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You Are Here: 🏠Home  »  Sports   »   Argentina 0-3 Croatia: Player Ratings As La Albiceleste Collapse In Nizhny To Impressive Vatreni

​Croatia confirmed their qualification for the knockout stages of the World Cup as Argentina suffered a horrific second half collapse to lose 3-0.

Jorge Sampaoli's side now have just one point from their first two group games, meaning their fate could be all but decided if Iceland beat Nigeria tomorrow.

Here's a look at how each player rated in tonight's game...

1. Argentina: Goalkeeper and Defenders

Willy Caballero 3/10 A shocking mistake by Caballero saw the Chelsea goalkeeper serve up an opportunity on a plate for Ante Rebic and gift Croatia their opening goal. Following his previous error against Iceland, it's been a World Cup to forget for Caballero - fortunately for him, it will probably be over very soon.

Eduardo Salvio 5/10 While far from the worst offender in the Argentine defence, no one covered themselves in glory tonight and Salvio was no exception.

Gabriel Mercado 5/10 Mercado and Otamendi were virtually non-existent at times for Argentina tonight, gifting Croatia chance after chance.

Nicolas Otamendi 4/10 It's hard to believe this is the player who made the PFA Team of the Year for his commanding performances for Manchester City. Otamendi was woeful tonight, looking sloppy even before Argentina truly fell apart in the second half.

Nicolas Tagliafico 5/10 The defender failed to contribute in defence or attack.

2. Argentina: Midfielders

Javier Mascherano 5/10 The consensus in Argentina is that Mascherano is past his sell by date. Going by Thursday's performance, it's hard to disagree. The former Barcelona man was unable to compete with Croatia's excellent midfielders.

Enzo Perez 5/10 Perez was only added to Argentina's squad at the last minute following Manuel Lanzini's injury, so can be forgiven for not playing to his full potential. However, there is no denying he was poor.

Maximiliano Meza 5/10 The midfielder was fairly anonymous and failed to really do anything of note.

Lionel Messi 6/10 You have to feel for Messi, you really do. Unsurprisingly, he looked the most sharp out of this dismal Argentina side and worked hard throughout the match, but was let down by the poor standard of the entire team. His reputation on the international stage will suffer as a result of this tournament and the world's greatest player really deserves better.

Marcos Acuna 5/10 Argentina's midfield were second-best for the entirety of the match. Acuna didn't stand out as being particularly bad - but neither was he particularly good.

3. Argentina: Forward

Sergio Aguero 5/10 - As he showed against Iceland, Aguero only needs one chance to punish a team. However, he kept finding himself starved of service and second-best to Croatia's strong defensive display. The striker's night was then ended early by Sampaoli's bizarre decision to substitute him for Gonzalo Higuain. You don't bring off Aguero when you're chasing a goal!

4. Argentina: Substitutes

Gonzalo Higuain 4/10 - Completely anonymous after being brought on to replace Aguero, Higuain did nothing to turn the tide back in his side's favour.

Paulo Dybala 4/10 - Ditto. Given the plaudits these two have earned at club level, you would really expect more from both of them. However, it's fair to say this Argentina side doesn't seem to play to anyone's strengths.

Cristian Pavon 5/10 - Pavon was equally as ineffective for Argentina, but gets one extra point due to his age and lack of experience. He was never likely to be the man to save this match for Argentina.

5. Croatia: Goalkeeper and Defenders

Danijel Subasic 7/10 The goalkeeper had a couple of minor wobbles in the first half but came through when it really mattered, making one or two good stops in the second half.

Sime Vrsaljko 7/10 Dangerous going forward and composed at the back, the right back can be proud of his performance.

Dejan Lovren 8/10 What a difference a year makes. Lovren has earned some stick in the past but he was a Rolls Royce in Croatia's defence on Thursday, tackling and blocking wherever he was needed.

Domagoj Vida 8/10 Vida and Lovren formed a solid partnership, totally neutralising Messi, Aguero et al. Not a bad day at the office.

Ivan Strinic 7/10 While not quite as dynamic going forward as Vrsaljko, the left back still had a solid game.

6. Croatia: Midfielders

Ivan Rakitic 8/10 A truly brilliant performance from the Barcelona man. Nothing got past him in midfield and he topped off a great display with a late goal.

Marcelo Brozovic 7/10 Played a key role in Croatia's midfield and linked up well with the likes of Rakitic and Modric.

Luka Modric 9/10 Utterly sublime. As always, Modric ran the game for Croatia today, seeming to be two steps ahead of the opposition at all times. On top of that, the Real Madrid midfielder scored one of the goals of the tournament so far to put his side 2-0 up, twisting and turning before shooting through an improbably tight gap. An absolute masterclass.

7. Croatia: Forwards

Ante Rebic 7/10 Despite Caballero's shocking error, it was an excellent finish by Rebic to capitalise on the keeper's mistake to volley home a first-time shot. A thorn in Argentina's side throughout the match, Rebic played well.

Mario Mandzukic 6/10 Should have scored in the first half and offered little end product of his own, but led the line reasonably well for Croatia.

Ivan Perisic 6/10 Like Rebic, Perisic caused Argentina a lot of problems with his movement and stretched their backline to the limit. However, he did have a tendency to go in and out of the game and was somewhat absent at times.

8. Croatia: Substitutes

Andrek Kramaric 7/10 Brought on to replace the injured Rebic after his goal, former Leicester man Kramaric helped Croatia keep up the pressure for the remainder of the match.

Mateo Kovacic 7/10 Despite being a fairly late substitution, the Real Madrid man still found time to set up Rakitic for the third goal.

Vedran Corluka N/A Brought on for little more reason than to waste time, Corluka celebrated his 100th Croatia cap with a historic victory - even if he didn't play that much of a part in it himself.

By Admin

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