Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic once again was the hero for Croatia after guiding the 2018 runners-up to victory over Brazil 4-2 on penalties in the quarter-finals on Friday. Croatia reached the second straight semi-finals on penalties after the match ended 1-1 at the end of the extra time. Gulf News experts discuss the match and take a look at tomorrow’s two quarter-finals.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News kicking back. There has been a huge surprise as tournament
00:14favorites Brazil have been knocked out of the World Cup by Croatia. The match went to
00:19penalties. After 90 minutes, it was nil-nil. Brazil took the lead in extra time through
00:24Neymar. Croatia came back to get a surprising equalizer. Their game plan worked. It was
00:29always to take Brazil to penalties. They clearly didn't fancy their chances in the 120 minutes.
00:35They never really engaged them into a football match because they knew they would be beaten.
00:40So they did exactly as we thought they would do, which is keep it very, very tight and
00:44take it all the way. And Shyam, we've had a huge shock. What do you think of tonight's
00:48result?
00:49I think it is perhaps the biggest shock. I mean, this tournament has been full of shock
00:54and here comes one of the biggest. The tournament favorites crashing out of the tournament.
00:59The quarter-finals. But again, this is Brazil's nemesis. Quarter-finals have always been a
01:08stumbling block for them. And this team will again go down as one of the best Brazilian
01:13teams ever to have won the World Cup. The last time when Zico, Socrates headed one of
01:18the best teams in Brazil's history. They didn't win it in 1982. And I think this could be
01:27a good thing for Brazil to go alongside them as one of the best teams ever to have won the Cup.
01:33Yeah. Satish, this is the fourth time now since Brazil last won it that they've gone
01:37out in the quarter-final stage. Is it a mental block? Is it something that they just can't
01:41get through? I mean, what do you think of this? First of all, tell me how shocked you
01:45are. Or are you shocked at all? Do you think Croatia deserved to go through?
01:49I think one man deserves the credit. Dominic Lebekovic.
01:53Yeah. He was 11th.
01:55And they kept throwing it. They kept hitting the goals and he kept stopping them. So, I
02:00think that put more pressure on Brazil to get something extra. And still, they were
02:05not able to get it. And that exactly, as you said, it followed that pattern. Croatia were
02:10very happy to take the game to the penalties. And the more and more he saved, the more and
02:15more confidence Croatia got to go to the penalties. Because obviously, they must be banking on
02:21him to save them and take them to the next stage. But in a way, I feel sad for Brazil
02:27because they played a brilliant game all along. Most of the match, they were there in this
02:32half of Croatia. But only one goal chance, Croatia got it and they made it count. That's
02:40what it's all about. Taking chances and making it count. And all credit to Croatia for doing
02:46that, Imran.
02:48Yeah. The keeper, you mentioned, was superb. He made 11 saves today. He kept Croatia in
02:52this game. I don't think, had he not been in goal, we could have been seeing a very
02:56different result. But Tasham, just going back to what we've just seen, do you think now
03:02we may see a team win the tournament that grinds out results rather than a team with
03:07flamboyance and skills like Brazil have? I mean, everybody expected Brazil to go through
03:12at least to the finals. But they've been beaten by a team which did the exact same
03:16thing against Japan, grind it out. Not really played very well at all. They didn't actually
03:22do anything, to be honest. They were very defence-oriented. That was clearly the mindset
03:28from the coach. Keep it very tight and take the game to penalties. And then credit to
03:32them. Those were four very good penalties. Whereas Brazil's unfortunate, Rodrigo's
03:37first one and Marquinhos' fourth one were pretty bad. But the question is, Tasham,
03:41do you think a team is going to grind their way to the final?
03:47I mean, it's entirely possible they could grind their way. But I hope it doesn't happen.
03:54It's not good for football. But it's happened in the past. If you look at 1990, when Argentina
04:00were defending their 86th title, Maradona's team was not the same. In fact, they were
04:09so bad that they had to rely on penalties to reach the final. And it was their third
04:14choice goalkeeper. Because the original goalkeeper was injured. Another guy also was injured.
04:19So the third goalkeeper, Goi Kichiya, was very good at penalties. And he took them through
04:26from quarterfinals to the finals. But in the finals, ironically, they lost by one goal.
04:33And that goal was scored by a penalty. Andres Brehme. So this has happened in the past.
04:38But I hope it doesn't happen here simply because it would be a shame. And we have some
04:42real good sides who are playing some real good football. But this is Croatia. This is how they
04:47play. If you look at it, throughout this tournament, they had only one match in 90 minutes.
04:53So a team which does that, I am certainly not in favour of such a team winning the tournament.
05:00I mean, I know this has happened in the past. Remember Greece winning the Euro Championships.
