Croatia vs Brazil LIVE: Neymar leads an unchanged attacking side as the World Cup favourites head into the quarter-finals but can Luka Modric and Co spring a surprise on Tite’s team?
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Follow Sportsmail’s live blog for the World Cup quarter-final clash between Croatia and Brazil.
Host commentator
‘Croatia is a little bit the Brazil of Europe, they have a similar style,’ Klinsmann told the BBC.
‘They have Modric, who is one of the last No 10s out there. They are very creative and have an incredible spirit.
‘It is very similar to Brazil. I followed Brazil closely over the last two years and they are extremely hungry. You can see this in everything they do.’
Even that has flair to it, wouldn’t be surprised if it has been selling like hot cakes.
This will be his 160th cap he will be winning tonight.
37y 91d – Luka Modrić is set to make his 30th appearance at a major tournament for Croatia. At 37 years of age, he will be the oldest midfielder to start in a #FIFAWorldCup quarter-final since Lothar Matthäus in 1998 (v Croatia). Engine. pic.twitter.com/QJG5cauZj1
The Premier League’s Michael Oliver is in charge of this game, having already taken two games at this tournament with little fuss – which is always a good sign.
He officiated Mexico’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia which resulted in the Mexicans going out in the group stage while he was also the man in the middle for Costa Rica’s victory over Japan.
The Paris Saint-Germain star will be up for this. As we have seen he has a good record against Croatia scoring three times in their last two meetings.
And every true supporter of the game I might add – I think we can all agree on that.
We’ve already seen Kent the Gibbon pick a Croatia win in Zagreb. Meanwhile in Rio, Ritinha the shark has backed the five-time champions.
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Both South American countries are gearing up for quarter-final ties on Friday, with Brazil set to take on Croatia at 3pm and Argentina locking horns with Holland at 7pm.
Should they emerge victorious, the two great rivals will battle it out for a place in the World Cup final next week.
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🤔🇭🇷 Who is your favourite Croatian player? #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/7h0Z0kdQPq
Half-half strips – don’t think I can ever defend them no matter what context they are used.
Not too sure if that means anything but let’s hope Croatia can at least give Brazil a game this evening.
It’s an ageing team led by Luka Modric who have only just got over a two-hour slog plus penalties to dump Japan out.
Not quite the luxury Brazil enjoyed in taking less than 45 minutes to sweep aside South Korea.
That’s a confident looking Brazil team arriving at the ground – especially Neymar behind those shades…
Brazil were expected to perhaps bring Fred back into the side to add some stability to the midfield but have instead stuck with the same XI that raced into a 4-0 lead over South Korea in the first half.
Titulares confirmados! 💪🇧🇷
O técnico Tite definiu os atletas da Seleção Brasileira que iniciarão a partida contra a Croácia!
Daqui a pouco, às 12h (de Brasília), a bola rola para 🇧🇷 e 🇭🇷.
Contamos com o apoio de todos! #VemJogarJunto com a gente! pic.twitter.com/7ov7pV56CZ
One of them expected as Borna Sosa returns from injury to replace Borna Barisic, while Bruno Petkovic is removed from the attack to be replaced by Mario Pasalic to bolster the midfield following the penalty shootout victory over Japan in the last-16.
This is how #Croatia starts against Brazil in the #FIFAWorldCup quarterfinals! 🥁 #CROBRA #Qatar2022 #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/qzWBs6dOhB
Guinness world record holder for most World Cups attended as a fan Daniel Sbruzzi (centre) arrives at Al Rayyan having attended all the finals dating back to the 1978 edition in Argentina.
And that includes Croatian model Ivana Knoll, who has become a bit of a regular among the Croatian fans attending their games at these finals.
📍 Education City Stadium
🚌 #Croatia has arrived.#FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/fWHzcpSNIi
They can’t even stop on the bus heading to the game! That’s quite a catchy beat to be fair though – how can you not get involved?!
Chegamos! Bora, Brasil!!! pic.twitter.com/vdmkQ6bNzh
At 37-years-old this is almost certainly his last World Cup and it will be an impressive feat if he can make the Euros at a near 39 years old – especially as a midfielder.
Croatia fans and one Brazil fan I might add… maybe he got lost?
And wait is that a Holland supporter in orange too?!
Brazil’s mascot has been excellent fun at this tournament. In the last match he was doing kick-ups (very impressively) as the team boarded the bus, now he is bringing the vibes with a boombox and a few dance moves as the team head to Al Rayyan.
He gets a greeting from Neymar and a friendly punch on the head (if such a thing exists) from manager Tite as they board the bus to get to the game.
😎😎 pic.twitter.com/uhNnvQoNVz
And in what is becoming a familiar pattern now – Brazil come out on top, as they lead a four-match series 3-0 having never been defeated by the European side.
Their last meeting came in a warm up for the 2018 World Cup where Roberto Firmino and Neymar found in the net in a 2-0 win at Anfield.
Just in case Croatia needed reminding of the type of forward calibre they are facing today.
It’s that time of year of course – the World Cup final is a week before Christmas Day, but Santa has bigger things on his mind in the shape of quarter-finals.
