When the pundits predicted about the who would play in the 2018 World Cup finals no one expected Croatia to qualify beyond the quarterfinals let alone the finals. In what turned out to be the best ever run for the former Yugoslavian nation, Croatia defied all odds and proved the pundits wrong as they now face France in the 2018 World Cup Final to be held in Luzhniki Stadium today
Let's now take a look at how the European nation entered the 2018 World Cup Finals.
Group Stages
The opening fixture of Croatia in the2018 World Cup saw them facing off against the African Super Eagles Nigeria in one of the easiest fixtures of their road to the Finals. The Croatian midfield took hold of the centre of the park as they eased passed Nigeria 2-0 as Oghenekaro Etebo, unfortunately, scored an own goal as he deflected a Mario Mandzukic glancing header into his own net to gift Croatia their first goal of the tournament in the 32nd-minute and Luka Modric scored slotted home a 71st-minute penalty, after William Troost-Ekong was judged to have pulled Mario Mandzukic back in the penalty area.
The second match saw the Europeans facing off against pre-tournament favourites Argentina in the most hyped match of Group D. The first half of the match saw both teams tried their best to take the upper hand in the match as Enzo Perez missed a glorious opportunity for Argentina, as he dragged his shot wide of the goalie-less Croatian goalpost.
The second half saw the Croatian midfield taking centre-stage yet again as they pressed their Argentinian counterparts to gift them the first goal of the match after Willy Caballero mistimed his kick chipped it high and straight to the oncoming Ante Rebic who slotted it home in the 53rd-minute to make 1-0 Croatia. With Argentina down 1-0, Jorge Sampouli ringed in changes as he brought on Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Cristian Pavon in search of their equalizer.
Cometh the 80th-minute Luka Modric out nowhere scored a sensational strike as he launched a beautiful right-footed strike that curled around Tagliafaco and crept into the right side of the post to give Croatia a 2-0 lead. With Argentina going all out to score the equalizers, it was a matter of minutes as Ivan Rakitic and Croatia made toyed and made fools of Argentian defence as he slotted home the third and final goal for Croatia in the 1st minute of injury-time ending the match 3-0 in favour of the Europeans.
After ensuring themselves of finishing top of Group D Croatia made 9 changes to their starting XI as they faced off against Iceland in their final group stage encounter. The first-half was more of a tussle to take the upper hand in the match as it ended goallessly. The 53rd-minute of the match saw Fiorentina midfielder Milan Badelj firing in a half-volley to grant a 1-0 lead to the former Yugoslavian nation.
With anything less than a victory sending home Iceland Gylfi Sigurdsson slotted home a 76th-minute penalty to level the match. With Iceland looking for the winner to ensure progress to the knockout stages of the World Cup Ivan Perisic powered one into the back of the net from a tight angle past Halldorsson in the 90th-minute to win the match 2-1 in favour of Croatia.
Knockout Stages
The round of 16 saw Croatia facing off against fellow Europeans Denmark in a bid to enter the quarterfinals. The match had a flying start as Mathias Jorgensen scored in the very first minute of the match as he clipped it in off the near post beneath Danijel Subasic after Croatian defence failed to clear Jonas Knudsen long throw. Croatia levelled it up in the 4th-minute as Mario Mandzukic fired one past Kasper Schmeichel after a poor clearance from Denmark that saw the ball bouncing of Andreas Christensen head and into the path of the Croatian forward.
The rest of the 86 minutes of the match was more of a power struggle as both teams looked to gain the edge over the other as it ended 1-1 in normal time. The extra-time saw Denmark getting the edge over Croatia as they narrowly missed chance after chance to win the match with Celta Vigo player Pione Cisto getting very close. Cometh the 116th-minute and Croatia is awarded a penalty after Mathias Jorgensen concedes a foul inside the penalty area, all eyes turned to the little man from Real Madrid Luka Modric and the big Dane Kasper Schmeichel. In what could be said as the anti-climax of the gruelling fixture Luka Modric had his penalty saved by Schmeichel keeping the match 1-1 and taking it to the dreaded penalty shootout.
