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Russia took an offensive stance against its opponents in the World Cup group stage but played defensively in the clash against Spain, and Croatia thinks that they must be ready for the quarterfinals Sunday morning (Singapore time).
The Russians arrived in the tournament as the least ranked team, but started with great success beating Saudi Arabia 5-0 and Egypt 3-1 before. to lose 3-0 to the winners of Group A in Uruguay. They have reached the last eight with a penalty win against Spain.
| RUSSIA | CROATIA |
Russia has changed tactics to play five goals at the back with Artem Dzyuba against Spain. Round of 16 last Sunday, an approach that limited their opponents to a single chance in 90 minutes.
"Yes, we have watched almost all their matches," Croatian striker Ivan Perisic said at their training base on Wednesday in Sochi.
"Against Spain, they used a different system, but you have to adapt to every team you play against, so they thought it was the best tactic for them and they took the right decision
"We will be well prepared. for both versions. We still have a few days to prepare ourselves well. "
Croatia showed flashes of its stellar attack game by beating Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland, but like Russia, they took a defensive road up to the end of the day. to the last eight .With players like world-class midfielder Luca Modric and a series of high-level forwards including Mario Mandzukic, Ante Rebic, Andrej Kramaric and Perisic, Zlatko Dalic's team has scored at least two goals in each of their three group matches, including the dismissal of three opponents from Argentina.
DARK HORSES
"We must first focus on ourselves- same because our team has a higher quality. "Croatia had an unequal qualifying campaign, slipping from first to third place in the group, before sacking coach Ante Cacic in the last moments
. One of the darkness "Every coach has new ideas and, after a few bad matches … maybe, as we all can see, it's turned out to be the best," added Perisic, l & # 39; Inter Milan striker
.] "Every coach has his ideas, and after that moment (when the manager has been changed), everything has improved and we can all be happy." [19659002] Since a talented Croatian team reached the semifinals of the World Cup in 1998 their second big tournament as an independent nation, the following generations have been under pressure from fans and media outlets to emulate the country. exploit
The current group is one more to win for
"It's a dream to be in a similar situation," said Perisic.
"It is now time and I hope that we can achieve a similar result We look forward to the match against Russia." – REUTERS
PREDICTIONS
] Russia will win 2-1
"Croatia is a solid team, but the hosts will always have the extra motivation knowing that the whole country supports them … and that Russia can do it. Their goaltender, Igor Akinfeev, did well with a few notable saves, although he made some bad mistakes in the past. "
– Former Lion Guardian Lionel Lewis
Croatia to win 1 -0
"Russia was so negative last time, but it was lucky to be victorious against an extremely dull Spanish team. Croatia seems to have lost some of its momentum, they just have enough quality to hit the host nation. "
– Defender of the Tampines Rovers Daniel Bennett
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