Croatia's World Cup shootout with Mexico for a spot in the last 16 pitches gunslinger Mario Mandzukic against Guillermo Ochoa, a goalkeeper who has shown a unique ability to keep his team alive.
Mandzukic, Croatia's principal attacking weapon, will be looking to add to the two he scored on return from suspension in the 4-0 win over Cameroon, but Mexico's maverick shot-stopper showed he could put up a one-man barricade to keep Brazil last Tuesday.
The prize on offer in tomorrow's Group A clash in Recife is a spot in the knockout stages, with Mexico, on four points, knowing a draw is enough to see them safely through.
Niko Kovac's Croatia, a point behind, will almost certainly need to win, though a draw would suffice if already-eliminated Cameroon can produce one of the biggest shocks of all time against Brazil in a match played simultaneously in Brasilia.
If Croatia are to come through, 28-year-old Bayern Munich forward Mandzukic, who was sorely missed in their opening 3-1 defeat to Brazil, must be sharp.
"It was great to have Mandzukic back, he is one of the best strikers in the world," said team-mate Ivan Perisic, who scored a superb solo goal against Cameroon.
"Playing with the likes of him, [Luka] Modric and [Ivan] Rakitic … they make all of us better players."
With two outstanding saves to deny Neymar, Ochoa proved decisive in Mexico's 0-0 draw with Brazil that ended the hosts' 10-game winning streak.
He went full length to brilliantly beat out a Neymar header in the first half and blocked a fierce shot from the forward in the second half before stopped a thumping Thiago Silva header on the line late on.
"Mexico are a quick and skilled side and Ochoa had a great game against Brazil, but if we repeat the Cameroon performance, I think we have a fair chance of coming out on top," Perisic added.
Croatia have not reached the last 16 since their third place in 1998. Mexico have made the knockout stages in the last five World Cups.
The Group A winner faces the runner-up in Group B and vice versa, with the Netherlands and Chile playing each other in their final match to decide who tops that pool.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article