07 December,2022 07:55 AM IST | Doha | Ashwin Ferro
Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saves a penalty against Japan. Pics/Getty Images
Skipper Luka Modric couldn't help, but admit that Croatia and drama go hand-in-hand, after his team beat a gritty Japan 3-1 via a dramatic tie-breaker after the scores were locked 1-1 at the end of full time in their Round-of-16 encounter at the Al Janoub Stadium.
Daizen Maeda put Japan ahead in the 43rd minute much against the run of play and despite poor possession before Croatia hit back after the change of ends through an accurate Ivan Perisic header (55th minute).
In the subsequent shootout, Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic dived to his left to deny Japan's Takumi Minamino from the first spot kick before Nikola Vlasic stepped up to make it 1-0 in favour of Croatia. Livakovic then denied Kaoru Mitoma, this time diving to his right before Marcelo Brozovic beat Japan custodian Gonda Shuichi again, for a 2-0 lead. Asano Takuma finds the back of the net for the Japanese in their third attempt and this time Croatia's Marko Livaja hits the post and the score stays 2-1. However, skipper Maya Yoshida fails to beat Livakovic this time, and Croatia's Mario Pasalic keeps his calm to send the ball home and his team into the quarter-finals. "It seems that we just cannot do it without drama," Modric said later.
This was Croatia's third victory via shootout in World Cups, having beaten Denmark and Russia in the 2018 edition.
Modric was substituted in the 99th minute, so couldn't be part of the shootout, but hailed his team for fighting back and Livakovic for rescuing them. "We showed character by coming back from a goal down. He [Livakovic] performed a miracle today," said the Real Madrid star.
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Croatian coach Zlatko Dalic claimed he was confident of a positive result as soon as the match went into the shootout. "Penalties are a lottery, but today a fantastic Livakovic was unbeatable. Yesterday, we had practiced penalties at the end of our training session and he had several great stops against our players, so, when the penalties started, I was confident because of the quality he showed yesterday. In fact, we made many substitutions and many players, who usually take penalty kicks were out, but all our fears were solved by Livakovic, who has shown that he is a worthy successor to [Danijel] Subasic [who made three saves against Denmark in the shootout of their last-16 tie in Russia and followed that up with crucial saves against the hosts in the quarter-finals]," explained Dalic, who is hoping his young generation of players can add to Croatia's relatively new, but impressive footballing history. "We had a fantastic generation [of players] in Russia [where they finished runner-up]. This time we have 18 players, who weren't in Russia, but I told them that this is their chance to make history. Never underestimate Croatians," he signed off.
