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MOSCOW (AP) A world cup of surprises concludes with a final of contrasts
Driven by the dynamism of Kylian Mbappe, France has a juvenile exuberance in a team full of talented talents. He also has winners in 1998 and finalists in 2006.
Croatia has a list of veterans who has been stretched to the limit but continues to win in Russia. The Croatians never give in, dominating in a shootout against Denmark, again to penalties against Russia – having been stung by a late equalizer – and then getting back to conceding early against England.
Do not suggest that Croatia will be tired Sunday. Croatia's midfielder Luka Modric said "we'll see who will be tired" if the team was in Wednesday's semifinal, believing Croatia was underrated by the British. 19659002] Modric, along with Mario Mandzukic, are the 32 years that propelled Croatia to its first big football final. In the previous four World Cups: Croatia failed to qualify in 2010 and was ousted in the group stage the other three times.
Before that, in Croatia, in 1998, Croatia reached the semi-final.
When Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic visited the hotel's team in Moscow on Wednesday, this 1998 match was in his mind – even before beating England.
"We could have the chance to avenge the finals with the French." Plenkovic said.
Now they understand it.
Croatia advanced to its first World Cup final with a 2-1 overtime win against England on Wednesday night. France beat Belgium 1-0 the night before
"We have a good opportunity to give them something back 20 years ago when they reached the final," Croatian defender Dejan Lovren said. "It may be time to take revenge on something but it's a tough and difficult match."
France has 65 million players, like sensation Mbappe, 19, midfielder Paul Pogba and striker Antoine Griezmann. 19659002] Croatia is the fourth smallest country of the 32 World Cup teams with just over 4 million people. It has a chance of being the least populated nation to win since Uruguay took the title in 1950, while it was a nation of just over 2 million.
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