Croatia crossed into the quarter-finals of the World Cup Qatar 2022 by defeating Japan on penalties (3-1) in a match whose original and extra time ended in a positive draw with a goal for the same.
The beginning of the match witnessed a great desire from both sides to score early, so Shugo Taniguchi tried with a header that passed peacefully on the Croatian goal, and Ivan Perisic responded with a powerful shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Shoitsy Gwanda with difficulty.
The push and pull between the two sides continued amid offensive control from the Japanese side, which was met by the Croats, relying on counter-balls, which posed great danger in the areas of the samurai warriors.
Repeated attempts by the Japanese gave them the lead, following a pass from defender Maya Yoshida, which Diazin Maeda turned into the net of Dominic Levakovic two minutes before the end of the first half.
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With the start of the second half, the Croatian national team advanced to the attack and managed to adjust the balance with a goal scored by Perisic with a beautiful header after a perfect cross from Diane Lovren.
The following minutes witnessed an exciting exchange of opportunities and a great brilliance for the goalkeepers, Gonda and Levakovic, in confronting the attempts of Luka Modric and Bodmir from the Croatian side, and Ritsu Doan and Kamada from Japan.
With the progress of the minutes, the rhythm of the game decreased, with the appearance of obvious fatigue on the players of the two teams, so that the result of the tie remained until the end, as the two teams resorted to playing two additional halves for the first time in the Qatari World Cup.
After 30 minutes, during which there was no change in the result, the match went to penalty kicks, which eventually smiled at Croatia thanks to the exceptional brilliance of goalkeeper Levakovic, who saved three of the five strikes.
Croatia will meet in the next round with the winner from the confrontation between Brazil and South Korea, next Saturday, December 10th.
