Dalic builds his party to protect his queen

In his particular game of chess, zlatko dalic it had to reinvent itself to reposition its pieces after the World Cup victory in Russia, where Croatia was runner-up. And this time, he doesn’t mind playing Black and waiting for others to attack, because they keep the unique competitive gene shared by an entire nation. Not only in soccer, but also in other sports they are outstanding; water polo, basketball, athletics, tennis… With 4 million inhabitants, few countries will have a higher success rate among their elite athletes. And in Qatar they are one of the best again after being the big surprise in 2018. They are in the semifinals, where they will face Argentina.

Is a Croatia different but Dalic has managed to retain the essence of that success. In checkered selection, the coach designs the game that suits the players he has now. They are not here ricketsa major figure in Russia, by mandzukic. Two knights on his board fall, but he has other bishops that give him game variations.

four years ago, Croatia It is based in midfield, in a 4-1-4-1. Now the scheme has changed, with 4-3-3. Without the captain of Seville, Dalic He was able to rebuild his midfield. brozovic is the midfielder, accompanied by Modricthe queen of the game, and Kovacic, although in this world there is not much ‘Lukadependencia’. It benefits the Balkans and has also been thanks to the promotion of brozovic and, above all, of Kovacic. It took him a while to become a reliable midfielder at Chelsea, but he has gradually become a complete midfielder, a lieutenant of Modric more than good. He showed it, for example, in the comeback against Canada, where he was the key to his drive.

but this is new Croatiawho have won just one match in 90 minutes of regulation so far in the World Cup, cannot be understood without the numbers of Josko Guardiol or his goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, the two Towers. The Red Bull Leipzig centre-back has exceeded expectations and shown that he is a footballer for any good, while the 27-year-old goalkeeper is in the midst of a battle with Bond and the Dibu Martinez to win the award for the best goalkeeper of this World Cup.

Having reached the semifinals thanks to their tenacity as a team, they threatened Argentina without complications. Van Gaal marked the way for them. Croatia He has a tall and strong forward –Petkovic (1.93) or Budimir (1.90) -, as ‘Oranje’ did in the latter part of the quarterfinal match. They will shoot direct play, with multiple centers in the area. In otamendi Y lysander defending them, Argentina may suffer.