Messi and his teammates are beginning to believe that this really could be their year. They are supported by a large contingent of traveling supporters who have brought the passion, noise, and color of Argentina’s own stadiums to this World Cup.
The World Cup aspirations of Lionel Messi and Argentina are still alive, but in the semi-final on Tuesday in Doha, an unstoppable Croatian team led by Luka Modric stands in their way.
At the conclusion of a fractious quarterfinal on Friday, Argentina, having recovered from the shock of losing their initial match in Qatar to Saudi Arabia, defeated the Netherlands on penalties to reach the last four.
After 83 minutes, when Messi brilliantly set up one goal and scored a penalty, and was leading 2-0, they conceded twice late on and had to make it through extra time before winning the shootout 4-3.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez said, “We have balls, passion, and heart, and we are doing this for 45 million people.” Argentina’s optimism has only grown since their big rival Brazil lost in the last round.
Eight years after Argentina’s defeat to Germany in the World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro, this has been billed as Messi’s last chance to win one. He is now 35 years old.
He is determined to take advantage of the opportunity, and he has already scored his first two goals in World Cup knockout rounds, one against Australia in the last 16 and the other with a penalty kick against the Dutch.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner, who is possibly the greatest club player ever, would win the World Cup to cap a great career.
He inspired Argentina to victory at the Copa America last year, after years of being unfulfilled on the international stage. However, he is aware that Croatia is the only opponent that is more persistent and durable than Argentina.
After all, the prospect of facing a Croatian team that eliminated the favorites on penalties and never knowing when they will lose will temper any sense of relief at not
“Safer than money in the bank,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni when he brought Lisandro Martinez into the team against the Netherlands.
However, Modric still controls games at 37, and Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic complete a formidable trio, the midfield is always crucial against Croatia.
Croatia has advanced to the semifinals by beating Japan and Brazil on penalties after reaching the final four years ago.
The nation of just four million people has nothing to lose as they aim to advance to the final against France or Morocco.
Furthermore, in Modric, they have an expert, the 2018 Ballon d’Or victor who featured as Croatia beat Argentina 3-0 in the gathering stage quite a while back.
Another outstanding right-back, Josip Juranovic, stated, “Passing them the ball is safer than having your money in the bank.“
We are extremely fortunate to have them on the team
Modric has played for Argentina since 2006 when he made his 20th international appearance for Croatia in a friendly match.
In that match, Messi scored, but Croatia won 3-2. When the two teams meet again at Lusail Stadium, Zlatko Dalic’s team will not be intimidated by Argentina or their number 10.
Bruno Petkovic, a forward for Croatia, was asked how they would deal with Messi and responded, ” We don’t have a specific strategy for stopping Messi, at least not yet,
However, defenders Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna will not play for Argentina because they are both suspended.