Quarterfinals: Brazil versus Croatia

Brazil versus Croatia was the most important game of the quarterfinals. The two teams entered the game with a record together of 3-2-0. They last played each other in a friendly match where Brazil won 2-0. The teams were also pitted against each other at the 2014 World Cup where Brazil won 3-1. However, Brazil later lost to Germany 1-7 in the semi-finals. Back then Germany was ranked second and Brazil third in the world. This time, Brazil is the number one ranked team. Because of their rank, I expected a Brazilian sweep of 3-0 or 4-1 in their World Cup match with Croatia.

In the first few minutes, Croatia held Brazil back and did not allow any goals. The first half of the game had some extremely close goals. Both goalies played exceptionally well, making for an exciting match. Not everyone’s view of the game aligned, however.  

“Literally nothing happened and it’s a boring game. I just want Brazil punished for what they did to South Korea!” said Daniel Kim, Middleton varsity soccer center-back. 

The game ended up going into extra time, and Brazil took the lead. Croatia managed to get a 116th minute goal to counter Neymar’s goal for Brazil in the 106th minute. 

I entered my advisory roughly five minutes before the penalty kicks. 

The penalty shoot out proceeded as follows. Croatia’s first shot from Nikola Vlašić was a clean one through the middle. Brazil’s right side shot from Rodrygo Silva de Goes was blocked by the goalie, Dominik Livaković, with a perfect read. Croatian Lovro Majer was second. He shot another middle shot that the Brazilian goalie, Alisson Becker, just could not reach. Carlos Casimiro, Brazil’s second shooter, made a shot with  a near block slightly left, but it was still good. Luka Modrić, Croatia’s star player, took the third shot: a solid left corner that Becker guessed wrong. Brazil’s Pedro dos Santos followed and shot a perfectly delayed shot that Croatia could not read, scoring another goal. Croatia’s fourth shot from Mislav Oršić was another bottom left corner that Becker barely missed. Brazil’s most important shot was taken by Marcos “Marquinhos” Aoás Corrêa, a defender who plays for Paris Saint-Germain. A miss! A far left shot that ricocheted off the post — and the Croatians won the penalty shoot out 4-1.  

Croatia kept up with Brazil even though they were statistically likely to lose. A reason I think that Brazil lost, especially on the penalty shoot-out, is that Brazil’s offense is prioritized more than the defense. They were undefeated and went into this game with a lot of confidence, but the Croatians played very well defensively and brought confidence in the offense; this was made clear with their clean penalty kick shots. This early game showed that the World Cup is not predictable to say the least. Upsets like this happen, and it is what makes the World Cup fun to watch.