Croatia's goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saves a shot during the Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 football match between Japan and Croatia at the Al-Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah, south of Doha on December 5, 2022. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)
Doha: Dominik Livakovic made three penalty shootout saves as Croatia beat Japan 3-1 on penalties in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 after playing out a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time.
Mario Pasalic tucked his penalty away in the corner to send the 2018 finalists to the next stage. Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and veteran Maya Yoshida all had their spot kicks saved as Japan’s dream to qualify for a first quarter-final in the country’s history came crashing despite a spirited performance in Qatar. They had beaten Germany and Spain in the group stage.
Daizen Maeda had put Japan ahead in front of a packed Al Janoub Stadium just before half time from close range before Ivan Perisic pulled level 10 minutes after the restart.
“When we started the penalty shootout today, I was very confident, and I trusted Livakovic,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said after the match.
“The Japanese might have underestimated us - never do that to the Croatians.
“We’re a small nation, but we’re diligent, we’re hard-working and we fight for what we want,” he added.
Croatia will take on five-time champions Brazil who beat Korea Republic in the late match yesterday.
“It seems that we can’t do it without drama. We are more than happy to reach the quarter-finals. It was a very difficult game against a tough team,” Luka Modric said.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu had charged his wards to be resilient, and the Samurai Blue were immediately on the attack at the blast of the whistle, but Shogo Taniguchi’s header glanced wide. Daizen Maeda closed down Livakovic as the Croatia keeper tried to clear the ball, but it rolled out for a goal kick.
Ivan Perisic forced a good save from the goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s attempt at a back pass was short. Perisic, with all the time in the world, failed to find the net as Gonda punched out.
Japan had another chance, but both Maeda and Yuto Nagatomo could not connect with Ito’s inviting cross.
Josko Gvardiol skied a shot after a free kick landed at the 20-year-old Croatian’s feet. The Blazers came close as Perisic’s glanced header was cleared before Kramaric could get a touch for an easy tap-in.
Ritsu Doan whipped in a fine cross for Japan, causing a mix-up at the back, but Croatia escaped as Josip Juranovic headed behind, almost out of the gloves of his keeper.
However, Japan deservedly took the lead two minutes before halftime. A corner came off Yoshida and fell kindly for Maeda, who smashed home from six yards out.
In the second half, Japan had a chance within 30 seconds of the restart. Daichi Kamada hit a shot in from outside the box, but it flew over.
Ivan Perisic pulled Croatia level 10 minutes into the second half with a header, scoring his 10th major tournament goal for his country. The Tottenham Hotspur man surpassed legendary striker Davor Suker who scored nine goals for his country in international competitions.
Josip Juranovic pulled the ball back to Dejan Lovren, who whipped in a cross from deep. Perisic gets free to head the ball into the bottom corner.
Japan tried to fight back, but Doan scuffed an effort straight at Livakovic. Gonda palmed a lovely Modric volley out for a corner kick, with the ball destined for the top corner.
Substitute Ante Buzimir missed a golden opportunity to put the 2018 finalists ahead – steering his effort wide from close range after Karamaric found him unmarked in the box.
Croatia were finding spaces as Japan searched for the winner as Perisic’s shot from just outside the box took a slight deflection off Tomiyasu for a corner.
On the other end, Tomiyasu made a sharp turn to create space in the Croatian box, but the Arsenal defender went for a cross when he could have had a shot from a very promising position.
Substitute Mitoma went on a dazzling run through the tired Croatian defence, but his shot was straight at Livakovic, who managed to punch out, as both teams went to penalties.
“Every day, for four years, we worked hard to break this barrier (to reach the quarters), but we couldn’t get the result we wanted,” Japan’s captain Yoshida said.
“It’s really hard to take.”