Now it was the time of the giant keepers to take the centre-stage as both Danijel Subasic and Kasper Schmeichel saved the first penalty of either of the sides to keep it 0-0 after the first spot kick. Krohn-Dehli and Kjaer scored for Denmark while Modric and Kramaric scored for Croatia to make it 2-2 after each side had 3 penalties taken. Subasic stopped the next spot kick form Lasse Schone to give Croatia a slight edge only to see Kasper Schmeichel stopped Josip Pivaric from the spot, in front of goalkeeping great, former Manchester United keeper and his father Peter Schmeichel, to nullify the advantage for the Croatians. The final kick from the spot for Denmark was saved by Danijel Subasic yet again to give Croats a slight advantage but this time Barcelona man Ivan Rakitic cooly slotted home the 5th and decisive penalty to book a place in the quarterfinals for the former Yugoslavian nation.
The quarterfinals saw Croatia pegged against the hosts and surprise quarterfinalist Russia after they famously defeated La Roja on penalties in their round of 16 fixture. The first half of the match saw Villarreal man Denish Chershev scoring one of the goals of the tournament who took one step around Vida and launched an outrageous shot from 25 yards out that flew into the top left corner past a shocked Danijel Subasic in the 31st-minute only for the lead to last 8 minutes as Andrej Kramaric scored a simple goal in the 39th-minute to level it up for Croatia. The second half of the match ended as it ended in the first half as neither team failed to score in the next 45 minutes.
The extra time saw Domagoj Vida scoring in the 100th-minute as the Besiktas man headed home to give Croatia a 2-1 lead entering into the first half of extra time. The second half of extra time started with Croatia battling injuries and fitness issues to key players Mario Mandzukic and goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and a barrage of Russian attacks which resulted in the hosts stunning the former Yugoslavian nation as Mario Fernandes nodded in an Alan Dzagoev freekick in the 115th-minute, his first ever goal for Russia, to level the match and enter into the dreaded penalty shootout yet again for both the teams.
An injured Danijel Subasic again took the centre stage as he saved the first spot kick from Fyodor Smolov to give Croatia a slight edge. Marcelo Brozovic then scored for Croatia to help Croatia lead 1-0 after both the teams had one penalty taken. Alan Dzagoev then scored for Russia while Mateo Kovacic missed for Croatia to make 1-1 after the 2nd round. Extra time goalscorer Mario Fernandes then dragged his shot wide while Luka Modric slotted it in to make 2-1 Croatia after the 3rd round. Extra time goal scorer Domajog Vida and veteran Sergei Ignashevich scored to make 3-2 after the fourth round. Daler Kuzyayev then scored for Russia to make it 3-3 with all eyes on Ivan Rakitic who was to shoot the 5th penalty kick. Under immense pressure and the prayers of a whole nation in him Ivan Rakitic yet again coolly slotted it home to secure Croatia's first ever entry into the World Cup Semi-finals since golden generation led by Davor Suker helped them in the 1998 World Cup.
The Semi-finals saw Croatia facing off against 1966 World Cup Champions England, who themselves entered into their first World Cup semi-finals since 1990. The English started off the match brightly as Tottenham man Kieran Trippier scored a wonderful free-kick from 20 yards out in the 5th minute of the match to give a 1-0 lead for the former champions. England then saw a host of chances going there way as Lingard shot wide from a very promising position as it ended 1-0 to England in the first half.
The second half saw Croatia slowly emerging into the match as Jordan Pickford saved quite a few from the Croatians to keep it 1-0. The England defence finally crumped as Ivan Perisic, who earlier dragged a shot wide, stuck his foot wide ahead of Kyle Walker to steer it into the bottom corner to level it up for the Croatians. England yet again had Pickford to thank for as the Everton man time after time made crucial saves to deny Croatia a well deserved second goal as the match ended 1-1 in normal time taking Croatia into their third successive extra time match.
The extra time saw England coming very close only to be denied by the presence of the Athletico Madrid man Vrasaljko who was at the right place in the right time to head clear from the goal-line to deny England the lead. In what can be said as a cruel end to the English side a slight minute of concentration lapse that saw the England defence asleep which was duly utilised by the Juventus man Mario Mandzukic who drifted in behind John Stones to keep his composure and slot home a low strike past Jordan Pickford giving Croatia the lead in the 109th-minute. The next 11 minutes saw Croatia defending for their lives as they thwarted attack after attack from the English players and finishing the match 2-1 in favour of the determined Croats to take them into their first ever World Cup Final
Comments
Post a Comment