The duels between the South Americans Brazil, again with Neymar, and Argentina, with Lionel Messi, and the Europeans Croatia and the Netherlands, respectively, illustrate this Friday’s program for the quarterfinals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Brazilians, five times world champions, are looking for their 12th presence in the World Cup semifinals, after having prevailed, with authority, against South Korea, led by Paulo Bento (4-1), in the ‘quarter-finals’, already with Neymar recovered from injury.
Ahead, the ‘canarinha’ team will face Croatia, finalist defeated in 2018, which, under Modric’s ‘garbage’, is in this phase of the competition for the third time, after third place in 1998, after a tour suffered, with a single win, against Canada, 4-1, and the elimination of Japan, on penalties (3-1, after the 1-1 draw), at which time Livakovic “shone” by defending three Japanese shots .
The match between Brazil and Croatia is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. in Lisbon), at the Ciudad de la Educación Stadium, and will be refereed by Englishman Michael Oliver, in what will be the third meeting between the two teams in World Cups. , after the two ‘canarinho’ victories, in the group stage of the 2006 and 2014 competitions.
Subsequently, Argentina and the Netherlands reissued the 1978 final, at 10:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m.), at the Lusail Stadium, under the refereeing of the Spanish Antonio Mateu Lahoz.
With the fans of Benfica Otamendi and Enzo Fernández, the South American team, two-time champion and three-time finalist, aspires to the sixth presence in the ‘semi-mid’, after having started the competition with a surprise defeat against Saudi Arabia (2-1). and went to Australia in the ‘eighth’ (2-1).
The eternal candidates Holland, with the recovered Memphis Depay, still dream of their first world title: they lost the finals of 1974, 1978 and 2010, having won, in the 11th appearance, Group A, beating Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar. , and the United States (3-1), already in the round of 16, to try to reach the semifinals for the sixth time.
Argentina and the Netherlands have met five times in World Cups, with an advantage [teórica] of the European team, which won two of the duels, but lost the most important ones: the 1978 final, 3-1, after extra time, and the 2014 semifinal, on penalties (4-2, after 0-0 ).
The winners of today’s matches will meet in the first semifinal of the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday, while the remaining places will be defined on Saturday, the day of the matches between Portugal and Morocco and between England and France.
Source: TSF
