FIFA World Cup: First 2 matches of the quarter-finals: Croatia-Brazil, Netherlands-Argentina

The first two matches for the quarter-finals begin today and are awaited with great interest between four great and major football countries. Some of them and favorites to win the World Cup.
The group stage was very interesting, as were the first knockouts. We saw great surprises and nice football. But, the... true World Cup starts tonight with the first two quarter-finals.

In the first time match, Brazil faces Croatia and is the favorite to qualify. Shortly afterwards, Argentina will face the ever-calculating Netherlands, in a pair that has a long history in important games in the World Cup. Now, the two will fight for a place in the top four and the game is considered highly balanced.

Today's program in detail:

Croatia-Brazil (17:00)

It's a lie. It will be a huge surprise if he doesn't get the qualifying ticket Brazil against Croatia. The "Selesao" have so far shown seriousness and tremendous quality despite the significant absences they have had and will have tonight (Jesús, Telles). In their last match they swept South Korea and look capable that this year they can return to the top of the world. Opposite them is Croatia, which so far has not been convincing in general with its presences. He hardly qualified in the previous round, in the penalty shootout against Japan. They will try tonight to contain the Brazilians and strike on counter-attacks, led of course by Luka Modric.

Netherlands-Argentina (21:00)

Ambiguous play with all possibilities open. On the one hand, Argentina, which is a quality team but its performance is largely judged by the overall presence of Lionel Messi. Surely if the Argentine superstar is in high spirits and is not limited by the Dutch, then the balance is tilted towards the Argentines' side. But things are not expected to be easy either for him or for Argentina in general. The Netherlands may not have played the fancy football, but it shows consistency, character and gets the point. Van Haal's band, who is very experienced in such games, forgot what defeat means and if the "oranje" eventually get the qualification they will be largely credited to the tactics and choices of their coach.