Croatia advanced to the World Cup semi-finals after defeating Brazil in a penalty shootout. Bruno Petkovic stunningly cancelled out Neymar’s extra-time goal to take the game to penalties, which Croatia won 4-2, with Marquinhos missing the game-winning penalty.
Croatia deserves a lot of respect for their game plan, as they played right out of the hands of the individually gifted Brazilians, using the technical abilities of their midfielders to hold a lot of sluggish possession, not allowing Brazil the time and space to generate enough opportunities.
Dominik Livakovic was outstanding in goal, Josko Gvardiol was composed and steady in defence, and Luka Modric was outstanding in midfield.
Fans Reaction
One fan said, “These south American countries are just overated especially Argentina and Brazil…Only hype around them but they always struggles to win against minor opponents”.
Another said, “5 straight eliminations against European countries. They haven’t learned that their style doesn’t work much anymore. Football is much more about being vertical, flying though the midfield. Not touch.. touch.. touch and magic. It’s very disciplined”.
A third said, “there is no more joga bonito, 2002 was the last time brazil has a golden era”.
Match Report: (Croatia Vs Brazil)
Neymar, who had been quiet until the entire 90 minutes, after he had scored an extra-time winner when he slipped past Livakovic and powerfully blasted into the roof of the net, the samba fans thought it to be the decider. Still, Croatia equalized with just four minutes to play when Bruno Petkovic deflected a drive from outside the box.
Brazil struggled in the shootout, with Rodrygo missing their first penalty and Marquinhos missing their fourth, while Croatia converted all of theirs for a spectacular victory.
Croatia, who has now won two consecutive knockout games on penalties, will meet either Argentina or the Netherlands in the semifinals on Tuesday. The winner of the first quarter-final match in both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups went on to win the tournament; might this be a foreshadowing for the 2018 runners-up.
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