Croatia are through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar after beating Japan 3-1 on penalties.
After a balanced 90 minutes (1:1), Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who saved three Japanese penalties in the decision, became the man of the match.
Quarter-final opponents on Friday may be tournament favorites Brazil, who later met South Korea on Monday (20:00 CEST).
Daizen Maeda (43′) gave Japan a deserved lead in front of 42,523 spectators at Al Wakrah’s Al Janoub Stadium, Ivan Perisic (55′) equalized. In the end, Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic with three saved penalties became the match winner in a game that was not rich in chances. It is a good omen for the Croatians, who had already triumphed in the round of 16 against Denmark and in the quarter-finals against Russia on penalties at the 2018 World Cup. In an open game, Japan had the great opportunity to create the next coup after victories over Spain and Germany in the preliminary round, but ultimately stood there empty-handed after their fourth World Cup round of 16.
Croatia had to work hard that night. Japan presented themselves at eye level and crowned an initial phase of pressure in the 3rd minute with a dangerous header by Shogo Taniguchi past the goal, but was lucky a little later when goalie Shiuchi Gonda saved against Perisic after a bad back pass blunder by Takehiro Tomiyasu (8th). The basic characteristics of the game were already open in front of the fans: Croatia played the game as expected, the Japanese, the round of 16 with the least ball possession in the group phase, gave up the active ball chasers.
This led to several quick actions by the outsider, who was not bothered by the Croatians’ pressing and brought in a few dangerous crosses, especially from the right. This resulted in a clear goal chance for a long time but none. On the defensive, Japan acted mostly compact and safe, the Croatians had their problems. A long pass to Bruno Petkovic initially led to the most dangerous move, but the Dinamo Zagreb player frittered away the ball in the penalty area (26′). Shortly thereafter, Andrej Kramaric narrowly missed a Borna Barisic cross in the five (28′).
Shortly before the break, the Japanese were still able to put themselves in the limelight: First, Daichi Kamada aimed well wide of the goal (41st), but finally the time had come: After a short corner and the following cross, the Croatians cleared the ball poorly, Maeda gratefully accepted the gift in fives. The answer came ten minutes after the restart from Perisic, the Tottenham striker impressively demonstrated his header danger after a cross from twelve yards out. With his 10th goal at European Championships or World Cups, he overtook Croatia’s previous record holder Davor Suker (9 goals).
The game picked up speed. Japan tested in the person of Wataru Endo Dominik Livakovic (58′), on the other side Gonda had to screw into the cross corner after a fine long-range shot by Modric (63′). The longer the duel lasted, the clearer the extension became. After all, Croatia had the better chances. Perisic shot just wide from a good 17 meters (77′), and Mario Pasalic also missed his goal (86′).
In the “third half” the teams were tired, for Croatia’s 37-year-old midfielder Modric the performance ended after around 100 minutes. Kaoru Mitoma’s violent run was all the more surprising, but his shot ended up being too central for Livakovic (105′). Not much happened anymore, the penalty shoot-out was the logical consequence.
There, Salzburg’s Croatian legionnaire Luka Sucic saw from the bench how one of his Salzburg predecessors, Takumi Minamino, failed right at the start with a weak attempt by Livakovic. The goalie also had the upper hand against Mitoma and ironed out Marko Livaja’s shot from the bar with his third brilliant effort. Mario Pasalic kept his nerve in the last attempt and made it 3-1.
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Source: Nachrichten
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
