Matt Doherty's World Cup diary | 9 December
It's quarter-final time in Qatar and Matt Doherty is back with his thoughts as we hit crunch time at the World Cup.
Today’s quarter-finals
Croatia v Brazil (3pm)
Netherlands v Argentina (7pm)
Our players in action today
Ivan Perisic, Richarlison - Croatia v BrazilÂ
Cristian Romero - Netherlands v Argentina
My thoughts on the quarter-finals...
Matt: "I think this could be tough for Croatia. Obviously, they are a very experienced side, they are managing to scrape through games out of pure experience, but I believe Brazil will have a little too much flair, too much speed and youth in their team. They are playing with so much confidence as well, so I can see Brazil getting that done by a couple of goals. Then we've Holland-Argentina. This is a tough one for me, because I'm a Messi fan to the core, but I've also that Orange blood in me... The only thing I'll say is that Argentina haven't looked great, they're relying on Messi so much, and Holland defend very well. That's a tough one to predict. Two great games."
The key players...
Matt: "Luka Modric is key in the Brazil-Croatia game, if he can dictate the pace of the game, call the shots from midfield and if he's on top of his game, then Croatia are in the game, although Brazil might still have too much. A lot of Croatia's hopes will depend on how Modric manages the game in midfield. For Holland-Argentina, the key man is obviously Lionel Messi. If he gets it right, it will be a joy to watch, and they will win the game."
My predictions...
Croatia 0-2 Brazil
Holland v Argentina - could go to extra time and penalties, Messi and Argentina will get the job done by the odd goal, full-time or extra-time, or even penalties, because they've Emiliano Martinez in goal, and he's a very good at saving penalties.
