Portugal and Croatia set to battle oppressive heat as well as one another

[p]Canada's environment ministry has issued a warning that temperatures could reach 35* Celsius (95* Fahrenheit) on Thursday in the city, but it could feel like 44* Celsius (111* Farenheit) due to elevated humidity.[/p][p]"[b]I don't like to speak about this, or use it as an excuse[/b]," Portuguese midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vitinha/Sz9SH7zj/"]Vitinha[/a] told reporters, when asked about the impact of extreme heat on play.[/p][p]Environment Canada said temperatures may ease by kickoff at 7:00 pm (23:00 GMT), although the risk of thunderstorms could impact the match.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/portugal/WvJrjFVN/"]Portugal[/a] made an unconvincing start to their World Cup campaign but Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Vitinha said he received the criticism of their performance "[b]with open arms[/b]".[/p][p]Portugal has fallen into a tougher draw after failing to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/colombia/G02s4PCS/"]Colombia[/a], with a rout of low-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/uzbekistan/EZYKKRMc/"]Uzbekistan[/a] their lone victory in the tournament's group stage.[/p][p]"[b]We know that there is hardly any room for mistakes, if any,[/b]" he said. "[b]I hope that the collective group will perform better.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="aefbb1d4-fff1-4f1c-8cbb-1328cdbdb39d" url="https://x.com/SantiSignals/status/2072525627781951732" social-type="twitter" /][p]The contest between the two top European sides will almost certainly mark the final World Cup appearance for either Portugal's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ronaldo-cristiano/WGOY4FSt/"]Cristiano Ronaldo[/a] or [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/K8aznggo/"]Croatia[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/modric-luka/bZWyoJnA/"]Luka Modric[/a], who for so long were teammates at Real Madrid.[/p][p]Vitinha said his side has "[b]a lot of motives... to want to win tomorrow,[/b]" and extending Ronaldo's World Cup stay was top among them.[/p][p]He also hailed Modric as "[b]a great reference for all football players and even more to me.[/b]"[/p][p]"It's a pleasure to play against him and hopefully tomorrow he'll be a little bit sadder than me," Vitinha said.[/p][p]"[b]We have to stop a team tomorrow, and hopefully that will be the team of Luka Modric.[/b]"[/p][p]Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said he expected Thursday's match to be "[b]a midfield battle.[/b]"[/p][p]"[b]We need to reduce the errors to a minimum because they will punish us just as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] did and we need to raise the level of responsibility in the midfield,[/b]" Dalic said, referring to the 4-2 defeat in their opening game.[/p]