Laborious, Croatia beat Russia in a penalty shootout on Friday (July 7th).Croatian players will face England, more exciting, in the semi-finals.
England rubs her hands! Croatia , its opponent in the semifinals, had to go through again on penalties to get rid of Russia (2-2 after the match, 4-3 on penalties) in a very poor match , Friday 7th July in the last quarter final match of World Cup 2018 in Sochi.
Certainly, Croatia found the last square for the second time in its history , after its beautiful epic of the 1998 World Cup, where it had stumbled on France in the semifinals.
Le champion du Monde 2018 fait partie de ces 4 équipes !! 😎 #FRA #BEL #CRO #ENG #CM2018 pic.twitter.com/xaq0kgsGA5
— Coupe du Monde 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_fr) July 7, 2018
But she who had already been very hard in the round of 16 against Denmark (1-1, 3-2 after penalties), did not show much to beat brave Russia but limited.
Reputed technical and player, as we could see against Argentina in the group phase (3-0), his only match ended the tournament, Croatia was unrecognizable and hardworking.
Regrets for “Sbornaya”
The “Sbornaya”, who even before this meeting could consider her World Cup as successful, must even have serious regrets: she could have matched her glorious oldest of 1966, who was then the Soviet Union, semi-finalist of World Cup-1966 where she had stumbled on the FRG (2-1).
In the eyes of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Russia quickly left the direction of operations to the Croats.
The Vatreni (“the Valiants”) were not very dangerous, however, while Russia, curled up, pulled out the balloon with a very vertical construction and tried her luck against it as soon as she could.
Panenka missed
This minimum risk taking, proved to pay Denis Cheryshev successful slalom 25 meters to ship a half-volley in recovery in the window of Danijel Subasic “nailed” on the spot (31st). Surely one of the most beautiful goals of this World Cup!
On n’oubliera pas sitôt ce but de Cheryshev !
Le #WorldCupGOT @Hyundai_Global de la #CM2018 ?📽 Les meilleurs moments 👉 https://t.co/PjvIOs3Zl9
👀 Listing TV 👉 https://t.co/euq27x03uH pic.twitter.com/B3OVKP86Yn— Coupe du Monde 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_fr) July 7, 2018
The Russian midfield there marked his 4th goal of the World. But the Croats equalized quickly by converting Kramaric head to a clever cross from Mario Mandzukic (1-1, in the 39th minuite).
After the break Luka Modric’s partners believed take the lead but Ivan Perisic hit the post after a confused action in the area (60th).
Without big ideas but with a lot of heart, supported by “Rossia! Rossia! Of its supporters, Russia, valiant, left little space for Croatia as it had already done with Spain in the round of 16, where she had qualified on penalties (1-1, 4 -3 after penalties).
✅ La Croatie se qualifie pour les 1/2 finales de la #CM2018 🙌#CRO pic.twitter.com/DLHo2S8jjX
— Coupe du Monde 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_fr) July 7, 2018
Stanislav Cherchesov’s players were surprised by the quarter-finals, but they pulled off the extra time. They thought they gave on a head Domagoj Vida on corner, who came to die in the small net Akinfeev (2-1, 101).
Croatia thought they had done the hard part, but against all odds Mario Fernandes imitated Vida to equalize the head (2-2, 115th ).
Visa for a new penalty shoot-out … Where Fyodor Smolov was too easy to hit Subasic while Fernandes, the hero of extra time, was shooting close …
Just enough to propel Croatia in the semifinals. For now, that’s enough for his happiness …
