Toughness and experience key to Croatia triumph

Singapore

THE football festivities of the past month have thrown up many surprises, with Mexico's defeat of the Germans and Russia's success against Spain being the pick of the bunch. But for the World Cup in Russia to be remembered as one characterised by upsets, a Croatian win through determination and experience has to be part of the script.

After all, this team is a steely unit, topping Group D with three wins which included a three-goal drubbing of Lionel Messi and his Argentina. But all of their knockout matches were won in extra time, with two on penalties.

As football underdogs go, Croatia fit the bill better than most. But make no mistake, this isn't a team built on securing 1-0 wins, if anything, they came back from a goal down in each of these past three contests to advance to the next round.

Despite being overlooked by many, Croatian footballers are known for their skill and their current national team possesses one of the best midfields assembled at the World Cup.

Football fans need not look any further than the midfield pairing of Real Madrid's Luka Modric and Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic, both of whom have impressed so far.

In goal, AS Monaco's Danijel Subasic is among the best goalkeepers in Europe.

Add Inter Milan's Ivan Perisic and Juventus' Mario Mandzukic to the mix and it is easy to see why this team is very capable of staging a win over favourites France.

Dubbed the "second golden generation" in Croatia, the current crop of players are bringing a feel-good factor not felt since the Davor Suker- and Zvonimir Boban-led Croatian team finished third in France 1998.

To top that off, the players have already done one better than their fabled predecessors.

Croatia are well aware of having to make the most of this opportunity. That said, they are also a team that have shown that they are capable of learning from past disappointments.

They failed to qualify for South Africa in 2010. Group-stage eliminations at Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil followed. The team, though, showed its potential at Euro 2016 before crashing out in the round of 16 to eventual winners Portugal.

While electrifying and full of potential, many in the French team lack experience on the international stage. You get the sense France have yet to kick into full gear despite reaching the final. Will Les Bleus even need to, in Russia? They probably should.

Croatia are representing not their just their country but also a good deal of football fans, who are backing them to achieve a maiden World Cup triumph.

They are also proving that the gap between the top nations and the chasing pack has closed significantly.

For those who are convinced Germany were knocked out because of a jinx affecting defending champions at the World Cup, then consider this: a new World Cup winner was crowned in 1958 (Brazil), 1978 (Argentina) and 1998 (France). We might just see another in 2018.