"Srna's goal helped Croatia establish an advantage, while also plunging Uruguay into a greater crisis."
"Uruguay, whose situation was already not good, is now in an even more difficult position after falling behind!"
The Brazil commentator shook his head and said.
If Uruguay fails to win this match, they will become the third team eliminated from the World Cup.
As old rivals, the Brazil commentator did not expect Uruguay to perform so poorly in this World Cup.
No!
It cannot be said to be poor; it can only be said that their tactical choices, luck, form, etc., were all somewhat inferior to other teams.
Especially in this match against Croatia, the early conceded goal caused their mentality to gradually change.
The world knows that Croatia is a strong team, a World Cup champion seed.
Moreover, Croatia is particularly good at exploiting early opportunities to create set-piece goals.
This goal was a classic counter-attack goal!
In this process, although Uruguay made some preparations, these preparations were far from enough to prevent Croatia from scoring.
During the corner kick, they didn't even mark Suker. How can that be considered successful defending?
Godin stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head, a feeling of depression stuck in his chest, unable to be expelled, like a bone in his throat.
Other Uruguay players, upon seeing the goal conceded, were in much the same situation.
"The match has just begun, let's take our time!"
Cavani comforted his teammates.
However, he clearly saw the anxious expressions on his teammates' faces.
Suarez was even more anxious, constantly urging Croatia to finish their celebration quickly, even getting into some conflicts over it, which further prolonged the time.
After both sides returned to their respective halves, Uruguay immediately kicked off.
"Uruguay is already getting anxious, and they have no choice but to be anxious. In the current situation, if their offense doesn't pick up, Croatia will gradually erode their midfield rhythm. We all know what will happen once Croatia gains control of the midfield!"
After scoring, Croatia had much more room to maneuver, and the players were much more relaxed mentally, which caused their overall tempo to slow down a bit.
But Uruguay couldn't let the tempo slow down; they needed to attack, they needed to assault Croatia's defense.
"Pass to me!"
Suarez ran forward actively, simultaneously calling for a pass.
Cavani saw Suarez's position and immediately threaded the ball through to him.
Suarez originally intended to receive the ball and charge directly forward, but just as he was about to receive it, a figure suddenly appeared beside him. Both players became unbalanced during the challenge, but the opponent took advantage of this opportunity to poke the ball out of bounds first.
"Srna! That was well-handled!"
Krauchivich said with emotion.
The situation just now was one of Uruguay's few advantageous attacking opportunities. Modrić, Rakitić, and Vukojević were not at the receiving points, and the ball was pushed forward, only to be controlled again by Uruguay.
Rather than that, it was better to directly clear it out of bounds and wait for teammates to track back.
It can only be said that Srna remained very calm.
"Stay focused, don't lose your position! Midfielders, don't push up too far. Vukojević, hold your position!"
Srna uncharacteristically reprimanded Vukojević.
At this moment, Vukojević should have been in front of Srna's position, but he wasn't there, which was why Srna was a bit angry.
However, Srna was not overly furious about it; he knew Vukojević would adjust himself.
Vukojević was also a bit embarrassed; he immediately returned to his position.
In fact, after the goal, he had indeed become a bit complacent.
Srna's reprimand also sobered him up considerably.
Uruguay restarted the play, Suarez moved forward to receive. After his teammate threw the ball in, he intended to chest trap it, but just as he slightly lifted off the ground, a push came from behind.
This caused his center of gravity to shift, and he couldn't control the ball well; it landed about two meters in front of him.
And at this distance, Vukojević quickly followed up, hooked the ball away, and simultaneously blocked Suarez behind him.
"Damn it!"
After steadying himself, Suarez turned to look at Srna and cursed under his breath.
He understood that Srna had just pushed him, causing him to lose control of the ball.
Already anxious, this kind of interference made Suarez even more agitated.
Srna, however, remained composed.
He knew exactly how to limit Suarez, and his mind was also very clear.
It could even be said that his thinking had never been so clear; all of this indicated that Srna was in excellent form.
Suker, in front, also saw this scene, and he approved of Srna's performance.
However, he still made a biting gesture towards Srna, reminding him to 'be careful of being bitten.'
Srna was a bit puzzled.
Who plays football and bites people for no reason!
But he still took some heed.
The match continued, but as Croatia gained control of possession, the tempo was gradually being dictated by Croatia.
Uruguay was very anxious, but they could only be anxious.
They failed to create any threatening attacks, let alone threatening shots. Overall, Uruguay was in disarray.
Every one of them was in a hurry!
This urgency could be fully felt during the match.
At the same time, Uruguay's minor fouls and challenges increased.
This also led to them receiving two yellow cards within 10 minutes!
