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Croatia have pulled off another sensation at a shock-laden World Cup, battling past tournament favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals after a dramatic late comeback in extra-time and then a penalty shoot-out.
The 2018 finalists defied the odds once again, winning 4-2 on penalties on Friday to reach the semi-finals after the match had finished 1-1 over 120 minutes.
After the game, Brazil’s coach Tite confirmed he would exit the post, keeping a pre-tournament promise to do so if they didn’t lift the trophy.
Croatia came through their second consecutive shoot-out after also beating Japan on penalties in the last-16 and they’ll now face either the Netherlands or Argentina who play each other later on Friday.
In an evening filled with tension and drama, Brazil superstar Neymar thought he had won the game when he rifled in an extra-time goal for the five-time world champions.
But Croatia substitute Bruno Petkovic’s left-footed equaliser three minutes from the end of extra-time drew his side level, breaking Brazilian hearts in Doha’s Education City Stadium.
Dominik Livakovic celebrates the win via a penalty shootout. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
“This is just for the Croatian people,” said overjoyed coach Zlatko Dalic. “A great match from the first minute to the last. We eliminated the biggest favourites. This is not the end for us, let’s keep going!”
“I am overjoyed that we, with a three and a half million population, are entering the semi-finals for the second time in a row. I will tell everyone now to say, ‘we are not normal’.”
The Croats kept their composure from the penalty spot but Brazil’s Rodrygo had his penalty saved by goalkeeping hero Dominik Livakovic, who’d also been brilliant over the previous two hours, before Marquinhos could only hit the post.
“It’s difficult. You have to lift your head,” Brazil captain Thiago Silva said. “I’m very proud of the boys and what we’ve done, but unfortunately, it’s part of football. When we lose something important that we had as a goal, it hurts a lot.
“But now it’s time to try to lift my head and carry on. There’s no other alternative. I’m a guy that every time I fall, I get up.”
With two Brazil penalty misses, Neymar never got to take a spot kick, but coach Tite defended the decision to put Neymar fifth.
“The fifth is the decisive one,” he told reporters. “There is more pressure, and the players who are better prepared should take this one.”
Midfielder Casemiro, who scored for the five-times champions in the shootout, said: “We are sad, we are sure that everyone in the group gave their best.
“We were upset by the way it happened. It was in our hands, and it slipped away,” he added, before reflecting philosophically: “Now it’s time to keep calm and life must go on.”
Tite, who quit his post after he had previously said he was stepping down at the end of this tournament, railed at suggestions the Brazilians had been disorganised, telling one reporter: “Disorganised? It is because of you, not because of me.
“I do not agree we were disorganised. We put high pressure at the front and tried to retain the game with Pedro.
“I respect the result. These things happen sometimes in football,” he added, before defending his decision to return to the changing room and not stay on the pitch with his distraught players as they cried in the arena.
“When we also won different matches I did not stay on the field of play. Have you seen me celebrating in other instances?
“That’s not my style. The players know how proud I am of their performance.
“Time will tell what my legacy is.”
Croatia had initially refused to be intimidated by their more illustrious opponents and in the first half successfully stifled most Brazil moves early.
Apart from a weak Vinicius Jr. shot, Brazil had little else to offer in terms of attack with Neymar off the pace and shut out by a hard-working backline.
It was Croatia who looked sharper, more skilled in their passing game and with a precise game plan, and by the end of the first half they had the upper hand in terms of possession.
It was a different story after the break when, first, Josko Gvardiol tried to clear the ball but almost turned it into his own goal.
Seconds later, claims for a hand ball by defender Josip Juranovic were shot down following a VAR review before Neymar was sent through by Richarlison in the 55th minute only to have his close-range effort blocked by Livakovic.
The Brazilians, who have now lost four of their last five World Cup quarter-finals all to European opposition, came close again in the 66th when Lucas Paqueta was denied by Livakovic.
The Croatia keeper also stopped Neymar in the 76th and by that time had more saves in the match – seven- than his Brazil counterpart, Alisson, had in the entire tournament (five).
In stoppage time of the first period of extra time, Neymar, largely lacklustre until then, launched an attack outside the box, played two consecutive one-twos to bamboozle the tired Croatian defence and then rounded the keeper to equal Brazil great Pele’s record of 77 international goals.
But the Croats refused to surrender with Petkovic’s equaliser forcing penalties and coming out on top in the shootout with Livakovic the toast of this remarkable little footballing nation.
For Brazil and Neymar, though, there were only tears. “It is hard to have words at the moment there,” said Brazil captain Thiago Silva.
“When we lose something important that we had as a goal, it hurts a lot. Unfortunately as a player, I won’t be able to raise this cup,” added the 38-year-old.
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