FIFA World Cup 2022, Quarter Finals: Croatia seal game in penalty shootout, storm into semi-finals
The two teams faced off in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Friday.
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Dec 9, 2022 11:25 pm
FIFA World Cup 2022, Quarter Finals: Croatia seal game in penalty shootout, storm into semi-finals (Image Source: Twitter)
Croatia and Brazil faced off against each other in the quarter-finals of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022 hosted by Qatar on December 9, Friday and the two teams gave it their all to make a cut to the next round of the world’s biggest sporting event. Eventually, at the end of the first half, much to the surprise of the Brazil fans, the team remained goalless and so did Croatia.
To add more, it was all about the Brazilian stars who did their best to take an early lead in the much-anticipated game. However, the Croatian team did their best with the defence and ensured that their mighty opponents did not get away by taking an early lead in the first 45 minutes.
Brazil, Croatia toil hard in FIFA World Cup 2022
Croatia, on the other hand, were thriving for an opportunity to score the first goal. Although one has to agree that they refrained from conceding the goal, the team would be disappointed with the fact that they failed to make use of the tiniest of the opportunities created. As far as the second half is concerned, Brazil started off in a confident way, given that the Croatian team struggled to get things sorted in the initial minutes of the half. Despite massive efforts from both teams, at the 60-mark, the scoreline remained unchanged and it remained to be seen if either of the teams would open the account.
Much to the surprise of the fans, neither of the teams scored the lead at the end of 90 minutes and the match, however, entered the extra time phase. Given that a few teams have already managed to pull off stunners in penalty shootouts, the quarter-final clash between the two teams was expected to be no different. However, Brazil’s star player Neymar Jr turned out to be the difference in the game as he pulled off a stunning goal in the 105+4th minute, before heading into the extra time first half break. However, Bruno Petković changed the fortunes of Croatia as he matched the lead right at the stroke of the whistle. Eventually, it was who won the game in the penalty shootout with a scoreline of 4-2.
