The first quarter-final match at the World Cup brings us a duel between the team that is the main favorite to win the trophy this year and the second-placed team of the previous World Cup. As in most of the matches they play, Brazil will be a big favorite in this one as well. Croatia found themselves in this round of the competition with a lot of luck because they eliminated Japan after a penalty shootout. Unlike them, Brazil, with an impressive game in the first half and 4 scored goals, let everyone know what they can expect until the end of the tournament. Croatia has been playing football at a very high level for years, and it really cannot be said that they found themselves here only thanks to luck. In the last 20 years, the football association has made excellent moves, the players play for the national team with great desire, and when we add to all that the quality that the players certainly possess, the results are inevitable. The strongest part of this team is the midfield, which is commanded by the great Luka Modric. Even though he is 37 years old, he still plays with a lot of energy and his moves can change the course of the game. Along with him, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic should also be singled out, who have also been playing at a high level for the past few years. As for the defense, it is led by a player who will certainly soon play in one of the world's biggest clubs, Josko Guardiol. This is a player who is only 20 years old, but he plays with such confidence and without mistakes and really inspires confidence in his teammates. In my opinion, the weaker part of this team is the attack and in some situations the goalkeeper. In the four games played at the World Cup, Croatia scored 5 goals, including 4 against Canada, which, it must be said, is a very inexperienced team and succumbed to the pressure of playing in such a big competition. In the duels with Morocco and Belgium, Croatia failed to score a goal. As for the goalkeeper, Livakovic, he plays for a team from the domestic league and does not have any excessive experience of playing very important games. In the match against Belgium, he can be grateful to Lukaku because there was not a single goal in Croatia's goal. In several situations, Livakovic had to intervene better and prevent the ball from reaching Belgium's most advanced players. In the match against Japan, the Croats also showed certain weaknesses in defending actions through wing attacks, which is one of the strongest weapons of the Brazilians. In my opinion, they didn't leave an excessively good impression in that match and that will have to change if they want to do something more against the mighty Brazil.

As for Brazil, according to everything they have shown so far, they absolutely deserve to be among the big favorites to win the trophy. They play beautiful football, they have one of the most talented generations that Brazilian football has had and it is a real pleasure to watch them. As I said in the previous text about the match Brazil - South Korea, Brazil starts to play real and relaxed football after they score the first goal. Then they get even more energy and want to score the second goal as soon as possible. Neymar missed two group games and luckily for the Brazilians, he is now 100% fit for the remaining games. Although the game of Brazil does not depend only on him, his mere presence on the field is enough to distract the attention of the opposing defense, which leaves enough space for the other masters of the team to finish the job. As in the match against Korea, I expect Brazil to dominate possession and that most of their attacks will go through the speedy wingers Vinicius and Raphinha. In addition to the big names in the attack, the effect of the main midfielder, Casemiro, must not be forgotten. He may not have as many offensive tasks, but with his positioning and reading of the opponent's game, he cuts their actions in the middle of the field at the root. It is quite certain that he will be in charge of guarding Modric and preventing the dangerous attacks of the Croats. It is hard to expect that the match will end with a convincing victory like against Korea, because Croatia is a much better team, but I believe that Brazil will manage to win this match without going to extra time. With the exception of Switzerland, Croatia is perhaps the most serious team that Brazil has faced at this World Cup, and I think that the players of Brazil are also eager for a serious game in which they can show what they have.

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世界杯1 / 4决赛的第一场比赛将是本届世界杯夺冠热门球队和上届世界杯第二名球队之间的对决。和他们参加的大多数比赛一样，巴西在这场比赛中也将是大热门。克罗地亚在这一轮比赛中运气很好，因为他们在点球大战中淘汰了日本队。与他们不同的是，巴西在上半场表现抢眼，打进4球，让所有人都知道他们可以期待什么，直到比赛结束。克罗地亚多年来一直踢着高水平的足球，真的不能说他们能在这里仅仅是因为运气。在过去的20年里，足协做出了出色的举动，球员们怀着巨大的愿望为国家队效力，当我们加上球员们所拥有的所有素质时，结果是不可避免的。这支球队最强大的部分是中场，由伟大的卢卡·莫德里奇指挥。尽管他已经37岁了，但他仍然发挥着巨大的能量，他的动作可以改变比赛的进程。除了他，马特奥·科瓦契奇、伊万·佩里西奇和马塞洛·布罗佐维奇也应该被挑选出来，他们在过去几年里也打出了很高的水平。至于防守方面，球队的领军人物是一名很快就会在世界最大俱乐部之一效力的球员——约斯科·瓜迪奥尔(Josko Guardiol)。这是一名只有20岁的球员，但他踢得如此自信，没有失误，真的激发了队友的信心。在我看来，这支球队的薄弱部分是进攻，在某些情况下是门将。在世界杯的四场比赛中，克罗地亚队进了5球，其中4球是对阵加拿大队的，必须说加拿大队是一支非常缺乏经验的球队，在如此大的比赛中，他们屈服于压力。在与摩洛哥和比利时的对决中，克罗地亚一球未进。至于门将，利瓦科维奇，他效力于一支国内联赛的球队，并没有太多踢重要比赛的经验。在对阵比利时的比赛中，他可以感谢卢卡库，因为克罗地亚的球门没有一个进球。在一些情况下，利瓦科维奇不得不更好地进行干预，防止皮球落入比利时最先进的球员手中。在与日本队的比赛中，克罗地亚人在巴西人最强大的武器之一的边路进攻防守上也暴露出一定的弱点。在我看来，他们在那场比赛中没有给人留下太好的印象，如果他们想在强大的巴西面前做更多的事情，就必须改变这一点。

至于巴西，根据他们迄今为止所表现出的一切，他们绝对值得成为赢得奖杯的大热门之一。他们踢着漂亮的足球，他们拥有巴西足球史上最具天赋的一代，观看他们的比赛是一种真正的乐趣。正如我在之前关于巴西对韩国比赛的文章中所说，巴西在打进第一个球后开始踢真实而轻松的足球。然后他们会获得更多的能量，并希望尽快打入第二个进球。内马尔缺席了两场小组赛，幸运的是，他现在已经100%恢复，可以参加剩下的比赛。虽然巴西队的比赛并不仅仅取决于他，但他在场上的存在就足以分散对方防守的注意力，这就为球队的其他大师留下了足够的空间来完成这项工作。就像对韩国的比赛一样，我预计巴西会控制球权，他们的大部分进攻将由速度很快的边锋维尼修斯和拉芬哈完成。除了锋线上的大牌，中场主力卡塞米罗的作用也不容忽视。他可能没有那么多的进攻任务，但凭借他的定位和对对手比赛的解读，他从根本上切断了对手在中场的行动。可以肯定的是，他将负责防守莫德里奇，防止克罗地亚人的危险进攻。很难期待这场比赛会像对阵韩国那样以令人信服的胜利结束，因为克罗地亚队要强得多，但我相信巴西队会在不进入加时赛的情况下赢得这场比赛。除了瑞士队，克罗地亚队可能是本届世界杯巴西遇到的最严肃的球队，我认为巴西球员也渴望在一场严肃的比赛中展示他们的实力。