Croatian Coach Values Argentina Is More Emphasized Ahead Of Qatar's 2022 World Cup Semifinals

JAKARTA Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic thinks Argentina is much more depressed against his squad in Qatar's 2022 World Cup semifinals. This could be an advantage for Luka Modri and his friends.

Argentina and Croatia meet to compete for a ticket to the final round at the Lusail Stadium on Wednesday, December 14 at 02.00 WIB.

"We are against great Argentina, a great team led by Lionel Messi, they are very motivated but under more pressure than Croatia at this time," Dalic said as quoted by the Mirror, Tuesday, December 13, 2022.

Croatia reached the semifinals after repatriating Brazil. They drew 1-1 to 120 minutes before winning through the penalty shootout.

Argentina also qualified for the last four after passing the penalty shootout against the Netherlands after a strong 2-2 position until extra time.

On paper, Argentina is more favored to qualify for the final. However, Croatia's solid game, which was runner-up in 2018, still has to be watched out for.

"They have more support than us and it is an obstacle to us, but they are under greater pressure than us," Dalic said.

Croatia will try to reach its second final in World Cup history after doing so in Russia 2018. At that time they lost to France in the final match.

Meanwhile, Argentina will try to get their sixth final after Brazil 2014 ago. Of the five finals they have played, two of them have resulted in titles (1978 and 1986).

Argentina and Croatia have met twice before in the World Cup group stage. La Albiceleste won 1-0 in 1998 and The Checkered Ones replied with a score of 3-0 in Russia.