juranovic, Gvardiol, Lovren, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Petkovic, Perisic