William Gallas has hailed Josip Juranovic’s performance against Brazil as “unbelievable” as he picked out the Celtic star as the player who’s caught his eye most in Qatar.
Not only did the full back make life difficult for Neymar and Real Madrid trickster Vinicius Junior, but gave the Samba stars plenty to worry about going the other way as he drove forward at every opportunity, exploiting the gaps left by Brazil’s flair players not exactly busting a gut to help out their defensive colleagues.
It looked like Juranovic’s World Cup was coming to an end when Neymar fired Tite’s side into a late lead during extra-time following a goalless 90 minutes. The Croats have proved time and again that they’re made of stern stuff and squared things up with just three minutes remaining to force a penalty shoot-out. And that’s not where you want to be against Croatia, who have 100 per cent win record in World Cup games decided from 12 yards. Raphinha and Marquinhos both missed as Luka Modric and Co. booked a semi-final date with Leo Messi’s Argentina.
Juranovic is now being linked with a host of top clubs, including Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Manchester United as Ange Postecoglou braces himself for January bods when the transfer window opens in three weeks time.
And Gallas, who reached the 2006 final with France, isn’t surprised after witnessing a complete display from Juranovic against the tournament favourites. When asked who had impressed him most in Qatar, he raved: “I will say the Croatian right back, Josip Juranović. What he did against Brazil was just unbelievable. He had to play against Vinicuis Jr, Neymar drifted over to his side, the guy defended very well and, at the same time, he was attacking.
“Can you imagine putting in a performance like that against that level of opponent? Normally when you know that you have to keep players like Neymar and Vinicius quiet what do you do? You think, tonight I’m going to have a nightmare and I will just have to defend, I won’t attack. When he had the opportunity, he was attacking. What he did in that game was unbelievable.”
William Gallas was speaking in conjunction with Genting Casino.
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