Argentina vs Croatia
After their frustrating draw with Iceland, Argentina now face a must-win game against Croatia in order to keep their World Cup 2018 dreams alive.
Anything less than a victory at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium will see the Argentines in a dangerous situation of totally missing the knockout stages, especially if the Icelanders win their match against Nigeria.
The Croats, however, won’t go down without a fight. Not after a bright start to the competition that saw them fend off a surprisingly uninspiring Nigerian side to top Group D.
Talking Points
Pre-tournament predictions had Argentina winning against Iceland and topping Group D at this point in time. Nonetheless, those expectations couldn’t be more wrong as La Albiceleste are genuinely facing elimination—bringing back recent memory of their CONMEBOL qualification campaign.
Unfortunately, all fingers point to Lionel Messi, the same man who scored a hat-trick in the final game of the South America qualifiers to send Argentina to this very tournament.
Succeed, and he’ll be remembered as a hero; fail, and he’ll be blamed for coming up short over and over again. Such is the fate of Messi who did nothing but proudly carry his nation’s colours on the world’s biggest stage.
Argentina, nonetheless, should wake up and realise that Messi needs help now more than ever. Everybody knows that the Barcelona striker is keen to lead Argentina and cement his legacy with a World Cup trophy, and that makes him the target of opposing defences.
We all saw that in the Iceland game at Spartak Stadium where there were at least two to three defenders guarding Messi and limiting his space, preventing the so-called La Pulga from creating plays and attacking the goal.
Sure, Messi had 11 shots—the most he has attempted in a single World Cup match—and was noticeably lacking his usual energy and spark. However, his teammates did nothing to keep the ball moving and create chances especially when the attention of the defence was on their talisman.
Not to mention the team’s fragile back that allowed the Icelandic nation to equalise four minutes after Sergio Aguero had given them the lead!
It was a poor showing from Messi, but it was overall an underwhelming performance from a nation that is relying too much on one man. Football is a team sport and the Argentines could learn a thing or two from Iceland about that.
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Now, Jorge Sampaoli’s men have to regroup quickly as they prepare for Croatia. After getting the World Cup 2018 results they want in the first match, Zlatko Dalic’s men will certainly be on a high when they return to football action.
And for what it’s worth, Liverpool standout and Croatia defender Dejan Lovren has issued some sort of warning to the Argentines, saying: “we know how to play against the big teams and we are not scared of them.”
He added: “they have one of the best players in the world, maybe the best, in Messi, but when you saw their game against Iceland, they did a great job and showed how to defend against him.”
History
The two nations have had some pretty close matches over the years, with three of their previous four meetings decided by just one goal. The other one was a goalless draw in 1994.
Argentina hold a 2-1 record against Croatia, bagging a 2-1 friendly win in their last meeting four years ago. La Albiceleste can also boast the fact that they won their only World Cup match against the Croats, a 1-0 victory in the 1998 version of the event.
Croatia, on the other hand, secured a 3-2 friendly victory over the Argentines in 2006 for their lone win against the South American nation.
One interesting fact though: Messi has scored in their last two meetings with Croatia, including his first ever goal for Argentina in their match-up 12 years ago!
What are the odds?
Despite missing out on all three points in the first game, Argentina are still odds-on favourites to win and give Croatia their first defeat in the competition.
Our World Cup 2018 odds have Argentina to reign victorious with 1X2 @ 2.01, as compared to Croatia who are tipped with 1X2 odds that pay at 3.80.
It is expected to be a tight affair though, at least according to SBOBET Asian Handicap sports betting. Argentina are given a -0.25 handicap at 1.76, with Croatia at odds of 2.20 for that start.
Furthermore, an Argentina win with a Correct Score 1-0 is at 5.80, in line with Over-Under odds that show Under 2.50 goals as the likely result at 1.68.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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