Another quarter final exit for Brazil; Croatia knockout tradition continues.
The Brazil national team and fans across the globe will be hoping to wake up from this nightmare, crashing out back to back in the quarterfinal of the World Cup is becoming a curse for the South American giant.
In the 2018 World Cup, Brazil's dream ended in the quarter-final against Belgium and this time, it was another European country that put them to the sword.
The Samba boys have done incredibly well so far at the World Cup even though they had to bow out on penalties against Croatia. I predicted them to be in the final with the quality of players they brought but they haven't done their assignment properly and it cost them the chance to win the World Cup again.
A lot of people underrated Croatia, they didn't have the hype like any other great country left in the world cup, but they have proven themselves to be a superb football nation, not just today but in the 2018 World Cup held in Russia as well.
They did the exact thing we saw in Russia, qualifying on penalties in the round of 16 and the quarter-final is now a traditional thing. Russia and Denmark were their victims at the 2018 World Cup but it happened to be Japan and Brazil this time. The Croatians have played awesome football and I wouldn't be surprised if they make their way to the final as we saw in the last World Cup.
Croatia's midfield prowess has always been something they can count on and their defense was just a great boost for them, especially against the Samba boys. Sometimes I wonder how dangerous the Croatian side would be if they had the same ability they have in midfield in the attack.
They aren't completely lacking in attack but they aren't doing too well in that position as well. If Brazil used their chances properly, it would be a complete story for the Croatians who only got just one shot on target in 120 minutes of football.
Brazil had everything they needed to win the match but things didn't just go as planned for them.
The match was incredibly tight and both sides did a great job in every area of the field. We all thought Brazil would go away with Neymar's goal at the end of the first extra time but Croatia didn't let go of their fighting spirit.
With four minutes to go in that match, I expected Brazil to be more defensive-minded than going all-attack against Croatia.
A bird in hand for them is worth more than a hundred in the bush and if they had protected that one goal properly, it would have been a glorious night for them.
Croatia had nothing to lose with a goal down so they piled so much pressure on Brazil's defense and it paid off. It was a three against three if I am not mistaken and it led to a goal.
The 117th-minute goal scored by Petrovic was all Croatia needed to take the match into penalties and they did just what they know how to do best. Tonight's encounter between Argentina and Netherlands will determine who their next opponent will be, I wish them the best regardless of which team qualifies tonight.
I think Brazil going out was their own fault as they had the flair and ended up paying the ultimate price. Croatia were happy to go to penalties.
They were after the penalties, they soaked up the pressure and bought themselves enough time. The goal they conceded was their fault as well, they should have defended more than going all out still attacking.
I wanted to put your post through but you haven't exactly been that active of late. Nearly the same number of posts vs comments in the last week which is not that good. I am fair to everyone and for that reason will skip this post.
Am sorry, I work offline as well. I promise to be more active 🙏
Please do as my hands are tied as OCD is delegation supplied by the Hive community and we have to support like minded users.
Okay, thanks for the advice. I will surely improve
It was sad seeing Neymar in tears and I also blame him for not stepping up to take the first penalty, who knows they could have won it. Big congrats to Croatia for making it to the next round.
Neymar isn't one of my favorite players but seeing in cry touched my heart a lot.
The first penalty matters a lot, losing it steals away confidence in the team and that was the exact problem we saw with the Netherlands.
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