The soccer teams from Russia and Croatia couldn’t have had different expectations coming into the World Cup. Now the two face each other in the final quarterfinal on Saturday, with an opportunity that many thought neither could achieve.
Before the start of play, Russia was a 30/1 pick to win the World Cup, while Croatia was 55/1. Now one of these two teams will move onto the semifinals.
Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov has cautioned his players (and fans) not to, “get carried away by euphoria.” They are still a huge underdog to the Croats. Bovada has Russia at +290 to win, Croatia at +120. The spread would probably be more if Russia didn’t have home field advantage.
“Look, higher-rated teams are already at home,” Cherchesov said. “So we are preparing very seriously.”
Croatia is now at 6/1 to win the whole tournament, and the players seem to believe now it’s possible.
“Our goals are higher,” defender Domagoj Vida said. “God-willing we would like to lift the World Cup trophy. That’s what we are here for.”
Russia Riding Momentum
The host country was given a fairly easy bracket, and they took advantage of it –defeating Saudi Arabia and Egypt, outscoring them 8-1 in the first two games of Group A play. In the third game they faced a much more experienced team in Uruguay, and were manhandled, 3-0.
They still advanced to the Round of 16, but many thought the dream would end there. They were facing Spain, a favorite to win the trophy at 7/1. Even former Russian players believed beating Spain was so unlikely that they had to enjoy their brief stop in the knockout round for the achievement that it was.
But when the team shocked the soccer world by ending regulation tied 1-1, then winning on penalty kicks, suddenly they didn’t sound like a side that didn’t belong.
“We knew that everything was possible,” midfielder Alexander Golovin told reporters Wednesday. “Even before the beginning of the tournament we all understood that we could reach the final, we seriously counted on this and see this as the real state of things for us now.”
Croatia Chasing Ghosts of 1998
How does Croatia handle a team they are favored to beat on paper, but exudes the confidence of a squad just waiting to pull off their next upset?
Croatian players will have to quell comparisons to the 1998 team that finished third — losing in the semifinals to the home team, France, who went on to win the Cup.
Ivan Perisic said he and his teammates are well-aware of Croatia’s great run 1998 — Davor Šuker scored six goals to win the Golden Boot that year — but want to carve out their own identity in 2018.
“It has been talked a lot about the two teams and their similarities,” Perisic said. “They achieved a historic result in France. Now we’ve come close and hopefully we can even do it a little bit better than them. We know our quality and we believe in ourselves and we are on the right track at the moment.”
Croatia dominated Group D play, shutting out Nigeria and Argentina, and defeating Iceland, 2-1. In the Round of 16 they also won by penalty kicks, downing Denmark to advance to the quarterfinals. Perisic knows what getting to the semifinals would mean to his country.
“It was a dream to be in a similar situation one day,” Perisic said. “Now is the time and hopefully we can achieve a similar result. That’s why we are really looking forward to the game against Russia.”