Rodríguez and González each received a yellow card.
And both of these yellow cards were caused by Rakitić.
Suker felt that Rakitić was playing more and more like Grealish; he liked to dribble horizontally, stretching the defense, and thus holding onto the ball for longer.
And facing this kind of dribbling, Uruguay, unable to effectively limit it, could only foul.
Of course, there was also the possibility of venting frustration.
But these were all meant to make Rakitić feel pressure and fear, so he wouldn't dare to continue dribbling like that.
However, they still underestimated Rakitić; the more he encountered such situations, the more excited he became.
Bang!
Rakitić bypassed two players horizontally in a row and threaded the ball to Suker.
"Go!"
He yelled excitedly at Suker.
But Suker simply made a back pass, kicking the ball directly to the midfield.
"Huh?" Rakitić looked puzzled.
Suker glared.
What 'huh'?
What the hell is he shrugging for?
Is this an effective breakthrough?
Dribbling from the right to the left, with no vertical penetration at all, and also drawing defensive pressure. Suker was not foolish enough to force a breakthrough on the wing heavily guarded by Uruguay.
Moreover, at this moment, Croatia needed to stabilize the situation more.
Watching the ball pass back to Croatia's half again, the Uruguay players' brows were tightly furrowed.
They felt extremely frustrated.
They were dribbled from the right to the left, didn't even touch the ball, and then it was passed back again.
Isn't this just playing with them?
Croatia was indeed toying with them; they wished Uruguay would just be led by the nose like this for the entire match.
"The situation is under control!"
Watching the ball's trajectory and their effective control in the midfield, Bešić couldn't help but nod and say.
Time was constantly ticking away, and Uruguay was getting more and more anxious.
Their overall movements became even larger.
Even the Head Coach on the sidelines was pacing anxiously, constantly communicating intensely with the Assistant Coach, trying to figure out how to reverse the current disadvantage.
And on the field, the Uruguay players were even more so.
"Win it back! Run!"
Suarez urged anxiously.
He was so agitated by Croatia's dribbling that no matter how hard he ran, he just couldn't win the ball.
He couldn't remember how long Croatia had controlled the ball, but he had been running for quite a while. Even if they did win the ball, they would quickly lose it again after no more than four passes, and then repeat the previous process.
Under these circumstances, it was no wonder Suarez was anxious.
Running aimlessly, with no rhythm whatsoever, and no tactical pressing, just constant running.
Suarez did not know what he should do, nor did he know if his teammates could cooperate with him.
But he knew that if he stopped, it would be over.
As long as he kept running, he would eventually create an opportunity.
The ball was passed to Strinić's feet, and he habitually stepped on the ball.
Suarez's eyes lit up when he saw this scene; he could press from this position.
Thinking of this, Suarez immediately rushed forward.
Just as he was about to approach Strinić, the opponent suddenly pulled the ball back with a step-over to create space, and simultaneously used a V-drag to break through from the side.
Sensing this, Suarez's heart suddenly became agitated; he did not want to miss this opportunity, and under the interference of this emotion, he directly rushed over with force and launched a fierce sliding tackle.
Strinić was also surprised; he did not expect Suarez to still attempt a sliding tackle even though he had no space left.
Out of a protective posture, he lightly jumped up.
But he still could not avoid Suarez's violent sliding tackle, and was directly tackled down to the ground, both man and ball.
Beep!!
The whistle blew almost immediately.
But it still could not stop the enraged Croatia players.
Lovren was the first to rush over and directly pushed Suarez down.
Immediately after, others also swarmed over, forming a Containment formation, while Uruguay players also ran over, surrounding Suarez to protect him, and at the same time, trying their best to appease the Croatia players' emotions.
"Are you playing football? You dog, I'll tackle you like that next time!"
"Red card! That's a red card offense!"
The Croatia players were furious, and the reason for their anger was that Strinić could not get up.
He was clutching his ankle, showing a look of pain.
The Referee immediately called for the team doctor to come and examine him.
"Something seems to be wrong, Strinić's ankle seems to be injured from the tackle!"
The team doctor came up to examine him, and his expression became increasingly solemn, finally shaking his head towards the Referee.
The Referee immediately indicated that a substitution could be made, and at the same time, he showed Suarez a yellow card!
"Yellow card? Are you sure that's a yellow card?"
Now the Croatia players were not having it.
The person was injured by the tackle, and it's just a yellow card?
They began to surround the Referee, who retreated repeatedly, and finally, the excited Croatia players were pushed back by Srna.
After pushing his teammates away, he once again negotiated with the Referee.
"We respect your decision, because you are the Referee, but if this action is deemed reasonable, we will also perform such actions."
Listening to Srna's words, the Referee was clearly hesitant.
