In what is expected to be one of the most exciting matches of the World Cup thus far, Mexico clashes with Croatia in the final and deciding match of Group A.
If Brazil beats Cameroon as they are expected to do, they will clinch the first spot coming out of Group A. The second spot is up for grabs with Mexico currently holding a one point advantage of Croatia. The equation is simple for both teams. For Mexico, win or draw and you advance. For Croatia, it is direr: win or go home.
This will be only the second ever World Cup matchup between the two teams. In a twist of fate, the last time the two teams met was in 2002 in Korea where the outcome of the match again would decide who would advance out of group play. Mexico won that match 1-0, and El Tri advanced while the Croatians were eliminated.
Mexico is currently one of only two teams in the FIFA World Cup who have yet to concede a single goal. However, they have also only scored one goal to date. The usually smooth, fluid and attacking style of play by the Mexicans has been lacking lately. Their 0-0 draw was an offensively anemic performance that was highlighted more by their defense and goalkeeper, Guillermo “Memo” Ochoa.
Mexico’s coach, Miguel Herrera announced ahead of the match that he will be keeping the same staring XI that he has used in his previous two matches. That means that forwards Giovani dos Santos and Oribe Peralta will be required to man the counter attack for El Tri, while Manchester United star, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez will continue to ride the bench.
Croatia comes into the match having no such problems scoring lately. In their last match against Cameroon, the Croatians exploded for four goals in what turned into a 4-0 rout over the under manned Lions.
Croatia coach, Niko Kovac knows that his team has to beat Mexico to advance, and has been emitting confidence as he has repeatedly told the media that all the pressure in the match is on Mexico. “If anyone has their knees shaking, it’s Mexico,” he proclaimed.
Croatia will be lead by attacking forwards Mario Mandzukic who was suspended for Croatia’s first game against Brazil and it was noticed in their play on the pitch. Mario will be surrounded by Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric. The latter duo ignited a war of words Sunday prior to the match:
“Mexico is a great team, they’ve showed high quality football, but we are a better team and better individuals than Mexico,” said Modric. “With full respect to Ochoa, (Mario) Mandzukic has scored on better keepers than him,” he added.
When told what Madric said, Coach Herrera responded by reminding Croatia that there will be more Mexico fans in the arena on Monday making the match equivalent to a home game for El Tri. “We can say 20,000 things here, but you have to demonstrate them on the pitch.” he chirped.
Mexico certainly won’t be intimidated by the Croatians in the match and still hold the upper hand. They possess the talent to win the match, but their underrated defense only needs to hold Croatia scoreless like they did in their two previous matches for El Tri to advance albeit scoring only one goal.
“You [can] win with [just one] goal. Spain were champions by winning by one [goal, in 2010], so what’s important is scoring the goal before the opponent and keeping a clean sheet at the back. That’s the most important thing," Herrera remarked.
The game is set to kick off at 4:00 PM EST at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil. It can be seen on ESPN and in Spanish on Univision. If you want to live stream the match, simply go to WatchESPN here and here for a live stream in Spanish.
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