Tough and tenacious! Croatia eliminated Brazil on penalties and advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup for the third time.
Croatia once again had the last laugh in the familiar penalty shootout. On the night of beating Brazil, goalkeeper Livakovic became a hero again.
In the early morning of December 10th, Beijing time, at the Education City Stadium in Laiyang, the quarter-final of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicked off. In the first game, the Croatian team and the "championship-winning" Brazilian team drew a blank in 90 minutes.
In extra time, Neymar scored a key goal by himself, but then Petcovici equalized the score. In the penalty shootout, Croatia beat Brazil 4-2 and advanced to the semi-finals.
The goalkeeper Livakovic once again saved a penalty in a penalty shoot-out. The story in Russia four years ago is exactly the same. After breaking through the group stage, Croatia went through two penalty shootouts in a row and then reached the semi-finals. Although the road to promotion is bumpy, Croatia can always overcome obstacles. It is worth mentioning that in the history of the World Cup in Croatia, as long as they qualify in the group, they will definitely make it to the semi-finals.Today, Croatia has become synonymous with "perseverance" and "resilience", and 37-year-old modric continues his World Cup story.
At the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as long as it is a game in Brazil, you can see the fans’ wishes for Pele.Modric looked forward to rewriting the history of "invincible Brazil" before the game.In this game, Brazil continued the 4-2-1-3 starting lineup that defeated the Korean team 4-1 in the quarter-finals. Goalkeepers Arison, Danilo, thiago silva, Machinhos and Militao formed a four-back, with casemiro as the partner and Neymar as the center, and the trident was vinicius, Richarlyson and Rafinha.
Since winning the World Cup in 2002, Brazil has been defeated by European teams in the World Cup knockout rounds for nearly five times.Facing the runner-up in the last World Cup, Head Coach Tite also expected the players to show confidence and courage. "Under pressure, you must have courage, even dare to take the risk of cutting meat. I have already experienced it. This is the football I believe in. Even if I can’t win the championship, it is forward. This is what we believe in. "
Tite asked the players to show confidence and courage before the game. In the match between Brazil and South Korea, dancing when players celebrated the goal caused controversy. Even Tite joined in dancing with the players. On the bus to the stadium, several players danced again. Tite said before the game, "If I have to dance, then I will dance. It’s subtle. I asked them to hide me a little. The protagonist will be a player, not me, but I will participate. I have to practice more. I know, my neck is stiff and my arms are not good. "
Dalic’s change of array before the game made Brazil once unable to exert its fists and feet in the game. Croatian coach Dalic made some changes to the starting lineup, with modric, brozovic and kovacic as the midfielders, Kramaric and Pericic as the strikers, and Passalic as the center instead of Petcovici.This is modric’s 30th international appearance in his career. Up to now, modric has played 17 World Cups and 13 European Cups, making him the first player in Croatian history to reach 30 international appearances.
"Since the start of this World Cup, we have always given our best performance, so we will continue to perform in this game. As we all know, the game with Brazil will be very difficult, but we also have our own strengths. First of all, we must believe in ourselves. " Modric is very much looking forward to the team’s continued promotion. "We have never won in the experience of playing against Brazil, but we are looking forward to rewriting history. For this reason, the team must restrict Brazil in the game and prevent them from playing aggressive."
Brazil showed aggression in the game, but also got a yellow card for it.According to the German transfer market website, Croatia’s initial total value is 227 million euros and Brazil’s 584 million euros. The average age of starting in Croatia is 28.7 years old, and Brazil is 28 years old.37-year-old modric and 38-year-old thiago silva started separately, which is the first time since the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1958 that both teams have players aged 37 or above.
Neymar is still the most violated player in the game.It is difficult for Brazil to break the game that was "torn" by Croatia.The whole first half of the game was uneventful. Danilo got a yellow card for kicking Juranovic in the face because he lifted his foot too high, and then brozovic got a yellow card for putting down Neymar.
Brazil also created some attacking opportunities in the first half, but never turned the attack into a score. On the contrary, Croatia used the counterattack to create some threats.
According to statistics, although Brazil leads 5-3 in shooting times and 3-0 in effective shooting, it can’t create a substantial and threatening attack. If it is to be considered as the most dangerous attack, it should be regarded as Neymar’s free kick on the edge of the penalty area, which was scored by Livakovic after refraction.
