The first World Cup semifinal is going to happen on Tuesday night between Argentina and Croatia. In the quarterfinals, Argentinians blew a 2:0 lead against the Netherlands but managed to get the victory in the penalty shootout. Croatia surprised everyone as they were able to defend perfectly against Brazil which resulted in a win in a penalty shootout. In this game, I'm predicting that Croatia won't lose in the regular time.
When Argentina get this far, they usually continue as they’ve never failed to reach the final after having reached the last 4. For the 2nd straight tournament and 3rd overall, the Croatians will play in the semi-finals. They’ve won 5 of their last 6 World Cup knockout games after extra-time, 4 of them via a penalty shootout, meaning they possess a perfect World Cup penalty shootout record with 4 wins. Interesting that 4 years ago Croatia reached the final although they didn't win any knockout game in the regular time.
When the starting lineups are announced for the game on Tuesday, 2 players that will certainly be missing for Argentina are the suspended Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna, while there are injury worries surrounding Rodrigo de Paul. As for Croatia, the head coach was blessed with a fully-fit squad for the quarter-final win over Brazil and should be working with all of his troops on Tuesday.
Croatia has a fantastic ability to stay in a game. Their midfield three Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic have the technical ability on the ball to control large spells and when they have to defend, they are dogged and organized. Argentina will find it very hard to break them down and the longer the game stays even, Croatia will only grow in belief. If we take Lionel Messi out of Argentina, their roster isn't the best. Argentina's lack of pace and creativity hasn't been a major issue so far, but as the tournament approaches its decisive stage, the key details matter and they will need to find something extra to beat Croatia.
I'm more than confident that this game will head into extra time. Croatia has the ability to play hard defense and they know what to do against offense-talented teams. What's even more, 4 years ago they beat Argentina during the World Cup group stage by 3:0 and some players will be on the pitch Tuesday as well. Anything can happen in the extra time, but one thing is sure - there will be extra time.
本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：
首场世界杯半决赛将于周二晚上在阿根廷和克罗地亚之间进行。在四分之一决赛中，阿根廷队在2:0领先荷兰队的情况下，在点球大战中取得胜利。克罗地亚让所有人惊讶，因为他们能够完美地防守巴西队，并在点球大战中获胜。在这场比赛中，我预测克罗地亚在常规时间内不会输球。
当阿根廷队走到这一步时，他们通常会继续前进，因为他们从未在进入四强后未能进入决赛。克罗地亚人将连续第二次参加半决赛，这是他们第三次参加半决赛。在过去6场世界杯淘汰赛中，他们在加时赛后赢了5场，其中4场是通过点球大战赢的，这意味着他们拥有世界杯点球大战4胜的完美纪录。有趣的是，四年前克罗地亚进入了决赛，尽管他们在常规时间没有赢得任何淘汰赛。
当周二比赛的首发阵容公布时，两名阿根廷球员肯定会缺席，他们是停赛的贡萨洛·蒙蒂尔和马科斯·阿库纳，而罗德里戈·德保罗也有受伤的担忧。至于克罗地亚队，主教练在四分之一决赛战胜巴西的比赛中得到了一个完全健康的阵容，他应该会在周二和他的所有队员一起训练。
克罗地亚队有很强的保持比赛状态的能力。他们的中场三人卢卡·莫德里奇、马特奥·科瓦契奇和马塞洛·布罗佐维奇有控球的技术能力，当他们不得不防守时，他们顽强而有组织。阿根廷会发现很难击溃他们，比赛持续得越久，克罗地亚的信心就会越强。如果我们把梅西踢出阿根廷队，他们的阵容就不是最好的了。到目前为止，阿根廷队缺乏节奏和创造力还不是一个主要问题，但随着比赛接近关键阶段，关键细节很重要，他们需要找到一些额外的东西来击败克罗地亚。
我非常有信心这场比赛将进入加时赛。克罗地亚队有很强的防守能力，他们知道如何对付进攻天才球队。更重要的是，四年前，他们在世界杯小组赛中以3:0击败了阿根廷队，一些球员周二也将出现在球场上。加时赛什么都有可能发生，但有一件事是肯定的——加时赛还会继续。
