SOCHI: World Cup hosts Russia say pressure will be replaced by pleasure and national pride as they bid to sweep past Croatia and into the last four on Saturday.
The team, who came into the tournament as the lowest-ranked team, have defied their fans’ expectations by reaching the quarterfinals.
They have quickly been embraced as national heroes, with the mayor of Moscow responding by making additional public viewing space available in the city before the match in Sochi’s Fisht Stadium.
“Now there is not so much pressure,” midfielder Aleksandr Samedov told reporters. “Compared to before the tournament and the pressure we felt back then — it was much harder.
“Now we are in quarterfinals and we just want to bring pleasure to the supporters and to get further and we do not feel the pressure as we did before the tournament.”
Accolades have included a bison being named after Russia’s top striker Artem Dzyuba and a new-born eagle after goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who saved two penalties against 2010 World Cup winners Spain in the previous round.
Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov knows that most of the 48,000-strong crowd will be supporting the home side but the moustachioed former goalkeeper has shown little interest in participating in the national outpouring of emotion.
“Emotions are simple. You show them when you direct the team. Now I am thinking only about the next game. These are not very sophisticated emotions,” he said.
Cherchesov has several issues to resolve, with his midfield the biggest worry.
Alan Dzagoev has recovered from a hamstring injury but is still unable to take a full part in training while Samedov sat on the sidelines on Tuesday with an unspecified fitness problem.
Fellow midfielder Yuri Zhirkov has been ruled out injured and is unlikely to feature again, unless the hosts make it to the final in Moscow on July 15, according to Cherchesov.
The midfield is seen as a key battleground on Saturday, with Croatia’s midfielder Luka Modric regarded as one of the best exponents in the world.
Stopping Modric’s deliveries to a world-class attack that includes Mario Mandzukic, Ante Rebic, Marko Pjaca, Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric will be crucial for the Russians.
They will have to attack Modric earlier than they managed to do against Spain’s playmakers and will probably play a far more expansive game than last Sunday.
Russia have not reached a World Cup semifinal as an independent nation. The Soviet Union achieved the feat in 1966.
Russia employed an attacking mindset against their World Cup group stage opponents but played defensively in the knockout clash against Spain, and Croatia believe they must be ready for either approach from the hosts in Saturday’s quarterfinal.
“Yeah, we have watched almost all of their games,” Croatia forward Ivan Perisic told reporters at their training base in Sochi on Wednesday.
“Against Spain they used a different system, but you must adapt to every team you play against. So they thought it was the best tactics for them, and I think they made the right decision.
“We will prepare well for both versions. We still have a couple of days to prepare well.”
Croatia and Russia did just about enough to emerge successful from their respective round of 16 matches but will need to replicate their group stage form and attacking mindset when they clash in Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinals in Sochi.
The hosts came into the tournament as the lowest-ranked team but began with a bang by beating Saudi Arabia 5-0 and Egypt 3-1. They went down 3-0 to Group A winners Uruguay but won over critics at both home and away with their approach.
Russia changed tactics to play five men in defence with a lone striker in Artem Dzyuba against Spain in the round of 16 on Sunday, an approach that restricted their opponents to just one chance in 90 minutes.
But Russia themselves also had just one shot on target in two hours of football and needed two saves by their goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev in the penalty shootout to advance to the last eight and send the country into a soccer frenzy.
Spain appeared bereft of ideas in front of the opposition box, letting Russia get away with defending for almost the entire duration of the match. But the hosts might not be so lucky against the Balkan side on Saturday.
“We all understood that Spain will control the ball, it happens in every match they play with any team,” Russia midfielder Aleksandr Golovin said.
“We understood that. With the Croats we should play using our strong points, dictating our play.”
Croatia showed flashes of their stellar attacking game when they beat Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland to top their group. But, like Russia, they took a defensive route to the last eight with a 3-2 shootout win over Denmark.
With players such as world-class midfielder Luka Modric and a string of top-level forwards including Mario Mandzukic, Ante Rebic, Andrej Kramaric and Ivan Perisic, Zlatko Dalic’s team scored at least two goals in each of their three group matches, including firing three past hapless Argentina.
They are much more potent in attack compared to Spain and could cause Russia trouble with their quick passing game and crosses aimed for Mandzukic. “I think we primarily must focus on ourselves because I think our team has bigger quality, we just need to show that on the pitch and we will be able to set the tone,” Rebic said. — Agencies
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