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Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric v Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia (Croatia v Argentina, 21/6/2018)
Argentina didn’t just struggle in their opening game, they were awful. Even star man Lionel Messi misfired, having a second-half penalty saved when it seemed he might be able to redeem a low-key performance from a team that struggled just to reach Russia 2018.
Now the pressure is on; if they failed to win either of their remaining fixtures against Nigeria or Croatia, they could well find themselves facing an early flight home to South America.
While their defence was lamented in their opening draw, every area of their side struggled, including the midfield, where veteran Mascherano and Biglia failed to offer enough creativity to dominate the game.
It was not fully exploited by Iceland, who played to their defensive strengths and were somewhat limited going forward, but against more accomplished players like Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric, currently play for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, it could be a great deal more damaging.
The Croats have started the tournament with promise; they easily saw off Nigeria 2-0 in their opening game, with Modric the man pulling the strings in the heart of the field.
Indeed, it would be little surprise if Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli elected to shuffle his pack after the opening game, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Giovanni Lo Celso notably waiting in the wings.
Argentina cannot afford to slip up but Croatia will start this game favourites to dominate the all-important midfield battle, and that spells bad news for a side struggling to find its feet.
