On December 14, at 3 a.m. in the first match of the last four of the World Cup in Qatar, Argentina and Croatia competed for a place in the final. On the Argentine side, the team was forced to draw 2-2 by the Netherlands last time, and finally locked up the top 4 spot in the penalty shootout, and after the game, Messi went against the norm of silence and took revenge on the Netherlands with his teammates, and he went directly to Dutch coach Louis van Gaal to speak. Later in a media interview, he continued to bombard his opponents, angrily accusing the Dutch team of "talking too much" and accusing Van Gaal of not respecting them all along. Messi, who rarely gets angry on weekdays, suddenly starts the "Maradona mode", will he explode his inner potential even more? This battle, he will definitely bring a severe test to the Croatian defense.
Croatia participated in the World Cup for the first time in 1998, when it was a blockbuster with a third place, but then experienced a decade of low tide, to the 2018 World Cup four years ago, once again showing its dark horse nature. For the 37-year-old captain Modric, defeating Argentina tonight and reaching the final of two consecutive World Cups is a rare achievement of his playing career, and more importantly, the day of the final is the 31st anniversary of his grandfather's death, when his grandfather was executed by soldiers in the Yugoslav civil war, Croatia went through how many wars to win national independence, their plaid shirt is full of tears, blood and sweat and national feelings.
Argentina switched to a four-man defense tonight, continuing to be led by captain Lionel Messi, with Alvarez at the front, and Rodrigo DePaul supporting from behind. For Croatia, the 37-year-old Modric started as usual, guarding the midfield line with Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic, and continued to have "masked centre-back" Gvardior at the back to partner veteran Dejan Lovren.
In the 10th minute, Argentina slightly dominated the game, but faced a heavily defended Croatia and could not find many empty spots in the early period.
In the 13th minute, when Messi cut near the top of the box, he was knocked down by a Croatian player, and the referee did not signal.
In the 25th minute, the first half was intense, and in the 25th minute there was a shot that hit the target, Enzo Fernandez got up from outside the box and shot tricky, but fortunately Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic was saved in time.
In the 34th minute, Argentina a pass tore through the Croatian defense, Alvarez received a single knife to face Livakovic, knocked down Alvarez when he came out, the referee directly blew a penalty, by Messi, hit a powerful shot, Argentina led 1-0 in 34 minutes.
In the 39th minute, Argentina counterattacked, Alvarez was driven straight in by the midfielder, and some teammates opened the gap, Alvarez continued to dribble the ball, was hit by Yuranovic and Sousa successively, but still fell at Alvarez's feet, and then crashed into the net. Argentina scored two consecutive cities in 5 minutes, leading Croatia by 2 goals!
At the end of the first half, Argentina returned to the dressing room with a two-goal advantage!
In the 46th minute, Croatia made substitutions at the start of the second half, with Vlašic and Oršić coming on as substitutes for Sousa and Pašalić respectively. Croatia coach Daric then moved again, putting away midfielder Marcelo Brozovic and replacing striker Petkovic.
In the 56th minute, even if Messi faced Gvardior, he could protect the ball, and then hit the wall with Alvarez, and Messi's powerful shot was saved by Livakovic.
In the 61st minute, after changing to Petkovic, Croatia attacked more from above, and Argentina replaced Lisandro Martinez. Croatia's corner kick caused a scuffle in the Argentine defence, which Damian Martinez played.
In the 69th minute, Messi showed his skills again on the right side, overwhelmed Gvaldior with speed, the "mask central defender" chased, Messi then tricked the opponent into falling to the bottom, even if Gvardior blocked, Messi crossed as usual, Alvarez did the simplest thing, sent the ball to the goal from near goal, Argentina led to 3 goals.
In the 74th minute, Argentina was far ahead, and Dybala, who had been injured earlier, came on for the first time.
At the end of the match, Messi led Argentina to the final of this World Cup!