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Monday June 23rd - 2:00PM | ||
CROATIA |
vs | MEXICO | |
| FIFA RANKING 20 | FIFA RANKING 19 | ||
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| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
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| CROATIA Croatia put their fans through the emotional mill in their qualification campaign. The Balkan team looked to be cruising after winning five and drawing one of their first six games, but they then took just one point from the next 12 available, losing at home to Scotland (1-0) and Belgium (2-1). Their good start eventually laid the foundation for a second-place finish, two points ahead of Serbia but nine adrift of runaway leaders Belgium.. MEXICO Mexico came within a whisker of missing out on qualification altogether. Despite their status as regional powerhouses, the Mexicans won just two of their ten matches in the final six-team group phase, with the defeat to Honduras at their Estadio Azteca fortress in September 2013 costing Jose Manuel de la Torre his job as national team coach with three games remaining. Fresh from guiding America to the Mexican league title, Miguel Herrera then came in for the two-legged tie against New Zealand and took the radical decision of selecting only home-based players. His strategy paid off as El Tri finally put their shaky form behind them to sweep to a 9-3 aggregate win and qualify for the world finals for the 15th time in all. |
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RECENT RESULTS |
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| CROATIA | MEXICO | ||
| 18/06/14 - CAMEROON 0-4 CROATIA 12/06/14 - BRAZIL 3-1 CROATIA 11/10/13 - CROATIA 1-0 BELGIUM |
17/06/14 - BRAZIL 0-0 MEXICO 13/06/14 - MEXICO 1-0 CAMEROON 11/10/13 - MEXICO 2-1 PANAMA |
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| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |||
| CROATIA Experienced captain Darijo Srna is a born leader, and playmakers Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar can always be relied upon for moments of inspiration. Kovac presides over a wealth of international-class attacking talent including Eduardo, Ivica Olic, Nikita Jelavic and Mario Mandzukic. |
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| MEXICO After an agonising qualifying competition full of setbacks, coaching changes and tactical reshuffles, predicting how the Mexicans will fare at Brazil 2014 is no easy task. While El Trican count on a band of high-profile overseas-based players, spearheaded by JavierChicharito Hernandez, Andres Guardado and Giovani dos Santos, the last few months have shown that the latest wave of young players also have much to offer, chief among them their London 2012 hero Oribe Peralta, Raul Jimenez and Carlos Pena. Now that they have safely secured their ticket to Brazil, the Mexicans have time to find some stability and build for the future. |
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