Blow by blow: Croatia vs Denmark
It’s a battle of Tottenham playmakers past and present as Luka Modric’s Croatia take on Christian Eriksen’s Denmark in what could be one of the more attractive ties of the first knockout round.
(COMBO) A combination made on June 29, 2018 shows Denmark’s forward Christian Eriksen (L) in Samara on June 21, 2018 and Croatia’s midfielder Luka Modric at Parc des Princes in Paris on June 12, 2016. Croatia will play Denmark in their Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match on July 01, 2018 in Nijni Novgorod. / AFP PHOTO / Emmanuel DUNAND AND Philippe LOPEZ
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And while Denmark’s reliance on Eriksen is greater than Croatia’s on Modric it is likely that they will be the game’s two key players. Whichever one exerts the most influence on the game will go a long way to getting his side into the quarter-finals.
Croatia have been near perfect in the tournament to date. Their surgical 3-0 defeat of Argentina remains perhaps the standout performance of the whole World Cup while even after making nine changes they were able to see off Iceland in the final game.
Group D was billed as the group of death at the outset, and Croatia came through it with maximum points. Impressive.
Denmark are harder to judge. They beat Peru but could easily have come unstuck there, while they were unable to see off an organised but weak Australia side. The sedate goalless draw against France can be written off given the result suited both sides.
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