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Final curtain call for either Messi or Modric? all you need know about Argentina vs Croatia match

86181374 Messi and Modric na di two biggest players for di match

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 Source: BBC

Argentina for history neva lose world cup semifinal before and Tuesday fit change dat record as dem jam Croatia wey get di quality and experience to make am happun.

Di match wey go take place at 200:00 WAT (19:00 GMT) for di Lusail Iconic stadium inside Qatar as di 2022 World Cup dey set to finish in less than a week.

Both teams escape dia quarter final matches through penalty shoot out, while Croatia send out Brazil, Argentina edge Netherlands for heated encounter.

As many analysts dey tok Croatia na team wey deserve all di respect for football world especially since dem follow France play di 2018 World Cup final.

And surely Argentina no go underate dem especially after dem see say na di same Croatia knock out dia fellow South Americans Brazil wey many bin dey tip to win di trophy.

Unlike Croatia wey get dia full squad rearing to go, Argentina suffer plenty bookings against Netherlands wey go make dia two players Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna miss dis semifinal.

Some Croatian fans dey wait to see whether Quarter final hero Bruno Petkovic go start di match ahead of Andrej Kamaric wey be usual starter.

Argentina and Croatia don only play twice for World Cup before with the Europeans winning 3-0 four years ago while di Argentines secure 1-0 for 1998 Mundial.

For history na only Germany, Netherlands and Italy don ever play back to back World Cup final so Croatia fit make history if dem defeat Argentina.

Final curtain call for either Messi or Modric? 

Dem be Two iconic Ballon d'Or-winning number 10s. Two beaten World Cup finalists.

Two captains. Maybe One last chance for one of dem to finally reach the peak of football and lift the famous trophy before e retire.

E dey hard to look past Argentina's Lionel Messi and Croatia's Luka Modric as di two difference-makers for dis first World Cup semi-final.

With Paris St-Germain's Messi now 35 and Real Madrid's Modric 37, e dey highly likely say di final or third-place play-off dis weekend go be where dia World Cup career end.

Both players dey crucial to dia team runs for dis World Cup, and score in their quarter-final penalty shootout win.

Messi take di first kick as Argentina beat the Netherlands, while Modric scored Croatia's third kick in dia win over tournament favourites Brazil.

Modric na di first player to score three penalties in shootouts at the World Cup (also netting against Denmark and Russia in 2018).

In 90 or 120 minutes, Messi get di edge. E don score four goals and assisted two, while Modric dey yet to record a goal or an assist - however Messi play up front, while Modric operate for midfield.

Modric also dey impress further back on the pitch, with only two players  winning possession more times (39) or making more interceptions (eight) than di Croat.

Dis na di 27th time Messi and Modric go face each other, with 22 coming for El Clasico meetings between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Modric get di edge with 12 wins to Messi  nine.Sadly, both players go retire in the coming years, so make we enjoy dem while dem still dey play.

Possible Line Ups

Argentina - E. Martinez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; Fernandez, De Paul, Mac Allister; Di Maria, Messi, Alvarez

Croatia - Livakovic; Juranovic, Gvardiol, Lovren, Sosa; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Perisic

Source: BBC