Penalties prove lucky for Croatia

NIZHNY NOVGOROD: Croatia had to huff and puff before they got past Denmark via the tiebreaker 3-2 ,to book their quarter-final berth in the FIFA World Cup Group of 16 round at Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday. Both teams shared two goals during the normal period of time.

The game started with two goals being scored in the opening four minutes and it gave way to a cagier match, which ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and has gone to extra time.

In the second half of the extra period, Kasper Schmeichel came up huge, denying Luka Modric’s penalty kick to keep the game level.

Denmark struck first after 57 seconds. A long throw-in fell for Mathias Jorgensen by the far post, and he squeezed his left-footed chance through traffic for the first international goal of his career to cement a dream start for the Danes.

It marked the fourth-fastest goal in World Cup history and the quickest since four years ago, when Clint Dempsey scored 29 seconds into the USA’s opening match against Ghana.

That dream start lasted  three minutes. A Denmark clearance attempt from its own area bounced off a defender, right into the path of Mario Mandzukic. The Juventus striker made good on the gift, finishing from close range to make it 1-1 after four minutes.

The match settled down from there into what most expected: a match in which Croatia had the better of the ball, but Denmark resisted with its organised defense. Croatia’s best chance came on an Ivan Perisic free kick from 19 yards, but it was one that was blasted right into the wall.

Denmark picked its spots and nearly picked off the go-ahead goal in the 27th minute through Martin Braithwaite, who was played into the box on the right side and had a near-post chance snuffed out by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.

On the other end, Croatia nearly struck twice. Ivan Rakitic took a blast from over 20 yards that Schmeichel parried away, but Croatia kept the ball alive, and after a second parry, Perisic wound up with a chance to score from inside the box and Schmeichel off his line, only to blast his opportunity well over the bar.

The sparring continued between the two sides, with neither really being able to carve out a serious threat. Schmeichel was called into light action on a couple of occasions over the second half, but Croatia lacked the unpredictability or creativity to break down Denmark’s organisation.

As extra time beckoned, Rakitic nearly broke through for the winner. He had the time and space from 25 yards out to take a hit, and he tried to pick out the lower left corner. Schmeichel may have had it covered, but the shot went wide of the post anyway.

On the other end, Braithwaite had the chance for a spectacular winner after a punch away from Subasic. The ball fell to the Denmark midfielder at the edge of the box, and he attempted to volley the looping clearance, only to hit it a yard or so wide of the far post. That was the final action of regulation, as the match was sent to extra time.

Croatia got the game-breaking moment it needed in the 114th minute. Modric split the defense with a pass through the center, playing Ante Rebic in on goal. After rounding Schmeichel, Rebic was taken down from behind by Jorgensen while facing an empty net.

He couldn’t get the shot off, but was granted the penalty. When it appeared Croatia would take the lead, Schmeichel came up huge, denying Modric’s penalty and making a clean save that didn’t yield a rebound.

The match went into the tie-breaker which saw the Croatian goalkeeper save thrice while Schmeichel stopped twice.