05:06They did it exactly the same way. But it's entirely possible a team could win. But that
05:11would be a shame if a team like that wins. But at least, Shaan, with that team with Greece,
05:16they at least got into the lead. Karasteis was their famous striker at the time. He kept scoring
05:21the goals. They won a few games 1-0. But this Croatia team just doesn't even want to go into
05:26the box. They're so negative. And like you've just said, I feel the same way. It would have
05:31been much nicer had we had Brazil go through just to keep the tournament being the spectacle that
05:35it's been. Because honestly, that 120 minutes from Croatia, it was boring. It was the most
05:40negative football. It was dire. It was dull to watch. Brazil were the only team trying to get
05:45through. And Satish, when they actually did make the breakthrough, it looked like it was going to
05:49be enough. It was a fantastic goal from Neymar. He picked up the ball on the edge of the box,
05:53played a lovely 1-2. And he managed to get through a very busy box to get onto the end of that pass.
05:59He still had the presence of mind to round the keeper and then also to get onto the roof of
06:05the net. Most players would have just probably tried to roll it in after doing all the hard work.
06:10But then the Croatian defender was on the line. So credit to Neymar for doing that. But then,
06:14why didn't Neymar step up to take a penalty? This is going to be probably the biggest question of
06:19all after this World Cup. He's their best player. And I think clearly it looked like he was waiting
06:24to take the fifth penalty just to be the hero again, to be the star man, to say he's taken the
06:29team through. But surely your best players have to step up in the first three penalties to give
06:34your team a chance. So just what do you feel about Neymar's contribution today? Being the hero and
06:40almost kind of you can say he's been the villain because he's let the team down by not stepping up.
06:45Imran, you can look at it in both ways. In the past, the best players always failed in the
06:50penalties as well. So maybe Brazil didn't want to take the chance. It has happened in the past. So
06:57you can look at it in both ways. So I think once it came to penalties, there was no doubt it was
07:04going to be Croatia. So I don't think it would have mattered whether Neymar took the first one
07:09or the last one. Because the Croatian goalkeeper Dominic was absolutely… You cannot take anything
07:16past him. Even the goal, it was such a brilliant one by Neymar. Otherwise, he would have probably
07:21stopped that as well. So he was unstoppable today. Rather, he was stopping everything. They couldn't
07:27reach the difference at all. So I think I'm not getting into the technicalities of who should
07:33have taken. But the moment it went to penalties, I think Brazil were certainly on the back foot
07:39and if you look at Croatia, they made their plans ready and they were hitting the
07:44left side almost towards the edge of the goalpost, giving the goalkeeper no chance.
07:49Whereas Brazil didn't do any of this. Again, they were flamboyant and they just
07:53went with their gut feeling.
07:55Shyam, Satheesh makes a good point there. But still, we're talking about Brazil's
07:58talisman here. This is Neymar. He's the biggest star in world football right now.
08:02And at the crucial time in the quarter-finals of the World Cup where his team needs him,
08:06he's failed to show up. He's waited. Clearly, he's waited for the other guys to take the
08:11penalties. And I think he just wanted to be the main man again. And he would have already
08:16been that because he pulled the team in extra time by getting them in front and by scoring
08:23that goal, equalling Pelé's international goals record as well. So he's done all that tonight.
08:27But then, you know, step up. You've got to step up. Take a penalty. Your team needs you.
08:31You're the best player on the pitch. They put on Rodrigo, who's a substitute,
08:34and he'd come on. He'd only played for, I think, half an hour. He wasn't even in the game.
08:38Hardly touched the ball. Yeah, he put the first penalty down. And it was the most awful penalty.
08:42The way he ran up to the ball, he opened himself up. The keeper knew exactly where he was going
08:46to put it. And it was an atrocious penalty. And I come back to the point where Neymar,
08:52I believe, has really let the team down. What do you think about Neymar tonight, Shyam?
08:56I'm with you on this. I think Neymar let the team down badly because,
09:01see, when it comes to penalties, like Satish said, Croatia, we know that they are very good
09:06at this. They've been there and they've done it numerous times. And we've seen it against Japan
09:10as well. But when you know the odds, then you expect your best man to set you rolling.
09:17So, I would have expected Neymar to start with the first penalty. So,
09:23showing the way for the rest of the guys to say, okay, this is the way to go.
09:26But if you're the last man, there's every possibility that you might not be even going
09:33to take a penalty, which happened today. So, Neymar is very good at taking penalties. And he
09:41was not even required to do it because the team lost. So, if a team is lost, what's the point
09:46in keeping your best man at the back? So, I think, like you said, I think Neymar wants to be the
09:52hero. He wants to be the man who saved Brazil. But unfortunately, he turned out to be the villain
09:58today. Although he provided the best and the most brilliant moment in this match,
10:04was provided by him. But I think he also provided the worst moment as well.
