Day 18: Croatia vs Brazil | Netherlands vs Argentina (QF 1&2)

I think Croatia could control the midfield here. Let see..
 
Expect Brazil to win but Croatia might be a bit more battle hardened as they have played the tougher teams. Don't know if Croatia have the fire power even if they can win the midfield battle.

Argentina and Netherlands is a toss up for me. A lot depends on Messi and whether his attacking team mates actually start to put away the chances he is creating.
 
Croatia will definitely be a stubborn opponent but they’re ultimately not very good and lucky to be in the QF. Got Brazil scoring 2 without reply
 
A couple of bad choices from Vinicius since the beginning of the game, he needs to stop overthinking.
 
I think people are underrating Croatia a bit. I expect Brazil to win but not expecting an easy game. Croatia still have a lot of great players even if they have a couple positions they're lacking in. I fancy Netherlands to beat Argentina I think. They're really well coached and despite Argentina's impressive unbeaten run pre-World Cup I've just been so unimpressed by them and even their better WC performances have been massively overhyped imo. Would like Argentina to win for Messi though who was really fantastic against Australia.
 
I'm not sure i'm liking Neymar's attitude since the beginning of the game, we'll see if he gets in the groove after his ankle warms up.
 
Nice from Croatia, they went back and pulled Brazil out more to launch an attack.
 
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MrMarcello said:
Umm.... " What would I give to have Dudu 2005-2008 as our main striker nowdays, "

Just curious how he would perform in this setup.
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Oh sorry, didn't get what you were going for.

Mandžukić wasn't part of 2006 setup, wasn't even in consideration. Was going with strikers from that era from which Dudu was the best one yet didn't even travel to WC.

Mandžo would be great in this team, but for me personally Dudu was better, shame that injury robbed us from his full potential.
 
Brazil are playing pretty much typical 442 today, Neymar is sticking up front next to Richarlison all the time.
 
Croatia playing well and started well. There doing a good job here
 
can croatia slow the game and kill it to their tempo and keep the high powered Brazil attack from really hurting them?
 
Amar__ said:
Brazil are playing pretty much typical 442 today, Neymar is sticking up front next to Richarlison all the time.
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Not sure it's a good idea since Neymar is better when he's more involved in the plays but I suspect Tite does it because it'll allow him to limit Neymar's involvement on defense since he's not fully fit.
 
Jenas informing us exactly what Neymar is saying to his team mates. Not only can he hear immaculately from a distance in a crowded stadium, he’s also now fluent in Portuguese.
 
Absolutely love Modric. Class in every single move and showing how to it at 37.
 
When Casemiro is off it, Brazil don't look half as good.
 
Oly Francis said:
Not sure it's a good idea since Neymar is better when he's more involved in the plays but I suspect Tite does it because it'll allow him to limit Neymar's involvement on defense since he's not fully fit.
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It looks good for Croatia so far, yep. Richarlison is involved more defensively and Neymar looks quiet so fat.

Danillo is also tucking in from the left, but they are definitely missing something in the build up.
 
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