"Srna, don't do that, play smarter. I'm just maintaining the stability of the match, and his action doesn't warrant a red card!"
"Yes, we understand!"
Srna nodded, then immediately left.
The Referee frowned, what did they understand!
He knew that Srna was putting pressure on him, which is a common trick used by players, but he had to admit, he fell for it.
No way!
Croatia has too many big-name stars, and the attention is very high.
Once a judgment goes wrong, his refereeing career will also face significant problems.
At this moment, the Referee was already thinking about how to find a balance.
"Put pressure on him?" Suker asked, watching Srna walk over.
Srna nodded; "We still have to fight for what we can; I think he will be relatively lenient with our fouls in the upcoming calls!"
Suker: "Find a balance!"
Srna nodded again, then looked at Strinić being carried away on a stretcher.
"But him..."
Suker shook his head: "There's nothing we can do; we had already anticipated such problems in the World Cup."
Srna also sighed slightly.
In the previous World Cup, he was injured in the group stage, which led to him missing the knockout stage.
Strinić left the field due to injury, and Ćorluka came on as a substitute to fill the position.
At this point, the time had already reached 43 minutes, and there was very little time left until the end of the first half.
In the last two minutes, both sides clearly slowed down their pace, waiting to continue the battle in the second half.
The Referee was also somewhat apprehensive, so he quickly blew the halftime whistle, and then immediately discussed the second half's officiating issues with his refereeing team and technical staff.
In fact, the Referee was also very scared!
In previous World Cups, there have been more than one or two Referees who faced threats to their personal safety or even danger due to controversial calls.
If it were other less-watched matches, it would be fine!
But for officiating a heavyweight match like Croatia's, he had to weigh the pros and cons carefully.
If a captain from another team spoke to him like Srna did, he might have pulled out a card and given a warning.
But Srna is the captain of Croatia, and he had to consider the consequences he would face after pulling out that card.
After 45 minutes of the match.
Croatia was leading by one goal, but Strinić's injury also caused a shift in their mindset.
"The diagnosis report is out; it's not a big problem, he just needs some rest for a period, but he might not be able to participate in the subsequent matches!"
Bešić was the first to announce Strinić's condition, to reassure his teammates.
Upon hearing this news, many people also breathed a sigh of relief.
However, the emotions of people like Ćorluka were somewhat complex.
They were sad that Strinić was injured.
But they were happy that they could get more playing opportunities.
They knew they shouldn't harbor such thoughts, but facing a big stage like the World Cup, who doesn't have a little selfishness?
"For the second half, we won't have too many tactical changes; we'll continue to play at the current pace, but in terms of offense, you can exert yourselves appropriately."
Bešić understood that the Croatia players were now holding back a surge of energy that needed to be released.
Moreover, he also understood that in the second half, the Referee would make some calls that were more favorable to them; the opponent would definitely try to find a balance.
He did not want to miss this time window, and therefore could further intensify the offensive efforts.
At the very least, for the first 15-20 minutes of the second half, they could sustain their attack, and then it would be the closing stage.
Van Stoyak also supported Bešić's arrangement.
If it were the old him, he would probably be shouting about slaughtering Uruguay.
But the current Van Stoyak has also become much calmer; although he is still an offensive-minded coach at heart, he will also appropriately arrange some ball control and defense depending on the situation.
It's no wonder he and Bešić, one stable and one aggressive, cooperate so well.
"One more thing!"
Van Stoyak suddenly spoke, and everyone looked up, even Bešić remained silent.
Van Stoyak looked at his notebook and said: "Based on the performance in the first half, it's clear that their energy was drawn to our left and right wings, especially when Rakitić made horizontal breakthroughs; they also quickly shifted sides. At this time, Uruguay's defense will transfer from one end to the other, and during this transfer process, the defense is at its weakest. This is when you can make some appropriate vertical breakthroughs!"
Van Stoyak looked at Rakitić and said; "For example, a sudden ninety-degree vertical push!"
Rakitić's eyes lit up; he liked this suggestion.
This meant his performance would greatly increase!
"No problem! Just watch me!"
Rakitić said with a confident expression.
Bešić also nodded; not every match needed Suker to exert himself, other points also needed to show some results, which is how a team should play.
During Rakitić's breakthrough, Suker would continue to follow.
Although he would not be the main attacker, he might play the role of an offensive initiator or a finisher.
There were also Mandžukić and Perisic, who could all get opportunities to push forward in such vertical breakthroughs.
At that time, it would depend on who was in the better position, and Rakitić would pass to them.
Bešić lowered his head to look at his watch, then clapped his hands and said: "Alright, gentlemen, the second half is about to begin, let's win this match! Come on!"