World Cup 2022

Quarter Final-1 : CRO vs BRA

Preview 

Brazil coach Tite has explained that joining in with his team’s celebrations in the Round of 16 encounter against South Korea was not an act of disrespect to the opposition. The Selecao thrashed their opponents 4-1 to book a place in the Quarter Finals. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring before Neymar converted one from the spot to go 2-0 up inside 15 minutes. Richarlison joined the party with a sublime third prior to Lucas Paqueta rounding off Brazil’s haul in the first half of the clash. After Richarlison’s goal, Brazilian Coach Tite celebrated with the Tottenham forward by performing the ‘pigeon’ dance. His jubilant display however didn’t sit well with the media, who blatantly criticised the boss for taking a mickey out of the opposition so much so that Tite had to come out in public with an explanation 

“We try to adapt to the athletes’ characteristics. They are young, I have to get closer to their language,” he said. “One day we were training and I said to Richarlison ‘if you score a goal, I’ll dance’. “I told the players to hide me a little, I know about the visibility.” “I didn’t want it to have any other interpretation than the joy of the goal, the result, the performance, but not disrespect for the opponent or Paulo Bento, who I have great respect for.”

With his goal, meanwhile, Neymar equalled Pele and Ronaldo as the third Brazil player to score at three different World Cups. The PSG star is also just a goal away, matching Pele’s record goal haul of 77 for Brazil. 

“Achieving marks is a great source of pride,” Neymar said. “I reached numbers that I would never have imagined reaching, that’s always very good. It makes me very happy.”

Croatia, 2018 runners up, have reached at least the last four of the competition on both previous occasions they’ve made it out of the group stages (1998 and 2018). The Checkered Ones advanced to the Round of 16 of Qatar 2022 after finishing ahead of Belgium and Canada, in second place only behind Morocco in Group F. 

They have plenty of experienced players in their camp such as Luka Modric, Ivan Persic, Dejan Lovren and Andrej Kramaric with Josko Gvardiol one of the breakout stars at this tournament. 

Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was the chief architect of Croatia’s win in the last round, becoming just the third goalkeeper in WC history to save as many as three penalties in a shootout. 

Match Details

Match: Quarter Final-1: CRO vs BRA  

Date: 9 December 2022

Time: 08:30 PM  

Venue: Education City Stadium

Key Players

CRO- Real Madrid star Luka Modric was not on the pitch as Croatia progressed to the QF’s via penalties in the last 16, but if Zlatko Dalic’s team are to overcome the Brazilian challenge, the 37 year old has to fire in all cylinders.

Modric has played 16 times for Croatia in the World Cup, two more than any other player. He will go up against former Madrid clubmate Casemiro, and will need Marcelo Brozvic and Mateo Kovacic’s assistance, but if Modric can have his impact on this game, Croatia have a chance. 

BRA- Neymar will hold the key for Brazil in this match. He has been involved in 15 goals in his last 11 appearances for the national side across all competitions (8 goals, 7 assists). 

In the last game against South Korea, he became the first Brazil player on record (since 1966) to both score and provide an assist at three different world cup tournaments. 

He missed out the group matches against Switzerland and Cameroon following an ankle injury he suffered against Serbia in the opening game. He needs one more goal to draw level with Pele (77 goals) as the top men’s goal scorer in Brazilian national team history. 

Possible Starting XIs 

CRO: Livakovic; Juranovic, Lovren, Gvardiol, Sosa; Kovacic, Brozovic, Modric; Kramaric, Petkovic, Perisic

BRA: Alisson; Militao, Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, Danilo; Casemiro, Paqueta; Raphinha, Neymar, Vinicius Jr; Richarlison

Match Prediction

We say: CRO 1-2 BRA

Brazil will be heading into this encounter with a world of confidence. They easily dispatched South Korea in the last 16 and would now fancy their chances against Croatia. However Friday’s clash may not be a cakewalk against a nation of Croatia’s quality and potential. 

Afterall, Croatia have frustrated many opponents on the grandest international stage, but a match up against the Selecao is a step too far, and we can see the five time world champions showing their class in 90 minutes and progressing to the semi finals. 

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