Brazil boss Tite defended his country’s ‘history’ and ‘culture’ after Roy Keane called their dancing against South Korea ‘disrespectful’, while the ITV pundit was ‘sour by his standards’, Ian Ladyman tells WORLD CUP CONFIDENTIAL
You can check out our experts’ take on the whole Keane vs Brazil episode in our article below, as well as the video below that too in our excellent daily World Cup Confidential broadcast.
Looking through their major tournament record, it’s become apparent that they have not won a knock-out game since the 1998 World Cup. Some feat that considering they made the final four years ago!
Their route to their eventual defeat by France in Moscow saw them beat Denmark and Russia on penalties before seeing off England (sigh) in extra time.
The last time they won in 90 minutes would be their 3-0 quarter-final victory over Germany at France ’98 (not counting third-place play-offs) – a match which ended the career of Jurgen Klinsmann through retirement.
A Klinsmann curse perhaps?
Brazil put on an excellent World Cup in 2014 and the opening game set the tone for the tournament when they defeated Croatia 3-1.
Marcelo’s own goal gave the European side a shock lead in the first half but spurred on by talisman Neymar the host nation equalised on the half-hour mark in Sao Paulo.
An entertaining clash could have gone either way before Neymar netted again following a highly controversial awarding of a penalty with 19 minutes to play.
Croatia pushed for an equaliser but in doing so took too many risks and conceded again through then Chelsea forward Oscar.
This was also the tournament we saw vanishing spray for the first time in Europe and for the first few months you couldn’t make it through a match without a predictable ‘waheeeeeey’ every time it was used – dark times.
Modric will be facing an old friend this evening too…
Casemiro and Modric conquered all at Real Madrid. They formed the bedrock of a side that won four of the past seven Champions League finals, resisting between them both national stereotypes and the clutches of Father Time.
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We have two quarter-finals lined up, with Holland’s clash with Argentina to follow this one…
He came off the bench in both of Croatia’s other group matches in draws with Japan and Australia before they tumbled out.
The midfielder though is one of the few stars left from the 2006 tournament still playing today but at 37-years-old this is likely to be his farewell to the World Cup.
The two teams were pitted against each other in Group F of the World Cup in 2006 but it was Brazil who would come out on top in a 1-0 win in a Berlin group opener.
Like today, Brazil had a star-studded attack featuring the likes of Kaka, Ronaldo, Robinho, Adriano and Ronaldinho but unlike today they struggled to make it click.
They did though win this game 1-0 through a Kaka strike just before half-time against a Croatia team lacking star names – at least in their staring line-up. A 20-year-old Luka Modric was on the bench…
Brazil boss Tite bites BACK at Roy Keane after the pundit blasted his side for their dancing goal celebrations in last-16 thrashing of South Korea… insisting he will disregard those ignorant of the ‘history and culture’ of the country
It’s not just the Brazil players and fans Roy Keane has annoyed – he’s also got under the skin of team manager Tite!
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The spin-offs from ‘Paul the Octopus’ at the 2010 World Cup must be running into the hundreds now but now Gibbon Kent and his pack have had a go at picking this quarter-final.
They are backing Croatia, which is a surprise until you realise they are from Zagreb zoo. Lots of questions here, which I am sure Brazil’s ambassador to Croatia Mauro Luiz Vieira (below left) will ask…
It’s a fairly light one – understandable given Croatia didn’t even exist as an independent country until the early 1990s.
Still, a meeting between the teams did not happen until a 2005 friendly in Split where they played out a 1-1 draw, with Niko Kranjcar opening the scoring before Ricardinho equalised just before half-time.
Middlesbrough fans will do well to remember the Brazilian playmaker was once on their books.
We’ll keeeeep dancing! Vinicius Jr warns Brazil’s critics they have ‘MANY more celebrations ready’ after Roy Keane claimed the goal routines were ‘disrespectful’
So what’s been the big story heading into this game? Of course, it’s dancing and the storm that has emerged after Roy Keane in his position of chief officer of the Celebration Police attacked a Brazil side for the way they danced after sticking four goals past South Korea in the previous round.
It’s not for everyone, admittedly. But if there is any team that has a free hit at such antics it’s Brazil is it not?
Keane’s words look like they have only inspired the five-time champions, who have via Vinicius Jr claimed there are more moves and shapes to come…
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At least I think it is Doha, looks a bit cloudy for me, but then rain is forecast in the desert this weekend.
The temperature still won’t drop below 20 degrees Celsius during the day though and that makes a trip to the beach much more enjoyable than in freezing Britain right now.
The traditional #Croatia support event in Doha!
🟥⬜️🟥⬜️🟥⬜️🟥⬜️🟥⬜️🟥⬜️🟥⬜️
🫶 Ima snagu zlatnog žita, ima oči boje mora… 🫶 #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #Family #Vatreni❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/1zYx8e7UEN
We may be missing Spain and Germany but that’s a pretty strong last-eight line-up isn’t it?
Croatia and Brazil will be the first of our quarter-finals today and the winner of that will face either Argentina or Holland.
I think we all want to see Brazil vs Argentina in a World Cup – but whatever way you dice this up we have an excellent semi-final in the pot on this side of the draw.
And what a torturous couple of days that was without a football match to keep us company!
Patience pays off though, as we return with the first of our quarter-finals where Croatia and Brazil clash as I welcome you to all the action as it happens.
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