The entire match ended with Croatia slaughtering South Korea 7:0.
One game completely shattered the mindset of Korean fans.
At the same time, they will leave the South Africa World Cup stage in a dismal state.
After three group matches, with two losses, South Korea was destined to be eliminated.
Croatia, on the other hand, secured their spot in the knockout stage early thanks to two victories.
"Securing qualification after just two matches, Croatia's young men continue to show outstanding form. Suker has scored three goals in two matches — and this is on the World Cup stage. He is still leading the top scorer chart!"
"In Group B of the World Cup, we have already locked in advancement, and the next match will decide Bosnia and Herzegovina's fate!"
"Let's all pay attention to the next match: Argentina vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina!"
The entire game finished.
Croatian fans erupted in joy.
This might be the most satisfying group stage Croatia has played in World Cup history.
In the past, they struggled and had a tough time in the group stages.
But this World Cup, the Croatian lads have shown amazing form right from the first match.
Of course, the tournament is still ongoing, and maintaining this form in the future is not guaranteed.
How to keep this momentum burning hot throughout the World Cup is also a key question.
Suker is being interviewed by the media.
"We prepared well in advance and decided to play a possession-based tactic in this game. The Korean team was unfamiliar with our style, which was why we could easily claim victory. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with our performance, but there are still many games to go. The group stage is just a transition; the knockout stage is where it counts."
"We are ready to face any opponent!"
Facing the camera, Suker answered with firm confidence, and his response invigorated Croatian fans.
Suker is Croatia's top star.
Every word he speaks represents their will!
They will always stand with Croatia's warriors to face the challenges together.
After the game, the Croatian players left the pitch.
On their way out, they were surrounded by many Croatian fans.
Of course, these were overly excited fans, waving their arms and continuously showing how much they loved the players.
With cheers all around, the players felt a surge of energy fill their bodies.
Back at the hotel, the Croatian players each went to their rooms to freshen up.
After changing into clean clothes, Suker and Modrić headed to the tactics room.
Although the match was over, the other Group B match was just starting.
Whether they could team up to take down Argentina depended on the Bosnia vs. Argentina game.
Suker and Modrić were the first to arrive at the tactics room.
Besides Bilić and Van Stoyak, the other players hadn't arrived yet.
Once seated, Suker asked, "What's the situation?"
"Currently 0:0," Bilić replied without turning his head. "Bosnia has taken a defensive, deep-lying posture, and Argentina can't break their defense quickly."
Van Stoyak propped his palm on his cheek, furrowed his brows, and looked at Argentina's lineup, complaining:
"What kind of lineup is this?!"
The three turned to look at him.
Van Stoyak continued:
"Messi, Rodríguez, Tévez, Higuaín, Di María — five forwards pushing up, but only Mascherano holding the midfield. Among the four defenders, the fullbacks have to push forward too. The whole tactic is just focused on feeding Messi. What team plays like this?"
Bilić said: "Isn't that how Real Madrid plays?"
He pointed at Suker: "Pass the ball to Suker?"
Suker said nothing.
Van Stoyak waved his hand:
"Not the same! Suker is a finisher, his job is to score goals — relatively simple and clear. But Maradona has Messi doing the job of switching, advancing, organizing, and scoring — with no system or tactical support. It's just pure individual skill."
"The attacking ability looks fierce but hides many risks."
Maradona is a world-renowned football legend. As a player, he's legendary and successful.
But as a coach, Maradona has been somewhat of a failure.
This tactic shows just how naive Maradona's thinking is.
It's a theoretical tactic with zero room for error. Any mistake can't be corrected.
So far, neither Korea nor Bosnia are strong teams.
Because of this, Argentina has had no trouble, but if this tactic meets Croatia, they'll be in big trouble.
While the four chatted, more Croatian players arrived one after another.
Soon, they quietly watched the match.
Bosnia's style was simple and direct.
After a counterattack, they immediately retreated into dense defense, barely giving Argentina any gaps to break through.
Against such dense defense, any team would struggle.
Argentina's tactic was to use repeated breakthroughs to force fouls and win set pieces, ideally penalties.
But Bosnia's defense was experienced; they had apparently rehearsed well and knew exactly how to defend.
Also, Bosnia seemed very familiar with Argentina's players, always making the right judgments to neutralize runs and double-team or zone defend against breakthroughs.
The real surprise happened at the 41st minute.
Frustrated after a long attack, Argentina became impatient, and their next attack showed signs of messiness.
