Croatia beat Japan to advance to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. After 120 minutes in which both countries scored, the decision was made on penalties. In it, the misses of Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma, and Maya Yoshida Japan were deadly.
In the quarter-finals Croatia will face the winner Brazil-South Korea. This match starts tonight at 20:00.
Japan and Croatia fought for every meter in Al-Wakrah. The game was good at times, but didn’t lead to much of a show around the goals in the first half hour.
With Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic overflowing with football acumen, the Croatian midfielder couldn’t find the right rhythm. In Japan, creative actors like Daichi Kamada and Ritsu Doan were given little room to excel.
The first half hour brought only two great chances. Ivan Perisic intervened but saw his shot deflected by Shuichi Gonda. Maeda seemed to be sliding diagonally but couldn’t hit the ball.
Japan is getting stronger
Half an hour later, things were going better for Japan, who sent Germany home in the group stage. National coach Hajime Moriyasu’s players pushed Croatia further back with a fluid position. The threat of the Japanese grew and the deserved advantage was achieved in the 43rd minute.
Daizen Maeda was the sharpest player after the middle of Ritsu Doan (former FC Groningen and PSV player) and scored the opening goal. The fast Celtic forward scores his first goal in Qatar.
Defeating the finalists at the 2018 World Cup, Croatia looked upset by their goal and spent a lot of space in the final minutes of the first half. Japan continued to play well but did not take advantage of it.
And that was a shame, because after the break, the Croats were a little better off. The second half started with Endo’s dangerous long-range shot, but in the end Croatia came in a little better.
Hard header Perisic
At a stage where Japan had a little more control of the ball, Croatia struck. Dejan Lovren swung the ball in front of the Japanese goal, whereupon Perisic stepped in front of his man and gave a brutal (and very hard) header.
It was Perisic’s first goal for club or country since May. It is no coincidence that he scored in a final tournament. His header against Japan made him the only player to score in every World Cup and European Championship since 2014, along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Xherdan Shakiri.
After the equalizer, the game table changed even more. Modric took the ball off the rebound in one go, making the score very close to 2-1. Gonda passed the ball over the bar in a stylish parade.
For a while it was all about survival for Japan, but Croatian supremacy didn’t leave much chance in the end. Japan agreed to overtime and was able to extend it with reasonable ease.
First overtime in Qatar
The game also fluctuated in the first overtime of the World Cup in Qatar. Recognizing that a mistake can be devastating, both teams took less risks. Only Yıldız Kamada made the score close to 2-1 with a hard shot.
In the second half of the extra time, the last strength of both teams came out. Substitute Lovro Majer made a good shot in the 121st minute, but his shot went away.
Punishments came one after another, and the Croats proved to be the coolest. The hero of the night, goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, saved the penalties of Minamino, Mitoma and Yoshida.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
