Argentina and Croatia will face off on Tuesday, with the winner punching their ticket to the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final. Much of the spotlight in the matchup will be between Lionel Messi and Luka Modric.
Before the matchup, Modric spoke with the Spanish media RTVE (h/t Marca) about what is going on in the World Cup and the aspirations of the Croatian team as they’re in their second straight semifinal.
One of the many topics the 37-year-old discussed with the outlet was his mentality facing the South American nation, knowing what’s at stake when the ball kicks off.
While Modric acknowledged that the Croatian national team would focus on Messi to stop his influence in the game, the squad intends to concentrate on the entire Argentina team and not just one player.
“Argentina is a big team; I don’t just want to play against a player,” Modric said. “Of course, Leo Messi is very big, their best player, and we’re going to have a lot of difficulties to stop him, but we are prepared, and we are going to give it our all.
“We are going to try to have the best game of our lives in the tournament. I hope it will be enough to be in the final.”
Croatia has pulled two impressive wins this knockout stage with victories over Japan and Brazil, two countries that won their group, and now they will attempt to make it three.
