Two Ballons d’Or on a mission, two selections carried by a mad hope, an exceptional atmosphere expected at the Lusail stadium. The semi-final between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and Luka Modric’s Croatia has everything to be one of the highlights of the 2022 World Cup (to be followed on Tuesday from 8:00 p.m. on RTS2).
On one side, Messi and the Albiceleste. Two World Cups on the clock (1978, 1986) but none for the Paris SG striker who, on his 5th attempt, hopes to do better than the 2014 final and join Diego Maradona in the pantheon of Argentine and world football.
On the other, Modric, Ballon d’Or 2018, and the team in the checkered jersey. A dream midfielder, the best of the competition, and the possibility of reaching a second World Cup final in a row, an incredible feat for a country of less than 4 million inhabitants.
At 37 for Modric and 35 for Messi, the two no10s still amazed in Qatar and have already probably won their place in the standard team of the tournament. But they are looking for something else, of course, during this World Cup which will probably be their last.
Messi or the crowning of a career
For Messi, it is a question of crowning with a planetary title an incredible career during which the sevenfold Ballon d’Or has won everything, individually and collectively, except the World Cup.
The captain of the Albiceleste, already author of 4 goals in Qatar and regularly dazzling, is accompanied in his quest by valiant teammates but also by the formidable supporters of Argentina, these noisy “hinchas”. It will nevertheless be a question of finally being able to master a match from A to Z since the start of the tournament so as not to come out so close to the title.
A goalkeeper and Croatian circles on fire
When it came time to draw up the tables of World Cup favourites, many have no doubt forgotten regarding Croatia en route. But Modric and his team are indeed defending vice-champions and their tournament was once once more a model of mastery and science of the game, around the majestic trio of its midfielder Modric-Brozovic-Kovacic and a goalkeeper, Dominik Livakovic, who is playing the tournament of a lifetime.
And these fearless Croats, who came back in extra time once morest Brazil, to finally eliminate them on penalties, have everything to trip up the Albiceleste.
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