Croatia won’t be man-marking Messi

DOHA, December 11

Croatia will not attempt to stop Argentina superstar Lionel Messi by man-marking him but instead will focus on immobilising the entire team in their World Cup semifinal on Tuesday, they said.

Croatia are bidding to make it to the final for the second World Cup in a row after losing in the 2018 showcase match to France.

They stunned tournament favourites Brazil in the quarterfinals after going a goal down in extra-time but dug deep to bounce back with a late equaliser and force a penalty shootout that they ended up winning.

“We don’t have a specific plan yet for stopping Messi and usually we don’t concentrate on stopping one player but the entire team,” striker Bruno Petkovic told a news conference today.

“We will try to stop them as a team and not with man-marking. Argentina are not only Messi, they have a number of great players. We have to stop the entire Argentina team,” he said. — Reuters