Will Argentina bounce back?
AFTER drawing Iceland, 1-1, Saturday, in the Fifa World Cup 2018 in Russua, Dabawenyo football enthusiasts still favor Argentina over Croatia when both teams collide Friday.
It can be recalled that Argentina's team captain Lionel Messi missed a penalty kick that was saved by Iceland's goalkeeper Hannes Halldórsson.
Bai Siang Lim, a huge football fan and mother of Ateneo de Davao University (Addu) Blue Knights football team captain Jonathan, believes Messi has become more motivated and pumped up to hopefully finish the remaining group stage matches with two wins to qualify for the last 16 in the knockout stages.
"Argentina has a more offensive advantage as they have stars like Messi, Di María, Dybala, and Aguero up front. Despite this, Croatia also has key players like Rakitic and Modric, both midfielders. For me, if Croatia could also pull off what Iceland had produced in their clash against Argentina, Croatia might stand a chance to claim a victory over the World Cup contender," she explained.
Davao South Regional Football Association (DRFA) officer Albert Ryan Lim, on the other hand, roots for Croatia, which has the weather condition adaptation advantage and having two of the best midfield Ivan Rakitic and Luka Mordic but Argentina is considered a man marker that could handle four defenders at once.
"Dili pa laos si Messi kaya pa mo round of 16. Mao nang make or break sa World Cup (Messi is in top shape and his team could make it to the round of 16)," he said.
Philippine College of Technology (PCT) head coach Alvic Troyo also believes that Argentina will bounce back after the opening game setback.