Josip Juranovic says the first thing he will do is shake Daizen Maeda 's hand when he reunites with him in Qatar on Monday - but after that it's going to get "aggressive."
The two Celtic stars will face off for a place in the quarter-finals on Monday as Croatia take on Japan - with the winner potentially earning a marquee last eight showdown with Brazil if they progress in the later game. With Australia and the USA eliminated on Saturday, they will compete for the bragging rights of being the last Parkhead stars standing in Qatar.
Juranovic can't wait to see his club teammate and says congratulations are in order with Japan one of the surprise packages so far, having topped a group with Spain and Germany to send the Germans packing. But that's as far as the niceties are going as he says from there it's going to get "aggressive" - with Croatia going all-out to shut the Japanese down.
He said at his pre-match press conference: "We play together at Celtic. I can't wait to see him on the field to congratulate him. Tomorrow we have an analysis, so the coach will tell us about all the Japanese players. Maeda is a team player, he will give his best no matter how long he plays. He is fast, aggressive, runs into space.
"We will see in the analysis. We have to focus on ourselves and see what we did wrong against Belgium and correct it and try to win. It is not important to stop only him, but the whole team. We have to be aggressive. Japan is quality, they play together. We will talk to the menu and analyze."
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