Dominik Livakovic of Croatia celebrates after Marquinhos of Brazil (not pictured) hit the post and missed the decisive penalty in the penalty shootout during the FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match between Croatia and Brazil (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Croatia stunned favorites Brazil to reach the World Cup semifinals on Friday, winning 4-2 on penalties after a thrilling tie in the round of 16 ended 1-1 after extra time.
Marquinhos missed the crucial penalty kick in the shootout, hitting the post when he had to score to keep Brazil in after Rodrygo’s earlier attempt was saved by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic and Croatia converted all four penalties.
FT | FIFA World Cup – Brazil v Croatia
It was a remarkable turnaround after Brazil looked poised for victory when Neymar opened the scoring with a wonderful shot in mid-extra time that equaled Pele’s Brazil record of 77 international goals.
But Bruno Petkovic struck back at the other end in the 117th minute for Croatia to force a penalty shootout, and Zlatko Dalic’s side followed up their victory over Japan on penalties on the final day with this victory, which should go down as the best in its history. triumph.
They advance to the semifinals, while Brazil will have to wait at least another four years before winning a record-extending sixth title.
Neymar, who left the pitch in tears, had put Brazil ahead at the end of the first half of extra time, working one-two with Rodrygo and Lucas Paquetá before getting past goalkeeper Livakovic to score.
But it didn’t break Croatia’s resistance when the 2018 World Cup finalists drew level again.
Brazil had never played in the same attacking style as they did in their round of 16 win over South Korea.
Croatia were as stubborn and hard to break as ever, and have now gone to extra time in eight of their last nine major tournament knockout games, with the exception of their loss to France in the World Cup final four years ago.
It was never going to be easy for Brazil to play with the same freedom and joy as in their demolition of South Korea, when they celebrated their goals with choreographed dance moves that seemed to annoy some spectators.
fear of losing
But the challenge for the team led by Brazilian coach Tite, given the enormous pressure that the Brazilian team always has in a World Cup, was not to let the fear of losing take away all that joy.
The stakes rise as the tournament progresses and Brazil went into Friday’s match at Doha’s Education City Stadium looking to avoid another trap set by an accomplished European side.
Brazil had been knocked out of the last four World Cups at this stage or in the semifinals, each time by European opposition.
Croatia may be a nation of only four million people, but they reached the final four years ago and Luka Modric, their inspiration at the time, remains one of the best players on the planet at 37.
It turns out that a midfield three from Modric, Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic and Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic can also hold their own against Brazil.
The Selecao had scored four times in the first 36 minutes against South Korea. Here they managed only three attempts on goal in the first half, and nothing seriously bothered Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Livakovic.
Brazil nearly scored two minutes into the second half when Eder Militao’s cutback was nearly turned into his own by Josko Gvardiol, before Livakovic produced saves from Richarlison, Neymar and Paquetá.
More Livakovic saves of Neymar and Paquetá followed, draining some of the confidence from a tense Brazilian support.
It seemed they were headed for defeat when Neymar opened the scoring, but Croatia showed all their resistance to level when Petkovic applied a first-class finisher off a low cross from fellow substitute Mislav Orsic.
Then came penalties, and Nikola Vlasic, Lovro Majer, Modric and Orsic converted for Croatia, while Rodrygo and Marquinhos fell just short.
Neymar, who was supposed to give the final shot to Brazil, did not have the opportunity and his tournament ends in tears.
