Croatia’s adventure continues on the ruins of the Brazilian dream
Brazil left the World Cup competitions after losing to Croatia, on penalties (4-2), after the end of the original and extra time with a positive draw with a goal for each team, in the match that brought them together in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Neymar da Silva scored Brazil’s goal in the 105th minute + 1 in the first overtime, and Bruno Petkovic equalized for Croatia in the 117th minute, so the match went to penalty kicks that decided the qualification of the Croats.
The first danger in the match came 5 minutes after the start of the match, after Vinicius Junior received the ball on the left wing, to fire a powerful shot from outside the area, but the Croatian goalkeeper Levakovic managed to catch it.
In the 12th minute, Pasalic got the ball on the right side, to pass a cross ball into the Brazilian penalty area, but Perisic failed to follow it up with the net, so it passed in front of his old one outside the field.
The Croatian defense dispersed Vinicius’ shot, and it bounced back to Neymar, who penetrated into the penalty area and fired a shot, but it was not strong enough, and it easily reached Levakovic’s hands.
The Selecao got a free kick in the 42nd minute, from the border of the Croatian penalty area on the left side, Neymar hit it with a direct shot toward the goal, but it reached the arms of the Croatian goalkeeper easily.
In the second minute of the start of the second half, Brazil almost scored its first goal, after a fatal mistake by Croatian defender Jusko Gvardiol, who almost accidentally hit the ball in his own net had it not been for the brilliance of goalkeeper Levakovic, who pushed it away from his own goal.
The ball rebounded and returned to the feet of the Seleçao players, so Vinicius passed the ball to Neymar, who hit the ball and hit the Croatian defense, only to be found by Vinicius, who played the role of the striker and single-handedly shot the ball towards the net, but the brilliant goalkeeper brilliantly pushed it away from his goal.
And from a magic pass from Richarlison, who was late and passed a ball in front of the penalty area in the 55th minute to Neymar, he hit the depth of Croatia, so Neymar fired a shot from in front of the six-yard area, but Levakovic continued his brilliance and pushed the ball away with a wonderful save with the foot.
Brazil coach Tite made his team’s first substitution in the 56th minute, with Rafinha leaving, to push Anthony instead, in an attempt to activate the offensive side from the right front, and he also made another substitution in the 64th minute, with Vinicius leaving and Rodrigo descending.
Levakovic shone and deprived Brazil of a goal opportunity in the 66th minute, after passing errors from Croatian defenders, to find Lucas Paqueta, in the middle of the samba field, the ball in front of him in front of the goal, and hit it towards the net, but the goalkeeper continued to express himself and pushed it to a corner.
