Croatia vs Brazil – Football match report – December 9, 2022

Brazil suffered a heartbreaking World Cup exit with a stunning penalty shootout defeat by Croatia on Friday.

Neymar He scored his 77th international goal in extra time – putting him equal with legend Pele for the country’s all-time men’s goalscoring record – but it proved not enough as Brazil suffered a second consecutive quarter-final exit at the World Cup.

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Tite’s side were frustrated for most of the game with a dominant performance from the Croatian midfield trio – Marcelo BrozovicAnd the Mateo Kovacic And the Luka Modric – A shape inspired by the goalkeeper Dominic Levakovic During an informal affair sent to extra time when the deadlock could not be broken in regulation time.

Neymar, who had been quiet until then, thought he had scored the winning goal in extra time when he edged past Levakovic and fired hard into the roof of the net, but 2018 runners-up Croatia responded with just four minutes to play. Bruno Petkovic He leveled the score at 1-1 with a deflected kick from the edge of the penalty area.

Brazil went out uncaught in the penalty shootout, with Rodrigo They missed the opening penalty and Marquinhos missed a penalty for the fourth time, while Croatia were able to convert all of their penalties to seal a memorable victory.

Croatia, who have now won two consecutive knockout matches on penalties, will face a semi-final clash on Tuesday against either Argentina or the Netherlands, who play later on Friday.

Croatia initially refused to be intimidated by their brilliant opponent and in the first half managed to stifle most of Brazil’s movement early on. Apart from Vinicius Jr.’s weak strike, Brazil had little to offer in terms of attack Neymar Off-the-beaten-track and closed off by a hardworking background.

It was Croatia who seemed to be more precise and skillful in their passing game, and by the end of the first half they had the upper hand in terms of possession.

Levakovic didn’t bother a Neymar free kick before the break as Brazil, whose last victory against a European opponent came in the World Cup’s knockout stage in their 2002 final victory over Germany, struggled to find space.

However, they almost took the lead three minutes into the second half when a Croatia midfielder came in Josco Gvardiol He tried to clear the ball, but he almost turned it into his own goal.

Seconds later, he was asked for a handball by a Croatia defender Josip Yuranović After reviewing the video assistant referee before sending Neymar Richarlison In the 55th minute, only for Levakovic to block a shot from close range.

Brazil enjoyed a much better start to the second half and came close again in the 66th minute when Lucas Paqueta Levakovic denied it.

The Croatia goalkeeper kept busy and stopped Neymar in the 76th minute and by then had more saves in the match (seven) than his Brazilian counterpart, Allisonin the entire tournament (five).

Levakovic parried another Paqueta shot five minutes later as the few hundred Brazil fans behind the goal grew increasingly impatient.

The match went into extra time with Brazil coach Tite visibly nervous, but Neymar’s goal sent them dreaming of the semi-finals.

But Croatia refused to surrender with Petkovic’s equalizer, imposed penalty kicks, and went up in the penalty shootout with Levakovic’s save. RodrigoPenalty kick and Marquinhos hit the post.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.