FOLLOW all the action from ReportersAtLarge as Argentina take on Croatia at the 2018 World Cup on Thursday 21 June 2018 with kick-off at 20:00 CEST.
GOAL! Argentina 0-3 Croatia (Rakitic 90+1)
GOAL! Argentina 0-2 Croatia (Modric 80)
This is as sensational as the first goal was farcical! Modric picks up possession 25 yards out. He drops a shoulder to confuse Otamendi, shifts the ball a little to the right, and curls an unstoppable shot into the top right! Upfield, Messi drops his head slowly and sadly.
GOAL! Argentina 0-1 Croatia (Rebic 53)
No Half-Time Changes By Either Team.
Argentina get the party restarted. They’ll be hoping to bring it up a notch or two. Messi only touched the ball 20 times in that first half; Aguero just seven. “It seems telling that Croatia’s key player, Modric, is a passing play maker, whereas Argentina’s key player, Messi, is more of a dribbler,” begins David Wall. “So when Modric plays well it means Croatia play well. But when Messi plays well it means that Messi plays well. That may in itself decide a game, but it doesn’t really make the team as a whole convince. Perhaps the manager should just tell him to get over the idea of trying to win it himself, and instead base their play on the abilities of all eleven, with Messi as an exceptional component of that.”
Half Time: Argentina 0-0 Croatia
Modric sends Rebic clear down the left with a glorious diagonal pass. But Rebic lets the ball get stuck under his feet. He’s forced to check back, then attempt a curler into the top right, which he gets all wrong.
Argentina with more possession but in the wrong places. Otamendi gives it away at the back now.
Rebic with another foul. Ref tells him no more. He is full of adrenaline.
People really not happy with Sampaoli’s team selection.