Croatia also had a chance to score in the first half. In this World Cup, Brazil didn’t score in the first half in four of the five games. Statistics show that,Up to now, 26 matches in this World Cup have ended 0-0 at halftime. In the history of the tournament, only in the first half of the World Cup in 1990 were there more 0-0 times, reaching 28 times.In the 48th minute of the second half, Croatian defender Juranovic handball in the restricted area. After VAR intervened, the referee finally awarded the Brazilian player offside first.
Croatian goalkeeper Livakovic became the "patron saint" of the team in the second half, first blocking the shot kicked by defender Gvardiol to his own goal, and then saving Paquita and Neymar for two shots respectively. According to statistics, Livakovic has contributed 6 saves in 70 minutes, which is more than the total saves of Brazilian goalkeeper allison (5). In the end, at the end of 90 minutes, Livakovic saved 8 times in the whole game.
Livakovic ruined Brazil’s chances of shooting many times in the second half. Looking at 90 minutes of regular time, Croatia is not the dominant side, but when the ball is at their feet, they can let the game enter their own rhythm, thus "shredding" Brazil’s offensive and defensive rhythm. Because of this, Brazil has been unable to control the situation according to its own way of playing.When the game time was close to 90 minutes, the live broadcast camera caught Ronaldo’s expression in the audience. From his expression of "life without love", it can already be read that Brazil’s performance in this game did not meet the expectations of the outside world.
On the other hand, in Croatia, dragging the game into overtime is a familiar game script.According to statistics, seven of Croatia’s last eight major competitions were overtime, except for the 18-year World Cup finals.
In this game, Neymar missed several chances to break the door. In a row, penalty shootouts advanced to the semi-finals, and Croatia copied the magic of four years ago.In fact, dragging the game into overtime is a rhythm that Croatia is more familiar with. In the last game, when Japan was eliminated, Croatia fought for 120 minutes, and then won the penalty shoot-out.
At least statistically, Croatia seems to have a better chance of winning when the game enters overtime. According to statistics, Croatia has made overtime in the past five competitions and finally made it through four times.
Neymar completed "self-redemption" in overtime. However, Neymar didn’t let Croat control the rhythm comfortably again.In the first half of overtime, Neymar and Paquita hit the wall in the restricted area. Neymar broke into the small restricted area, missed goalkeeper Livakovic and scored an empty goal. Brazil led Croatia 1-0.
In the 124th game of the national team, Neymar scored his 77th goal, tying Pele, the king of 77th goals in 92 games, and tied for the top scorer of Brazil.On August 10th, 2010, 18-year-old Neymar made his debut for Brazil’s national team, scoring his first goal. On September 11th, 2012, Neymar scored his first hat-trick in the national team’s career in Brazil’s 8-0 match in China.
Although Neymar scored, he still missed the semi-finals. In the past 12 years, Neymar has represented the Samba Corps in three World Cups, four Copa America Cups and one Confederations Cup, and contributed 77 goals in 124 games. In 2013, the Confederations Cup helped the team win the championship with 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 games.It is worth mentioning that only two Brazilian players, Neymar and Ronaldo, have scored at least two goals in three World Cups.
However, Croatia’s tenacity helped them tie the score in overtime.
In the 113th minute, Orsic, a famous Chinese Super League player, replaced brozovic. Three minutes later, he broke through the cross on the left. Petcovici outflanked the shot and flew into the goal after refraction, and Croatia equalized the score.
Petcovici helped Croatia equalize the score at the last minute. In the penalty shootout, Brazil’s Rodrigo’s first free throw was saved by Livakovic. In the second round, both teams scored penalties. In the third round, modric took the lead in penalty kick, and Pedro of Brazil also made a steady hit. In the fourth round, Orsic took the lead in hitting, and the penalty shot hit a dead corner. Brazil’s central defender Machinhos hit the post and bounced off. In the end, Croatia eliminated Brazil with a total score of 5-3.Croatia once again completed the reversal with their perseverance and resilience, and this time they defeated the powerful Brazilian team. Croatian magic continues, and so does modric’s World Cup legend.
(This article is from The Paper, please download the "The Paper" APP for more original information)
Reporting/feedback