Heading into their crucial match with Mexico on Monday night Croatia had few hopes that fellow Group A rivals Cameroon would assist their progress to the knockout stages by defeating hosts Brazil and therefore set out from the start to secure the victory required.
However, despite a multitude of attacking talent at his disposal coach Niko Kovac had yet to find a formula, other than against the hapless Indomitable Lions, that he was happy with and reshuffled his midfield trio once more, this time deploying Luka Modric behind Bayern Munich frontman Mario Mandzukic.
The creative fulcrum behind much of Real Madrid’s success in the Champions League last season expected to provide the ingenuity required to finally breakthrough El Tri’s impenetrable defensive unit, at that point yet to concede a goal in their opening two matches.
In a World Cup where goals have, for once, been presented in abundance the Mexicans have bucked the trend of mediocre defending that has littered these finals, and with a draw enough to see Miguel Herrera’s side through to a sixth successive Last 16 stage were happy to put their faith in defence.
However, after scoring just one goal, while labouring to a 1-0 win over Cameroon, there were fears that had they fell behind to their European opponents that did not have the relevant attacking play to recover.
In the end Mexico had nothing to fear, putting in a near perfect defensive performance and hitting the Croatians with just 20 minutes remaining, fittingly through defensive lynchpin Rafael Marquez, before hitting two further goals as their rivals were forced to throw off the shackles.
With the prolific Netherlands up next for the Latin side a move away from these tactics are not only unnecessary but would be extremely foolish. Considering the form Mexico have shown, Oranje coach Louis van Gaal would probably have preferred to face a Brazil side expected to attack them rather than have his own side stifled by somewhat ‘anti-football’.
Despite containing the talents of Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder the Mexicans will be brimming with confidence at having already stifled the likes of Mandzukic, Modric and Ivan Perisic, and before them one of the standout performers of this tournament Neymar.
When Mexico walk out onto the pitch in Fortaleza on June 29 goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa will recall his achievements there against Brazil 12 days earlier, something he himself described as the greatest moment of his career, puff out his chest and prepare to face an inevitable onslaught once more.
On paper, a Netherlands side that have netted on 10 occasions already at these finals would win nine times out of 10, however, the performances against Brazil and Croatia demonstrate a blueprint for success that is more than achievable for Herrera and his men, who are aiming for a first quarter-final appearance since 1986.
Although in contrast to the fast, expansive and attacking football seen throughout the rest of these finals, if it can carry El Tri past the Dutch on Sunday afternoon then there is no reason why they cannot continue going against the convention to even greater achievements.
Follow Kevin Pogorzelski on Twitter: @rabbitrabbiton
