‘That Is a Handicap’- Croatian Manager Begins Mind Games Right Before Facing Lionel Messi and Argentina at the FIFA World Cup Semis

Soccer needs skills, but during high crunch moments, mind games are just as useful. There is no bigger stage for any soccer player to perform than the FIFA World Cup. Qatar is hosting the ongoing tournament, and it is in its last phase. The stage is set, fans are hyped and the stadiums are ready to host some of the very high pressuring matches.

The first semi-final match is between Croatia and Argentina and tomorrow France will be facing the biggest surprise at this event, Morocco. When players are ready to play at their best ability and book a spot at the final match of the tournament, mind games have already started. The first move came from the Croatian side against Lionel Messi.

In World Cup history, Argentina and Croatia have faced each other two times. Argentina won in 1998, however, Croatia shocked the world when they beat Argentina in the group stage during their magical 2018 World Cup run.

Mind games against Lionel Messi

Croatian manager Zlatko Dalic has already started playing mind games. Dalic talked about how Argentina will be under more pressure than Croatia. He said, “We are playing the great Argentina, a terrific team led by Lionel Messi. They are highly motivated, but under more pressure than Croatia at this moment in time. They have more support than us and that is a handicap to us, but they are under greater pressure than us.”

The coach also talked about how if they win, this will be the biggest win ever for the team. He said, “The semi final-match against England in the last World Cup was the greatest match of all time, the game against Brazil comes in second. If we win against Argentina, that would make it the greatest historical game for Croatia of all time.” 

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Croatian went to finals last time by beating Argentina, Nigeria, and Iceland on the group stage. Croatia defeated Denmark, Russia, and England in the knockouts. However, the team’s defense crumbled in the finals against the mighty attack of France and they lost the finals 4-2. The team is looking to not only repeat history but one-up it this time. For that, they have to cross a mountain this is Argentina.

The FIFA WC 2022 campaign of Croatia

Croatia’s group stage was okay. They had two goalless matches against Morocco and Belgium. But due to their 4-1 win against Canada, they qualified for the knockouts. Croatia got the game tied against Japan in the round of 16 and because of magical goalkeeping by Dominik Livakovic; they managed to win the shootout.

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In the quarter-finals, Croatia again ended in a 1-1 tie against Brazil after the playtime and the game went to a penalty shootout. However, Croatia shocked everybody by repeating the story of the previous game. The team seems ready to face the south American giants, and the coach is doing everything to give their teams an edge.