World Cup Quarterfinal
The FIFA World Cup in Qatar has reached its quarterfinal round after a host of shocks and surprises in the group stage. The teams which people expected to go far in the tournament like Germany, Belgium, Spain and Denmark have all perished in this tournament so far. The unpredictability of this tournament is causing it to be considered as one of the best editions of the tournament.
Conversely, there have been many pleasant surprises from teams that people had very low expectations for. The likes of Japan, South Korea and Morocco have all grabbed the hearts of neutral fans around the world.
The quarterfinal round kicked off with Brazil against Croatia. Brazil were the pre-tournament favorites and were showing why they were favorites in the last two rounds. Croatia were finalists in the last edition of the World Cup in 2018 in Russia.
For this match Brazil were the favorites and many fans thought this to be the case. Itamar Filho and Thiago Borges are both from Brazil and they were confident that Brazil was going to win this match.
“Raphinha, Neymar and Richarlison,” Filho said before the match.
”I say 2-0, both Neymar,” Borges said before the match as well.
Brazil has won five World Cup, the most in history. It is natural to think that there will be persons from other countries who would support them because they are a good team and play an attractive style of soccer.
Luca Foianesi is from Manitoba but he was rooting for Brazil in this match. “I think it will be 3-1 to Brazil. I think Neymar is gonna get a goal, Richarlison and Vinicius Jr,” he said.
This was the same for Alec Wells. Wells is from Calgary but he is also impressed by Brazil’s style of football. He said, “I’m gonna say 2-0 Brazil. I say Vinicius Jr and Richarlison.”
The game began with both teams trying to ease their way into the match. Croatia dominated the first half but Brazil improved in the second half. The Croatian goalkeeper made two great saves to keep his team in the match. After the end of the regulation 90 minutes, the game needed extra-time to be decided. Two extra, fifteen minute halves were required.
In the first half of extra-time everyone’s predictions were proved correct. Neymar received the ball from Lucas Paqueta and danced his way around the keeper to give Brazil the lead after 105 minutes of play. Brazil were celebrating already.
Croatia began to fight back in the second half of extra-time and their hard work eventually paid off. With three minutes left in the match, the Croatians launched a swift, counter-attack and ended with Bruno Petkovic scoring the equalizer. The Brazilians were shocked and could not believe they let their lead slip away. Croatia held out until the end of extra-time. The game would be decided by a penalty shootout.
Croatia were the first to kick in the shootout and they scored. Brazil’s first kick was missed and the pressure was on. Croatian proceeded to score their next three penalties and Brazil the next two. With the game on the line, Brazil defender, Marquinhos stepped up to take the penalty. Marquinhos’ shot crashed against the left post and knocked Brazil out of the tournament. The favorites for the title had been knocked out in a surprising fashion after leading the match with only 15 minutes to play.
Croatia are now seeking to get to their second World Cup final in a row. Standing in their way is Argentina, who defeated the Netherlands in a penalty shootout as well. That match will take place on Tuesday.
