Ahead of the first of the two World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, “Krone” columnist Martin Hinteregger sets his sights on the teams’ two star “10s”, Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Croatia’s Luka Modric. And he thinks the Austrian national team might have shaken up the Croats a bit for the final…
It will be a very even semi-final. Also the duel of the magical “tens” – the only difference between Lionel Messi and Luka Modric? Messi still scores goals. Both are of course difference players, not world football players for nothing.
And both are driven by their last big dream. It’s her last chance. They have won practically everything in their amazing careers, but only one world title lasts forever. In Germany, for example, Mario Götze is still referred to as “the world champion”. It’s been eight years…
We, Austria, are the only ones who could beat Croatia this year. That was also exciting for me to see. That was certainly a shock for Croatia, a boost. But of course they are now in a very different competitive mode.
The Croatians are just fun and have an incredible mentality. The head is all-determining and is becoming increasingly important. This World Cup showed that once again and that is why Morocco is in the semi-finals. The Croatians also have the best midfield in the world for me. And Josko Gvardiol will be the best central defender in the world one day, he brings it all.
However, I also did not expect Argentina’s defense to be so stable based on the names. Team boss Lionel Scaloni does a great job there. The mentality makes me believe more in the Croats.
Source: Krone
I am George Kunkel, an author working for Today Times Live. I specialize in opinion pieces and cover stories that are both informative and thought-provoking – helping to shape public discourse on key issues. My work is regularly featured across the network’s many platforms, including print media and social media.
