By Razeen Gutta
Three spot kick saves from Dominik Livakovic continued the pattern of shootout wins at the Fifa World Cup for the 2018 runners-up Croatia, with Japan once again defeated at the last 16.
Wins over Germany and Spain to get them into the knockout stages would no doubt have given Japan tremendous belief going into the game.
That was translated into a fantastic start on the pitch, as Celtic’s Daizen Maeda put them in front on the brink of half time with a good reaction goal.
The Croatians equalised ten minutes into the second period, with Ivan Perisic good to latch on to a Dejan Lovren cross.
As the clock ticked down, the chances lessened for both sides; and despite Croatia dominating the ball, extra time and penalties loomed for the first time at this year’s World Cup.
The pattern of the past six tournament shootouts being won by the side kicking second continued, with Takumi Minamino stepping up first and having his penalty saved by Livakovic.
The Dinamo Zagreb keeper saved two more to be the hero for Croatia, who have seen seven of their last eight World Cup knockout games go the distance.
Nikola Vlasic, Marcelo Brozovic and Mario Pasalic scored their penalties while only Takuma Asano slotted home for Japan.
Croatia will take on either Brazil or South Korea in the quarter-finals.
Pictured above: Dominik Livakovic
Image source: @FifaWorldCup