Messi just passed the ball, but Higuaín sprinted too fast, causing a coordination error.
Messi passed the ball to where Higuaín had just stood.
Seizing this rare chance, Školk pressed up aggressively and launched a long diagonal lob pass directly to Džeko.
Džeko chased desperately and crossed laterally before tiring out.
In the penalty box, Suker Bazzić jumped fiercely and headed the ball.
Swish!
At 41 minutes, Bosnia scored first.
"Oh~~~ Bosnia scored?"
"Boom! Boom!"
"Argentina's about to explode!"
"Beat Argentina!"
"Go Bosnia!"
Seeing the goal, Croatian players were also thrilled.
If Bosnia beat Argentina, Croatia would be guaranteed first place in the group.
If Argentina lost this match, their only chance was to fight desperately against Croatia.
Suker's eyes widened.
"No way?"
He thought Bosnia could at least trouble Argentina, whether winning or drawing was secondary, but now Bosnia seemed to be knocking Argentina out.
The game quickly moved into the second half.
Trailing, Argentina played even more anxiously.
They clearly knew what losing would mean.
At 80 minutes, the score was still Bosnia 1, Argentina 0.
The South African commentator was screaming wildly; although Suker and the others couldn't hear the guy, they could tell how delighted he was.
If Argentina lost, it would be a massive upset, breaking the wings of the Pampas Eagles.
Time passed bit by bit.
The tactics room was deathly silent.
Croatian players stared intently at the screen, their hearts tight.
This was a golden opportunity to knock out Argentina—only a fool would pass it up!
They secretly cheered for Bosnia.
Three minutes left, with stoppage time totaling six minutes.
Hold on, mates!
Bang!!
Suker Bazzić fiercely headed the ball away. As he was about to rush out for a counterattack, the final whistle blew.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Three whistle blows, and the stadium exploded with Bosnia fans' loud cheers.
"We won! We won!"
"God! We beat Argentina!"
"Hahaha! This is amazing!"
Bosnian players ran wildly onto the pitch, sprinting and shouting ecstatically.
"Bosnia, in their first World Cup appearance, showed a shocking performance. After losing the first match narrowly to Croatia, they defeated the South American powerhouse Argentina. This is definitely the golden generation of Bosnia, showing extremely sharp form."
"Because of this loss, Argentina is forced to stand on the edge of a cliff. Their only chance to advance is to beat Croatia, who are many times stronger than Bosnia. Argentina is really in danger now."
On the screen, Messi stood with hands on hips, his face full of helplessness.
This was a tactical problem with Maradona, but who dares to blame Maradona in Argentina?
Though internally frustrated, they had to endure.
Now Argentina could only grit their teeth and face Croatia.
After two rounds, Group B standings:
1st: Croatia, 2 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses, 6 points.
2nd: Bosnia, 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss, 3 points.
3rd: Argentina, 1 win, 0 draws, 1 loss, 3 points.
4th: South Korea, 0 wins, 0 draws, 2 losses, 0 points.
Even if Croatia loses to Argentina in the next match, and Bosnia beats Korea, with tied records and points, Croatia still ranks first based on head-to-head.
Thus, with Bosnia beating Argentina, even if Croatia loses to Argentina, they still top the group.
The second qualifying spot will be contested between Bosnia and Argentina.
The World Cup group stage second round ended with Group B exploding in tension.
Because of Argentina's loss to Bosnia, Argentina completely lost the initiative.
In the current situation, only winning can save them, and Bosnia must lose to Korea for Argentina to have a chance to advance.
The second round ignited the battle.
"Croatia 7:0 South Korea, locking in first place early!"
"Argentina left with only a theoretical chance to advance!"
"Maradona may face a World Cup Waterloo!"
"Will Messi leave the World Cup?"
Group B's matches ended, making the World Cup situation extremely tense.
South Korea became the first team eliminated from the World Cup, with no theoretical chance to advance.
Croatia became the biggest winner in Group B.
The second qualifying spot will be contested by Bosnia and Argentina.
After this match, another topic blew up globally:
"The 'Prophet Octopus' Paul successfully predicted Bosnia's win over Argentina."
Paul the Octopus became the hottest topic since the 2010 World Cup. Debuting in the 2008 European Championship, Paul successfully predicted four matches, including Germany vs. Croatia.
This World Cup, Paul predicted Croatia's win over Korea and Bosnia's upset of Argentina.
