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Croatian sensations
World Cup debutants one match from finals
Posted: Sunday July 05, 1998 07:07 PM
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Suker punch: Davor Suker (9) has scored four of Croatia's eight goals (AP) |
ATLANTA (CNN/SI) -- A day after Croatia's
shocking win over Germany, many
focused on what Germany did wrong and how it will pick up the pieces. But
what about Croatia? Playing in their first World Cup, the Croatians are
just one game away from playing in the final. Sure, no one is giving them
much of a chance to beat France, but no
one thought they would knock off the Germans. Croatia has all the
ingredients to square off against Brazil or the Netherlands
on July 12: a strong defense, an impressive striker and plenty of emotion
on its side. The defense has given up just two goals in five matches and
appears to be getting stronger with each contest. On offense, Davor Suker
is an unbelievably talented player, who is difficult to mark with just one
defender. And the emotion part, well the Croatians are bent on making up
for lost time in this their first World Cup. They are a team stocked with
players from the Italian and Spanish leagues who have played at the highest
level of club soccer and understand how to remain professional in the face
of any storm. And a storm is exactly what the Croatians will get
Wednesday when they take the field in St. Denis against France. The Stade
de France will be rocking with 80,000, nearly all of whom will be cheering
for Les Blues. The home field advantage and a lack of respect for
Croatia are the main reasons why no one is talking about the debutant
crashing the final party. The French team, though, is not without its
problems. France has sputtered on offense with strikers Christophe Dugarry
out for the remainder of the tournament because of a torn hamstring
suffered in the first round and Thierry Henry still bothered by a sore
ankle. That has kept France in first gear when moving forward, and it
has scored just one goal in its last two matches. A strong defense is
important at this point, but you need to be able to score more often than
France has if you want to take home the title. Croatia has the scoring
power that France is lacking, and on Wednesday the Croatians might just
shoot their way into the last dance.
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