Thiago Silva was one of the Brazil players questioned about possible Croatia fatigue in the quarter-finals. “Perhaps in the final minutes it weighs a little. But it’s the World Cup…”, summed up the defender.
The two teams will face each other next Friday (9), at 4 pm (Brasília time), for a place in the semifinals. It will be the first meeting between them in the tournament since the opening of 2014, when the team won 3-1.
Four years later, the Croatians achieved their greatest result, the world runner-up, in Russia. After multiple extensions, they reached the final. “If we had to, we would play one more now,” said Ivan Perisic, shortly after the extended semi-final duel.
After all, it was “World Cup”. The message was similar to the one presented now by Thiago Silva. That is, the motivation linked to the dispute of the main soccer championship of the planet can help to overcome the tiredness.
Croatia reached the final in 2018 playing extra time in every knockout match. France did not go through that once – and ended up being champions, defining the title in the 90 minutes, with a 4-2 victory.
Now, in Qatar, the Croatians returned to play 120 minutes in the round of 16. They beat Japan on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
“Maybe it’s written in heaven that Croatia have to win like this,” said defender Dejan Lovren.
Brazil reached the quarterfinals much more calmly. He opened up four goals ahead of South Korea in the first half and was able to take his foot off the accelerator in the second. In the previous match, the last one of the group stage, with the classification assured in advance, Tite used a reserve formation.
The 1-0 defeat by Cameroon drew criticism of the coach, but the starters were able to rest. “He understands football a lot. He knows what he’s doing,” said Richarlison.
While Brazil was saving energy, Croatia was going to a life and death match against Belgium to qualify in Group F.
Even in the second half of the round of 16, the Brazilian coach began to replace key players in the team. The main one, Neymar.
Croatia have what is already a tradition of surviving extra time, but they have an aging base. It is the same one that won the vice four years ago. Of the team that faced the Japanese last Monday (5), Lovren, 33, Modric, 37, Perisic, 33, Brozovic, 30, and Kramaric, 31, also played in the final in 2018.
“We are 4 million Croats. What we have done in recent years is a miracle,” said coach Zlatko Dalic, comparing his country’s population with the more than 200 million Brazilians. “We are like a neighborhood in a Brazilian city.”
It is a speech of defiance because the national team has not shown the football of 2018 in 2022. Only against Canada did it break free on the field and thrashed 4-1. game that Lukaku missed three amazing chances to score. If the Belgian had converted one, the Croatians would have been eliminated.
Dalic’s words are more of motivation, of remembering what happened in 2018. And they are to make players believe that the overcoming can be repeated in 2022.
“Athletes do not take a step back, they reflect the spirit of the Croatian people. We overcome a lot of pain. Never underestimate a Croatian. When you do, you will regret it. We fought until the end”, stated the coach.
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