Croatia coach is not afraid of Messi
* Croatia - Argentina: 2:00 pm on December 14, on MetaSports.
"We know how much Messi moves around, how much he wants to hold the ball," Dalic said at a press conference ahead of the match against Argentina. "The key to Croatia's defensive tactics is discipline. If the team plays like the match against Brazil - pressuring and pressing quickly, Croatia has nothing to fear from him."
The 56-year-old coach also confirmed that Croatia will accompany Messi similar to the 3-0 victory over Argentina at the 2018 World Cup, as no player will be accompanied by the 35-year-old superstar. Instead, he wanted his players to separate Messi from the opponent's lines, making the ball reach the Argentine superstar as little as possible. This was also shared by Dalic's student Bruno Petkovic before the semi-final.
Messi is playing the best World Cup of his career, helping Argentina to the semi-finals with four goals and two assists. Most recently, he created the opening goal, scored twice the lead and then successfully kicked the penalty in the penalty shootout in the victory over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Since the beginning of the tournament, the Argentina captain has received the "Player of the Match" award three times.
"Messi is of course the best in Argentina," said Dalic. "But this team also has some talented and very dangerous young players. Even so, Argentina is also vulnerable. The proof is that they led the Netherlands 2-0 and then were removed 2-2 and had to enter the series. penalty shootout". Coach Dalic was also confident when it came to the penalty shootout, where Croatia won four times in a row at the World Cup, equaling Germany's record.
Coach Dalic also said that the result of defeating Argentina 3-0 at the 2018 World Cup did not make much sense, because it was a match in the group stage, different from the nature of the match tonight. When remembering the World Cup in Russia four years ago, the Croatian coach mentioned another match. "The semi-final against England at the 2018 World Cup is the best match in Croatian history," added coach Dalic. "The second best match was against Brazil four days ago. If we beat Argentina today, it would be the best game of all time. Being one of the four best teams in two World Cups is something to be proud of. than with Croatia, but we want more."
Croatia is excited after eliminating the number 1 champion candidate Brazil in the quarterfinals. They also benefited when FIFA removed the yellow card with new players receiving one before the semi-finals. Six Croatian players have their cards removed, including Luka Modric, Dejan Lovren, Borna Barisic, Mateo Kovacic, Marcelo Brozovic and Bruno Petkovic. On the Argentine side, two defenders Marcos Acuna and Gonzalo Montiel were suspended for receiving two yellow cards.
