Croatia have done it again. Once more they have shown they are the masters of extra time and penalties as they defeated Brazil 4-2 from the spot to reach the World Cup semi-finals for the second consecutive tournament.
Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic has once again made himself the hero of the hour to send Croatia through to the World Cup semi-finals after they defeated Brazil 4-2 on penalties after both teams scored in extra time.
The Croatian shot-stopper had been incredible throughout the match as he made 11 saves in total across the 120 minutes of football played and it is largely thanks to him that his side were able to even make it through to a penalty shoot-out. He then kept out Rodrygo from the spot to set his team up for the triumphant victory.
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Their record at tournaments when they have to experience extra time and penalties is phenomenal. They handled themselves brilliantly in that scenario tonight, they did so against Japan. Croatia truly are the experts in this scenario. In each of their last five World Cup matches that have gone to extra time, they have prevailed in all of them.
The wonders Zlatko Dalic has worked with this team over the past five years has been breathtaking. Four-and-a-half years ago, Croatia surprisingly reached the World Cup final. This time, they are one game away from reaching that same feat and it is hard to be surprised by this team anymore.
For Brazil, they were left haunted once again by European opposition. That is now five World Cups on the bounce where they have been eliminated at the hands of a team from Europe.
It was a game where all the expectation was on Neymar to equal Pele’s accolade but the Paris Saint-Germain man found it difficult to work his magic as he would normally do. But the beautiful thing about football is even when a player hasn’t been at their brilliant best they can still have that one moment that will be remembered for years to come. That is exactly what Neymar’s goal will go down as, not just for his own personal achievement, but because it carried his side into the last four in Qatar in a game where they were pushed the hardest they had been all tournament.
Brazil found the first half a frustrating affair with Croatia dominating the midfield battle. The likes of Vinicius Jr, Neymar and Raphinha struggled to have their desired impact because the Selecao found it difficult to dictate the tempo of the match. Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic
Tite’s men were able to conjure a couple of chances after the break which fell to Neymar but once again they were outfought by Croatia both in and out of possession which is a credit to how Dalic set up his side. His right-back, Josip Juranovic, turned in a phenomenal performance and really stepped up to the task of having to deal with Vinicius Jr. He won that individual battle by a landslide because the Brazilian had very little to contribute to the game.
Juranovic was able to challenge him in a foot race but also the space he created and the runs he made allowed his team to adventure higher up the pitch in dangerous positions. Their only problem was they couldn’t convert their high-spirited performance into chances as they failed to register a single shot on target in 90 minutes.
In the few openings Brazil were able to conjure for themselves by moving the ball around quickly, Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic carried through the form from his penalty shoot-out heroics against Japan to make himself seemingly unbeatable. Croatia had him to thank for seeing yet another tournament knockout match go to extra time.
It seems like that extra half hour was what was required to really spark the game into life. Brazil started to get more creative in possession and they were able to conjure up Neymar’s beautiful goal to equal Pele’s tally of 77 for the Selecao. But the drama didn’t stop there. Just as you though the game had been won, substitute Bruno Petkovic equalised for Croatia late on in what was their first shot on target of the match, to send the game to penalties. The dramatic shoot-out was sealed when Marquinhos rattled his effort against the post to which he fell to his knees in shock.
Brazilian hearts have been shattered once again.