10:10Yeah, I think there's going to be questions asked when this all settles down, when the dust
10:14settles, so to speak. Why didn't he step up at the most crucial point in the team's tournament?
10:19But whether he has an explanation for that, I guess we'll know. But just a quick word,
10:24Sharm, about Brazil's centre-back Marquinhos, who's had a superb tournament. He's been one
10:28of their best players. But the poor guy, unfortunately, today, when Croatia got the
10:32equaliser, it came off his knee. It took a huge deflection. And poor Alisson Becker in goal,
10:37he just couldn't make it to make that save. And then poor guy, he comes up and takes the fourth
10:43penalty. He struck it well. He sent the keeper the wrong way, but it hit the post. How will he
10:48be feeling tonight, Sharm? Oh, boy. He must be feeling like the villain. I'm sure he must be
10:54really moping. Simply because, actually, he had a very good tournament. And he had a very good
10:59match today, until those two bloopers, really. If it was not for deflection, that deflection,
11:05Alisson Becker had it covered, really. So, actually, that actually got Becker napping.
11:11Otherwise, he would have been straight into him. On top of it, he went and banked that right.
11:20So, a double glory, a real double whammy for him and Brazil, for that matter.
11:25So, I think he would think that he is the villain. And I think he would take it really,
11:31really hard. But I think he needs to get over it, because he's such a good player.
11:36And Satish, look, Croatia, they've done it again. They've reached the semi-final
11:41at the last World Cup. They got to the final. Now, depending on who wins tonight,
11:44we're going to see later on who they'll face. It'll be Netherlands or Argentina,
11:48who faces them in the semi-finals. But the way they're playing, it's not great. But they're
11:54getting the results. They're taking these games to penalty shootouts. And they, like you said,
11:59fantastic at their penalties. So, how far do you think they can go this time?
12:04I don't know. Maybe, maybe. Same as I think their luck will run out. Because obviously,
12:10the goalkeeper Dominic is also a human being. So, you can't keep relying on him
12:15always to go to the penalty, I think. But they have done it. From what I've seen,
12:19it's eight of the last 10 penalties, they were successful. And five of the last six penalties,
12:27I think. So, I think they are relying too much on one aspect of their game.
12:32I think sometime it has to give in. So, luck would run out somewhere. And I'm sure,
12:40possibly in semi-finals. Okay, we'll see. Now, tomorrow, obviously,
12:45there are two more huge quarter-finals to come. The Dark Horses Morocco, who have made it all
12:51the way to the last eight, are taking on Portugal. Shyam, how do you feel about that game tomorrow?
12:57Portugal is going to do exactly what Croatia did today. I mean, sorry, Morocco is going to do
13:03exactly what Croatia did today. But I think, again, if it goes down to penalties, it's going
13:15to be Morocco's game. But I think Portugal has enough quality of them to at least eke out a
13:201-1 victory. Because if you look at the last match, they were all over. So,
13:25they have enough quality there. But we said the same thing about Brazil also.
13:29So, it's a tough call. I would expect Portugal to go through. But again, you can never count
13:34Morocco out. I think just the way the two teams are playing right now, Shyam, I would put,
13:40if I was a betting man, I would say Morocco to snatch it 1-0 instead of Portugal. And Satish,
13:46the other one, France against England. Now, as we said before, the way these two teams are playing,
13:50this should really be the final. They're both in top form right now, scoring loads of goals,
13:55playing really well. They've got players that can win this match with moments of brilliance.
14:01But who do you feel is going to get through tomorrow? France, the champions or England?
14:07I'm sorry, I'm not going to be telling the one which you are going to like it. But I think France
14:13will go through. That's my prediction. Because, of course, it's a cracker of a game. You have
14:18probably the best two strikers, Mbappe and Kane against each other. But I would still feel France
14:26have the momentum. And unfortunately, if it was something like Croatia or somebody who would
14:32depend on their defence, then maybe I could give the other team. But here, I think more or less,
14:39both teams play the same kind of game. So, I would go with France. And I think Southgate
14:46said that he's not going to take the foot off the pedal. He's going to go and attack.
14:50Because they have been scoring a lot of goals. So, I think it will be a good game. Both trying
14:55to score goals. And probably, that's where I think France will get that advantage.
15:01I think the team selection will play a big part. If he plays the right team and Foden in the right
15:06position, at least England will be at their full strength. But yes, like you say, France is also
15:10very, very strong. We've seen a huge upset tonight, guys. So, who knows? Tomorrow, we could
15:14be seeing at least one more, maybe two more. But we'll see. That's all from us for tonight.
15:19Head to golfnews.com for all the latest news and reviews and videos. And of course,
15:23check us out on our social media channels. Thank you, Satish. And thanks, Sean. And see you all next time.