Brazil kicked out on penalty as Croatia pull off dramatic surprise

DOHA, Qatar — Neymar could only bury his head in his hands, sobbing on the grass and not understanding what had happened.

It looked like his night, his time, his star turn to propel Brazil to the World Cup semi-finals.

There are many reasons why that didn’t happen, but the only thing that mattered in this winding and turbulent Qatar night was that Croatian goalkeeper Domink Rybaković was an impenetrable wall on penalty kicks.

That was the result after 120 minutes of constant tension on Friday night after Neymar led his team with a goal of staggering creativity in the middle of extra time. With just four minutes left in the extra period in this dramatic quarter-final, the score was tied.

[Related: Quick guide to surviving penalty kicks at World Cup]

It didn’t matter if there weren’t more great goals in sight than Neymar’s put together tapestry, collecting two give-and-go passes and diving into the roof of the net to match all-time icon Pele, Brazil’s international men’s I set a record for a player.Goals scored.

Sub-Bruno Petkovic’s equalizer took the deflection off the outstretched cleats of the Brazilian defender against the flow of play, or that it was Croatia’s first shot on target in almost two hours of play. It didn’t matter.

And it didn’t matter that Casemiro and Pedro scored on the spot, or that Neymar took the all-important fifth place.

Rybakovic was brilliant in Croatia’s round of 16 win over Japan, dashing left to hold off Rodrigo, forcing Marquinhos to try a very tight angle, and slamming Brazil’s fourth kick into the post.

Nikola Vlasic, Lovro Majer, Luka Modric and Mislac Orsic were perfect in their attempts. With Brazil returning home with nothing but regrets, the small European nation that reached the final four years ago returned with confidence to the last four. and emotions.

Brazil has endured difficult times in the recent World Cup.

Four years ago it was a painful exit at the hands of Belgium. In 2014, an injury to Neymar in the quarter-finals dashed any hopes of a glorious result when it came to organizing the tournament. Without him, the team lost 7–1 to Germany in the semi-finals.

They will feel that this time should have been different, that it shouldn’t have ended this way.

Things were very tense until Neymar’s magical moment.

Despite Neymar’s talent, Richarlison’s ingenuity, a tight game plan and all that talent, Brazil have again and again been unable to find a way to break through Croatia’s stout defense. did.

Brazil started off with attacking intent and confidence and looked very lively in the 4-1 round of 16 victory over South Korea, showing brilliant footwork following each goal.

However, it soon became clear that this was an entirely different proposition.

Croatia were accustomed to defending in numbers without the ball, so they settled into a rhythm and soaked up the pressure, but much of it was thrown out.

Richarlison came on with a header from the penalty spot with 10 minutes remaining in regulation and was substituted shortly afterwards. Lucas Paqueta’s drive was comfortably saved despite Libakovic’s blistering speed.

Croatia didn’t mind going into extra time scoreless. In fact, with the exception of the 2018 final, eight of his last nine knockout games at the World Cup and European Championship have exceeded his 90 minutes. They are masters of the long game.

Croatia looked desperate after Neymar scored. we should have known better.

This is a team that doesn’t know how to give up, and despite often relying on a defensive counter-attacking style, it has offensive dangerous players.

Petkovic’s equalizer was a left-footed shot.

The look on Neymar’s face at that moment says it all. He may have felt it, he may not have.

But more pain was coming.

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Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX When Subscribe to our daily newsletter.

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