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#2 Ivan Rakitic
At Barcelona, the midfielder might not be the best player on the team for them, which is because Barcelona's system needs Rakitic to operate deep and help in build-up play, reducing his attacking contributions marginally. But in Zlatko Dalic's system, Rakitic played upfront alongside Luka, while Brozovic took care of the defensive duties.
Playing Rakitic upfront increased his contributions to the team's attacking play, and increased their flair. The role was one in which Rakitic already played at Sevilla, almost a box-to-box midfielder. He showed his brilliance in the game where many thought Modric was outstanding.
In the Argentina game, Rakitic hit the post with a free-kick, and also scored a goal. He was at his all-around best, and also completed 4 tackles and two aerial duels. He outshone Modric in a game which was arguably Luka's best performance in World Cup 2018.
Even though Rakitic scored only one goal in the whole tournament, he was with Luka in every move that happened in the midfield. Luka ran around the pitch in a flurry, which made it seem that he was the better performer.
In the Denmark game, Rakitic had a higher match rating. He completed 4 dribbles, 4 tackles and won 1 aerial, while passing at 90 percent in the Russia game. Modric did almost the same with 8 dribbles, 2 tackles, and winning one aerial, while passing at 87 percent. Both flopped against England as Perisic stepped up.
In the finals as well, both players weren't particularly good. Rakitic had 1 dribble, 3 aerials won, and 2 tackles, while Modric had 2 dribbles, 1 aerial won, and 1 tackle.
When it came to keeping the nerve, Rakitic was undoubtedly better as he kept his cool in the shootouts, while Modric felt the pressure, barely scoring against Akinfeev, and missing in normal time against Denmark.
Yet after identical performances, Luka got the Golden Ball, and Rakitic didn't even get recognition.
