The 2018 FIFA World Cup final is around the corner, and fans will be looking forward to see both Croatia and France in action in Moscow.
It has been a thoroughly entertaining affair from start to finish, and 90 minutes (perhaps more) are all that remain before either Les Bleus or the Vatreni is crowned champions of the world.
For France, this will be the nation's third World Cup final after winning it in 1998 and losing on penalties to Italy in 2006. Croatia, meanwhile, is making its first ever World Cup final appearance, with the country's best showing being its semi-finals run in 1998.
Curiously enough, this will be a rematch of sorts of the 1998 semi's, during which France beat Croatia 2-1. That is something Croatia's no. 1 man between the posts, Danijel Subasic, will be fully aware of, as he was just a few months shy of 14 in 1998 and certainly will have watched that fixture on TV.
His goalkeeping opponent, Hugo Lloris, was a bit younger - nearly 12 - but certainly old enough to have viewed the game as well, and more important, will definitely remember the 2006 final in which Italy managed to break French supporters' hearts.
Anyway, history aside, both Subasic and Lloris come into this competition with the expectations of their respective nations on their shoulders. Much of the talk has been about each side's attack and dynamic midfield, but what of the men expected to guard their respective goals?
Despite racking up the minutes, neither player has played in all six of their team's games. Lloris and Subasic were both rotated during the group stages, with Lovre Kalinic replacing Subasic for Croatia's final group stage game versus Iceland and Steve Mandanda getting some game-time against Denmark.
However, Subasic has played significantly more than Lloris. In fact, the Monaco man has logged in well over 90 minutes more on the pitch heading into this final. Why? Well, Croatia has featured in three straight games that went to extra time. Zlatko Dalic's men had to navigate through two grueling penalty shoot-outs against Denmark and Russia, before Mario Mandzukic's late goal was enough to see off England and avoid penalties. However, that game also went to extra time, meaning that Croatia is yet to win a knockout game in 90 minutes.
France and Lloris have been a lot more efficient, seeing off Argentina, Uruguay, and Belgium. Notably, Lloris kept a clean sheet during France's last two matches against Uruguay (2-0) and Belgium (1-0). Overall, the Tottenham man has kept three clean sheets so far this summer in Russia.
Subasic, meanwhile, has not had much success in this area. After two clean sheets against Nigeria (2-0) and notably, Argentina (3-0), the Monaco star has not been able to prevent Denmark, Russia, and England from scoring against his side, meaning that he has yet to keep a clean sheet since the knockout rounds began.
Still, he has come up big twice: during Croatia's back-to-back penalty shoot-outs with Denmark and Russia. Notably, his performance against the Russians was even more impressive due to clearly struggling with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Against Denmark, he saved three attempts while he saved one of Russia's attempts as Croatia ended up winning 4-3.
Lloris has yet to save a penalty so far (failing to keep out Australia's effort in the group stages), but his overall save rate is only slightly less than Subasic's 75%. However, the Croatian trumps him in clearances (eight versus seven) as well as overall saves (12 versus 11), and that is arguably largely due to the fact that Croatia simply has played more minutes than France.
So who would one rather have guarding the net? Subasic has already shown that he has what it takes to help his team get through a tough penalty shoot-out, but Lloris managed to shut out both Uruguay and Belgium, with his performance against the Red Devils being among one of the best showings so far this tournament.
Only one of these goalkeepers will clinch the coveted World Cup later today, and likely along with it, the Golden Glove. Will it be Tottenham's Lloris? Or will Monaco's Subasic write his name in the history books?
