Argentina - Croatia: Messi's game of chess

* Argentina - Croatia: 2pm on Wednesday 14/12, on MetaSports.

Before the World Cup, fashion brand Louis Vuitton caused a fever when it published a photo of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing an endgame. When Portugal were eliminated by Morocco in the quarter-finals, Goal remade the image with Ronaldo turning his heel, leaving Messi alone. However, everything is not over yet.

The chessboard is still there, and Messi needs to find a solution for himself - in the World Cup that could be the last of his career.

The traditional Croatian shirt also has a checkerboard pattern. That image showed the spirit of the Balkans team through two knock-out matches, where they drew Japan and Brazil in 120 minutes of play before winning by penalty shootouts. The art of Croatia is the art of pulling the game into the end and ending the opponent with coldness.

To neutralize the pragmatism of Croatia's football, Argentina needs to take advantage of the smallest advantages. The first is fitness. Since the 1/8 round, Argentina's competition density is three matches in 10 days, and Croatia's is three matches in eight days. In which, Argentina kicks one game overtime, and Croatia is two.

Second, Argentina has better squad depth. Since the start of the tournament, coach Lionel Scaloni has used 21 of the 26 players he brought to Qatar, while his colleague Dalic has only added 18 people to the field. This makes Argentina's play more diverse. They started with four different schemes from the start of the tournament. Most recently, Argentina used the very strong 3-5-2 scheme of the Netherlands to defeat the opponent. In contrast, Croatia always plays 4-3-3 with a familiar frame.

Third and most important, still Messi. If you consider the match as a chess board, the Argentina captain is the most elusive piece. Since the start of the tournament, he has scored four goals, assisted twice and been named Player of the Match three times. He has 16 times to open opportunities for his teammates - the most in the tournament.

Opponents have long viewed the attempt to neutralize Messi as utopian. Instead, they focus on their tactics. Witnessing what Messi showed against the Netherlands - one of the teams with the most stable system in the tournament, coach Dalic affirmed: "We know how much Messi moves, as well as how much he wants to hold the ball out. The key to Croatia's defensive tactics is discipline. If they still play like the match against Brazil - press and close quickly, Croatia has nothing to fear from Messi."

Previously, there was always doubt about Messi's position with Argentine football. Despite winning seven Golden Balls, Messi is ranked one level below his predecessor Diego Maradona in the hearts of home fans, not only because he has not won the World Cup. The former Barca striker is said to be lacking in Argentinian qualities and more like a Spanish player. But the feelings Messi revealed in front of the Netherlands made the whole Argentina support him more than ever.

In the tense match, Messi clashed with taller players, provoked veteran coach Louis Van Gaal to "revenge" for senior Juan Riquelme and scolded the striker who scored twice for the Netherlands Wout Weghorst. Messi doesn't hate Weghorst, but he hates the Dutch style of play. With an embodiment of football as beautiful as Messi, Van Gaal's header cross in the last minutes of the second half was like a crime.

Before Croatia, Messi and his teammates needed to overcome the pain of losing 0-3 four years ago, in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup. Three stars scored for the Balkans team in that match, only Luka Modric was present. Ante Rebic did not make the list to go to Qatar, and Ivan Rakitic left the team. This is Argentina's third encounter with Croatia at the World Cup, but the first time in the knockout round. In 1998, they won 1-0 in the group stage.

Argentina will be without the services of two full-backs Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna because of suspension. There were six other Argentine players who received yellow cards against the Netherlands, including Messi, but according to FIFA rules, they will be cleared if they reach the final. Scaloni will need to wait for test results to see if Papu Gomez has recovered from his ankle injury. Similar is the case of Josip Stanisic - the only person who is not sure to play on the Croatian side.