Most notably, after predicting Croatia's 7-0 win over Korea, Paul ate seven mussels, matching Croatia's seven goals, and again predicted Bosnia's upset of Argentina. Combined with his Euro performance, he instantly became world-famous.
The World Cup official decided that in future matches, Paul would make pre-match predictions.
For many, it was a fun matter.
But for Korean and Argentine fans, it was infuriating.
Korea is a big octopus-consuming country. After the slaughter, a surge of octopus-eating occurred nationwide, with countless octopuses served on tables.
Meanwhile, Argentine fans shouted slogans like "Kill that stinky octopus!"
The two predictions shattered these two nations' fans' hearts.
At Croatia's training ground, Boban, the team leader, was patrolling.
His phone rang — it was a call from Croatia.
"Davor here. I'm about to arrive in South Africa. There's something we need to talk about."
Boban was puzzled but nodded in understanding.
In the afternoon, Davor arrived at the hotel where the Croatian national team was staying.
In the conference room, Boban, Davor, Bilić, and Van Stiyak gathered.
Ahem!
Davor cleared his throat: "Last night, we received a request from the Argentine Football Association. They want us to take it easy in the third-round match!"
Upon hearing this, the three exchanged looks.
Currently, if Croatia loses to Argentina, and Bosnia beats Korea, there will be a three-way tie of 2-0-1 records.
Based on head-to-head, Croatia beats Bosnia, Bosnia beats Argentina, Argentina beats Croatia—a circular scenario.
Ultimately, goal difference will decide rankings.
But Croatia crushed Korea 7-0 — what can Argentina use to compare goal difference?
So Croatia has already 'locked' first place, unless Argentina massacres them, which is unlikely.
However, they had already made an agreement with Bosnia.
"Davor, we also have some arrangements," Boban said, revealing the plan to team up with Bosnia to eliminate Argentina.
Davor was surprised.
He hadn't expected such a private deal amid the normal tournament flow.
"So we're allied with Bosnia to get rid of Argentina?" Davor asked.
Boban nodded. "Yes, that's it. Of course, if Argentina's offer is too tempting..."
"They only made a verbal request," Davor waved his hand dismissively. "Let's just ignore it."
Van Stoyak raised his hand.
Everyone turned to look.
He slowly said, "My suggestion is to eliminate Argentina, remove this hidden danger early. No matter how much Argentina offers, we don't accept."
They looked at Bilić again.
Bilić nodded, "That's my opinion too."
Davor said, "Understood. I'll make the arrangements."
Then he asked, "How's the players' condition?"
Bilić: "Not bad. Vukojević's injury is healing well, probably can play in the knockout stage. But to be safe, no starting lineup for now; we'll see how his condition is."
"Other players remain in excellent form."
Bilić joked, "We came to tie the historical record!"
"Not aiming for the championship?"
Davor asked.
Bilić paused; Van Stoyak sighed.
Boban said: "He's never been very ambitious, doesn't even dare to dream."
"Hey!" Bilić spread his hands helplessly. "Tying the historical record! Reaching the World Cup semifinals! How can I not dare dream?"
"They say this lineup should fight for the championship!" Van Stoyak added.
Bilić frowned: "The championship is something to fight for, but it's not easy. Spain, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands—those teams are tough!"
"Can we face all of them?" Van Stoyak shrugged. "If the draw is good, not impossible."
Boban and Davor Suker nodded.
In terms of courage, the assistant coach suited their taste better.
Bilić felt the chat was pointless and pointed outside: "Let's go, I'll show you the training."
The group left the conference room.
At the training ground, the Croatian players were in a closed training session.
Almost no outsiders were around except relevant personnel.
Davor's arrival caused cheers.
Especially from young players like Perišić, their eyes gleamed with admiration.
He was their childhood idol!
But soon their expressions turned fearful.
Clap clap clap!
Suker patted Davor Suker's big belly several times and shook his head with a grin:
"Getting fatter, be careful not to be played by politicians. You can't beat them!"
Davor Suker laughed, not bothered at all.
"I have Mamic. He'll tell me what can't be done."
Suker shook his head.
That guy is the most troublesome!
Davor Suker's decline was mostly because of Mamic's urging.
"How do you feel?" Davor Suker looked at Suker with bright eyes.
He had watched Suker's two matches; the brilliant performance made him want to get on the pitch for at least half an hour.
Suker shrugged: "Not bad, I'm here for the World Cup Golden Boot!"
Davor Suker smiled and nodded.
He didn't mention 'championship' to avoid burdening the players.
The current situation was good; gradual progress was the key.