The song goes like this... “In Argentina I was born, in the land of Diego and Lionel, and I will never forget, the lads of Las Malvinas. I can’t explain it to you, because you just won’t understand, how many years I mourned, for the finals that we lost.”

It’s been over 36 years since Diego Maradona lifted the World Cup for Argentina at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. With every subsequent World Cup failure, the craving has just intensified. The failures, however, never deterred Argentine fans from travelling with the team, cheering them on, living the dream of Lionel Messi of a hand on the cherished trophy.

Here in Doha too, they are in huge numbers. Singing, dancing, chanting. The beat of the drums greets every goal, every move is cheered. Yes, Argentina ended their 28-year wait for a major trophy with the Copa America triumph last year beating Brazil, but the World Cup is the one the players, the country desperately want.

A finalist in 2014, they are now just two wins away from doing what Maradona and his men achieved in 1986.

“We have been saying this from the beginning: Diego is pushing us from heaven,” Lionel Messi said after the nerve-wracking penalty win against the Netherlands in the quarter-final.

Two wins may seem like no big deal but it’s easier said than done. On Tuesday they face a team that packed off Brazil on Saturday and to whom Argentina lost 3-0 in Russia 2018.

Croatia, with all their steely resolve and neversay-die attitude, have come to the last-four stage with two knock-out round wins in penalties. Nobody gave this ageing side a chance to come this far, but that’s how they have always been, the most difficult team to face in the knock-out round.

Luka Modric, 37, is the driving force behind the team playing from the deep, and binding the side together. “A challenging team which can ruin your day,” Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said of Zlatko Dalic’s men.

Modric was brilliant against Brazil curbing his natural instinct of playing up the field. He hardly ventured into the rival half, leaving that to Ivan Perisic, one of the survivors from the 2018 World Cup runners-up side, and the younger players in the squad. He played a role in Bruno Petkovic’s 117th-minute equaliser and in the tie-breaker Modric calmly converted from the spot.

Modric knows stopping Messi will be crucial, but said he had warned his men against focusing all their energies on one player.

Luka Modric. File picture

“I have the desire to play, but not only to play against one player,” Modric said in an interview to the Spanish broadcasters RTVE.

“Argentina is a big team. We will try to play the best match of the tournament, the best match of our lives. I hope that it will be enough to enter the final.”

If in Modric, Croatia have a midfielder par excellence, Argentina have the best player in the world.

Messi in Doha has been in superb form, scoring goals and playing passes to teammates, leading from the front. His assist to Nahuel Molina in the quarter-final was for the ages. He has shown great character and has taken the battle to the opposition camp like never before. Against the Dutch, he mocked coach Louis van Gaal by cupping his ears. Apparently, it was just in support of former Argentine player Juan Roman Riquelme who never got along well with Van Gaal during his stay in Barcelona in the early part of the new millennium.

“He’s our captain, our leader, pushing us, motivating us. We want to achieve our dreams and we can with Messi by our side,” defender Nicolas Tagliafico said.

Argentina have bounced back since their opening match jolt against Saudi Arabia. As former Germany captain and coach Juergen Klinsmann put it on Monday: “Argentina have not reached their full potential and I think against Croatia they will be able to achieve it.”

Like Argentina, Croatia have a good mix of experience and youth. Central defender Josko Gvardiol is just 20 but has hardly put a foot wrong. His vision, temperament, and ability to adapt to different situations set him apart from the rest. Wearing jersey No. 20 — his age — the RB Leipzig player dons a face mask following a collision with a rival player in Bundesliga. His task will be to keep Messi quiet. Marcelo Brozovic, the midfielder, will also mark the Argentine maestro.

Messi, now 35, does not do much running, preferring to scan the pitch, looking for that little space. Croatia know they have their job cut out. “Your survival depends on how long you can keep Messi subdued,” said Perisic.

Argentina vs Croatia

HEAD-TO-HEAD ⚫ Matches 5 ⚫ Argentina 2 ⚫ Croatia 2 ⚫ Drawn 1 FORM GUIDE ⚫ Argentina: W W W W L ⚫ Croatia: W W D W D

Talking tactics

Argentina: Brazil, with all their flair and a razor-sharp forward line, could not break down Croatia. Can Argentina do it? But Lionel Messi is not the only answer to that problem. The wings, and not through the middle, seem to be the better route to unsettle the Croatian defence. But do Argentina have the right personnel to use that ploy? They will certainly need a fit Angel Di Maria on Tuesday. Zlatko Dalic’s boys haven’t scored many goals in Qatar and if Argentina can win the battle in the midfield, further stifling Croatia’s goal-scoring options, they might win the game as well. But everything on one side and Messi on the other. The magician needs to ensure that the match does not go to a shootout. A shootout with Croatia is a strict no-no.

Croatia: There’s perhaps not much secret in what Croatia can do and how they would do that. Sturdy in defence and a technically sound midfield comprising Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic. When out of possession, they fall back, tightening up by changing from 4-3-3 to a 4-5-1 formation. Like they did in 2018, Croatia seem to be determined to grind their way to the final, dragging teams to shootouts on their way. In Dominik Livakovic, they have a keeper who turns into a superhero while stopping penalties. But a strong defence and a steady goalkeeper are not the only things Croatia have. Like Argentina, they have a No.10 who can play a decisive role in such big matches. Luka Modric is his name.

Short passes

⚫ Mateo Kovacic is the only player with at least 10 tackles won and at least 5 chances created in this World Cup.

⚫ Lionel Messi has created 16 chances in this tournament so far, second-most behind only France’s Antoine Griezmann (17). Nobody on the Croatia roster has more than five.

⚫ If Croatia win on Tuesday, they can become just the second side to eliminate both Brazil and Argentina from the knockout stages of the same World Cup, after Germany did so in 2014.

⚫ Croatia haven’t scored first in any of their last nine World Cup games. Argentina have scored first in all five of their World Cup matches this time. Also, 12 of the last 13 goals Argentina have conceded at the World Cup have come in the second half of matches.

DO YOU KNOW? Argentina have never lost a World Cup semi-final. This is the sixth time they have made the World Cup last-four stage and on all previous five occasions, they went on to play the final as well.

Text by Sudipto Gupta