In Monday’s two round of 16 games, two teams from the 2018 quarterfinals clinched a ticket to that 2022 round. However, as Japan pushed Croatia to the limit, Brazil advanced in what has been a sumptuous World Cup for the five-time champions
For South Korea and Japan, it’s a tough outing for two of the three Asian teams to reach the round of 16. Along with Australia, this marks the first time three AFC teams have reached the knockout stage of the same tournament. Japan will lament their inability to convert from the penalty spot. South Korea was simply outclassed by perhaps the most talented team in the World Cup.
Brazil and Croatia get a ticket to the quarterfinals of the World Cup
Starting with the first game of the day, Japan entered the game imbued with confidence. Wins over Germany and Spain had Japan as a sneaky contender for one or two major upsets. However, it was the usual Croatian suspects that kept the 2018 runners-up on track in Qatar.
Celtic winger Daizen Maeda opened the scoring just before halftime after a goalmouth scramble that Maeda hid. Then, 10 minutes after the break, Ivan Perišić, who scored in the 2018 final, leveled the game. At the risk of falling behind, neither team made much progress in the 1990s. Furthermore, these teams went 120 minutes without a decider.
Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić outplayed Luka Modrić, Andrej Kramarić, Mateo Kovačić and the aforementioned Perišić in 120 minutes. Therefore, he put pressure on lesser-known Croats to answer the call. It was goalkeeper Dominik Livaković who emerged as the hero.
Livaković, who plays for Dinamo Zagreb, saved three of Japan’s four penalties. On the other hand, Shūichi Gonda could only avoid a Croatian penalty.
With the victory, Croatia advanced to the quarterfinals. Surprisingly, this is Croatia’s third victory on penalties in the last two World Cups. In fact, in 2018 Croatia won twice on penalties and needed stoppage time in the semi-final against England.
Croatia now faces Brazil in the World Cup quarterfinals.
Brazil shows nothing but talent in victory
While Croatia and Japan went all the way, Brazil beat South Korea in the first 45 minutes. Before the two teams played half an hour, the five-time world champions had a three-goal cushion. Vinícius Jr. opened the first-half goal fest with a calm, clinical shot into the far corner.
Then it was Neymar who scored the second. The PSG star missed the previous two matches with an ankle injury. However, he looked very good against South Korea. He defeated South Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu from the penalty spot. Richarlison continued his fine form by adding the third for Brazil. Fittingly, he was the third player of the tournament. He leads the team. Finally, Lucas Paquetá came into action with the fourth for Brazil.
By half time, the game was nearly over. However, that didn’t stop some South Korean celebrations in the game. Paik Seung-ho scored the game goal from 25 yards out.
Of course, the shot deviated from the Brazilian defense. But he gives South Korea something to take home with pride. Brazil was always going to be a tough game for a South Korean team that slipped out of the group stage.
Brazil vs Croatia
This quarterfinal matchup will be the fifth meeting of all time between Brazil and Croatia, and is the third in the World Cup. They met in the group stage of the 2006 and 2014 World Cups. Brazil won both times.
The most recent battle between the two was in 2018, an international friendly just before the World Cup. Brazil also won that one.
However, despite their dominance over Croatia, Brazil has something of an error against their European opponents. Since defeating Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, Brazil has lost to the first European opponent it has faced in the World Cup knockout rounds. As of 2018, these were Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Croatia will be hoping to post five straight losses to European opponents in the knockout stages.
The two will fight on Friday, December 9 with coverage on FOX and Telemundo at 10 am ET.
PHOTO: IMAGO/Xinhua
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