Report: Abdul Jabbar Faisal
ISLAMABAD: Croatia made another mark in the history of the FIFA World Cup after deleting 4-time champions Brazil from the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 4-2 on penalty shoots in the first quarterfinal here at Education Football Stadium Doha Qatar on Friday night. The match was tied 1-1 after 120 minutes of the game.
Winners kicked all four penalties accurately in the goal while Brazil could push the ball in the net twice. One was stopped by the goalkeeper Dominik Ltvakovic and one came back after hitting the left-side of the goalpost.
In the first quarterfinal of a mega soccer fixture, both teams Brazil and Croatia started the game with a gentle pace and struggled to control the ball, as the opening 15 minutes of time, was wasted in the middle of the playground. In the 20th minute, the forwards missed a chance when from the right flank a cross passed in front of the goalpost.
Later Brazil threw away an open occasion in the 23rd minute of the game. They also got 1st corner kick but that could not be fruitful for Brazil. The ball possession ratio was 51 and 49 in the favour of Yellow Shirts. Brazil attempted five shoots while Croatia 3 on the goalpost each other but no one could change the scoreboard, as the 45 minutes game ended without any score. The referee brought out the yellow card twice from his pocket and showed two players, each one from both sides. Croatia attempted 8 fouls while Brazil did 5 times in the first part of the match.
Meanwhile, in the second half, Brazil changed its tactic and displayed the skill of soccer by showing some aggression and combined moves. They attached 16 times against Croatia in the quarterfinal encounter. They kept control of the ball the 51 percent of 90 minutes of the game. They wasted open net chances in the 47th minute and 66th minute. Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Ltvakovic performed excellently and saved certainly goal attempts in the whole match.
Extra time was given to the first quarterfinal to make the decision of the first semifinal team of the FIFA World Cup 2022. After massive attacks, Brazil scored the goal after the first part of the extra time, as injury time was going on. Neymar netted the ball after his personal effort, which made the score 1-0.
Bruno Petkovic leveled the game 1-1 in the 117th minute of the match, as he kick the ball accurately to the left side of the goalkeeper, as soon as he received the pass from left-out players. However, no one could change the scoreboard during the next three minutes of extra time. After 120 minutes, the quarterfinal was leveled 1-1.
Brazil XIs:
Alisson (Goalkeeper), Danilo, T Silva, Marquinhos, Casemiro, Lucas Paqueta, E Militao, Raphinha, Neymar, V Junior, Richarlison,
Croatia XIs
Dominik Ltvakovic (Goalkeeper), Boma Sosa, Josko Gvardiol, Dejan Lovren, Josip Juranovic, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Perisic, Andreg Kramaric, Mario Pasalic
Quarterfinals Line-up:
1st Quarterfinal: Croatia beat Brazil 1-1 (4-2 Penalty Shoots)
2nd Quarterfinal: Argentina vs Netherlands
3rd Quarterfinal: Morocco vs Portugal
4th Quarterfinal: France vs England
