Croatia and Korea Republic will face off in an international friendly on Tuesday.
Korea is looking to avenge a 4-0 loss against Croatia that they incurred back in February. Back then, Croatia scoed goals with Nikica Jelavic, Mladen Petric, Darijo Srna and Mario Mandzukic.
The Koreans are ready for this matchup with coach Hong already looking to breakdown the European midfield.
"The role of midfielders is always critical, and we will try to shore up the middle ahead of the Croatia match," Hong said according to the Global Post. "The strength of our midfield will determine how well we do at next year's World Cup [in Brazil.]"
Meanwhile, the Croatians see this match as a chance to boost their FIFA ranking.
"We want a good result because of the FIFA ranking. I hope the squad I have will be able to obtain it," said Croatia Coach Igor Stimac, according to the Croatian Times.
As it stands, Croatia sits just one point behind Portugal for the seventh spot on the table. If they qualify for the World Cup and manage to leap past Portugal in the rankings, then they will be among the eight teams that would be in the first pot for group selection. This would help them reach a favorable draw in the tournament's group stage.
That task will be more difficult with the absence of such key stars as Luka Modric, Mandzukic and Vedran Corluka.
Prediction: Korea manages a 1-0 victory.
Start Time: 7 a.m. EST
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