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Croatia has just showed us how to win the World Cup. After demolishing Lionel Messi’s Argentina, the Balkan side lectured the planet on how to play the perfect game.
Croatia’s 3-0 victory over Argentina was one of the tournament’s biggest upsets matched only by Mexico’s 1-0 defeat of world champions Germany.
However, El Tri’s victory was nothing short of miraculous.
Granted, Mexico played one of its best international caps in history. However, they finished the match defending with eight players and clinging to a one goal advantage that seemed likely to vanish at every German attack.
Moreover, Mexico did not profit from some clear counter attacks, with Chicharito and Carlos Vela botching a fantastic goal opportunity that could have given the Mexican team some peace of mind to manage the game better.
In contrast, Croatia took just about every chance it had against La Albiceleste.
The result was nothing less than an absolute thrashing of powerhouse Argentina, which was no doubt among the candidates to win this World Cup.
And that is where the secret lies: When playing against any team, but especially against a great one, take any chance you have to make some damage.
When goalkeeper Willy Caballero unbelievably gifted the ball to Ante Rebic in the 53rd minute, the Croatia man did not hesitate and simply rocketed the ball to the back of the net.
Gol de Croacia por un error del portero Caballero #croacia #ArgentinaCroacia pic.twitter.com/2yrTSvlgmr
— Trenzgraff (@trenz92) 21 de junio de 2018
After that play, the Argentineans seemed to have a mental breakdown and were unable to bounce back.
Argentina did not play a good game. In fact, you could say they were hideous. And yet, one thing about great teams is that even when they don’t play well they are still likely to beat lesser squads.
Croatia has the antidote to this. They pounded on Argentina at every chance they got, with Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic setting the score at an astonishing 3-0, scoring magnificent goals.
me saco el sombrero por este golazo #Croacia #Rusia2018 pic.twitter.com/DFp2j0MwtU
— IlRober (@itrober) 21 de junio de 2018
Taking advantage of your rival’s mistakes is key to making the difference when a match is leveled and Croatia did just that.
Led by two of the world’s best midfielders, Luka Madrid and Ivan Rakitic, they pulverized Argentina and secured an authoritative victory that has dazzled the world.
That is the secret recipe to win the World Cup: Take any chance you get and punish your opponents when they make mistakes.
Mexico did it against Germany, but it was Croatia that gave the master class.
With Lionel Messi’s Argentina on the brink of elimination, should we consider Croatia a serious candidate to leave a historic mark on the tournament?
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