World Cup 2018: 5 reasons Croatia could win in Russia

#4 Strength in the flanks

The wingers have consistently been an integral part of Zlatko Dalic's plans

Back in 2014, Croatia had a big problem in the flanks which is said to have been the reason for their elimination from the Brazil World Cup. They lacked any natural wingers and had to rely on Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, to create their chances from the midfield, which proved to be a durable tactic in the long-term, after their disappointing performance in the aforementioned World Cup.

However, Croatia have more than fixed this problem after Zlatko Dalic started to deploy Inter Milan regular Ivan Perisic and Ante Rebic, the youngster who was essential in Eintracht Frankfurt's first piece of silverware in 30 years, on the flanks. They have been a great partnership on the wings, and have consistently been an integral part of manager Zlatko Dalic's plans.

Unlike in the past, the Croatian wingers created chances regularly, through counter-attacks and quickly advancing play with the attacking midfielders, while pressing the opponents' defenders constantly. As both Perisic and Rebic are agile and very skilful, they can also run into space when needed, as seen in Croatia's group match against Argentina, where the wingers were the reason Argentina were not able to play freely, with the Argentinian side-backs having to stay back to defend.

In addition to their skills as wingers, both Perisic and Rebic are very versatile and can play in other positions. When playing for the national team, Perisic starts on the left wing, while Rebic starts on the right wing, but their versatility enables them to swap their positions whenever necessary, as seen many times in the Croatia - Nigeria game. This confuses the opposition, which works heavily to Croatia's favour.

Even if either Ivan Perisic or Ante Rebic falls out of form or gets injured, Croatia have a reliable alternative in Schalke youngster Marko Pjaca. Pjaca is tall at 186 cm, and can take on opponents in 1v1 situations with ease thanks to his speed and dribbling skills. Just like his fellow Croatian wingers, he is also versatile and can play on either wing comfortably, which makes him a perfect alternative in the flanks for Croatia.