Argentina and Croatia will clash off on Tuesday at the Lusail Iconic Stadium in the Semi-Finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. However, the Albiceleste will have to do without two of their regulars for this game. Find out which players and why.
Croatia, who knocked out another South American power earlier in the tournament, will face Argentina in one of two 2022 World Cup semi-finals at the Lusail Iconic Stadium on Tuesday, hoping to become the second team in World Cup history to earn a place in two consecutive World Cup finals. Both teams advanced to the semi-finals thanks to penalty kick wins.
The Albiceleste are one of the favorites for the tournament after CONMEBOL rivals Brazil. A showdown between the two South American rivals was expected, but Croatia’s penalty shootout win against Brazil in the quarter-finals spoiled the celebration. The 2018 runners-up want to fight their way to the finals for the second year after losing the title to France.
After almost knocking out the Netherlands in the previous stage, Luka Modric and his team-mates will be looking to do the same to Lionel Messi and Argentina in the semi-finals. In what will almost certainly be his last World Cup, the Paris Saint-Germain star once again carries his country’s dreams on his shoulders in pursuit of a pinnacle that neither he nor his primary opponent Cristiano Ronaldo have yet reached.
Which Argentina players will be absent vs Croatia in Qatar 2022?
Argentina, though, will need to prove themselves worthy of a spot in the championship game without the services of two regulars. According to FIFA’s regulations, both Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuna will be suspended for the semifinal match against Croatia since they received yellow cards in the previous game against the Netherlands.
The two defenders, both of whom play for Sevilla, entered the Lusail Stadium match against the Dutch already on a yellow card. They were both given another yellow card in the match and will consequently miss the next game, which is against Croatia.
All in all, seven Argentines (L. Martnez, Paredes, Messi, Otamendi, Montiel, Pezzella, and manager Scaloni) received yellow cards on Friday. Of the eleven players, only Montiel and Acuna had been cautioned before, thus they will sit out the decisive clash.
The remainder of their cards have been wiped clean, and they won’t be carrying any yellows into their match with Croatia. Scaloni will have to switch out his wingers and go with Nahuel Molina and Nicolas Tagliafico, both of whom started against the Oranje.
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