During the quarter-finals of the World Cup, the Croatian national team faced the Danish eleven.
Confident representatives of the Balkan region defeated their opponents only after an 11-meter penalty shootout 3-2 (the main time of the match and extra time ended 1-1).
The winners of the match will meet the Russians in the quarter-finals.
The meeting started stormily - already in the 1st minute after a set-piece situation, there was a scramble near the Croatian goal and Mathias Jorgensen directed the ball into the net - 1:0.
A couple of minutes later, the Croats prepared an answer - the ball in the penalty area was unsuccessfully cleared by the Danish defender and M.Mandzukic, having no doubts, beat K.Schmeichel (1:1).
In the 19th minute, M.Mandzukic cleverly fell in the penalty area, but the referee remained deaf to the Croatian's pleas for a penalty kick. In the 26th minute, after a beautiful Danish attack, D.Subasic stopped M.Braithwaite's shot.
The Croats organized a response - in a great situation, I.Perisic missed the ball twice and wasted a great opportunity to score.
At the end of the half, C.Eriksen hit the goal frame.
After the break, both teams demonstrated a calmer game and did not create dangerous situations near the opponents' goal.
In the 72nd minute, D.Subasic caught M.Jorgensen's shot.
In the 87th minute, A.Rebic showed individual skill and dribbled past a Danish defender near the penalty area, but the attack ended only with a corner kick. At the end of the half, the teams exchanged long but inaccurate shots.
The referee declared that the teams needed to play extra time.
During extra time, the European national teams did not try to score a decisive goal, until the 114th minute when A.Rebic, after a superb pass from L.Modric, went one-on-one against the goalkeeper, deceived him and was only stopped by a foul from M.Jorgensen. The referee showed a yellow card to the defender, and L.Modric decided to take the penalty kick. However, K.Schmeichel played fantastically and saved the Croatian shot.
The teams had to determine who would advance to the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout.
Both K.Schmeichel and D.Subasic shone in the shootout. However, the Croatian goalkeeper performed better - he saved three opponent's attempts, and the decisive shot by I.Rakitic hit the target - 3:2.
Ok now, deep breath everyone, as we're not done yet #RUS are into the quarter-finals. Who's joining them? #CRO or #DEN?
Here are your 22 starters for #CRODEN pic.twitter.com/14GPt5kKmd — FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 1, 2018
