Beijing time on December 10, Croatia eliminated Brazil in the penalty shootout, advancing to the quarterfinals. With this battle, Croatia has four consecutive penalty shootouts in the World Cup, which is called the king of penalty shootout. But who would have thought that China would be the last team to beat Croatia in a penalty shootout.
How strong are Croatia's penalty shootouts in World Cup history? In the last two World Cups, they have gone through four penalty shootouts and won them all, tying them with Germany for first place as the World Cup's penalty shootout kings.
Specifically, Croatia beat Denmark 4-3 and then Russia 6-5 in the 2018 World Cup; Croatia beat Japan 4-2 and then Brazil 5-3 in the current World Cup.
I'm afraid that no one can think of the last team that could beat Croatia in a penalty shootout. Yes, they were the Chinese men's soccer team.
In the final of the China Cup on January 14, 2017, against Croatia, then ranked 14th in the world, the national soccer team had 53% possession of the ball in the first 20 minutes, with China's influence constantly putting pressure on the Croatian defense. However, Croatia scored first.
In the 36th minute of the game, Ivanushevich tucked the ball into the right side of the Chinese penalty area, where Tudor inverted a cross and Ivanushevich followed up with a push. In the second half, Lippi used Hu Ren every day . Feng Gang for Cai Huikang and Gao Junyi, and then made a targeted change, replacing Yang Shanping, the high point of the back line, with Wang Jinxian.
In the 76th minute, Pi made a crucial substitution, replacing Huijiakang with Wang Jingbin, with the former and Wang Jinxian combining as a double striker.Eleven minutes later, Yin Hongbo resorted to attacking on the right flank. After a cross from Deng Hanwen, Wang Jingbin raced to the top to equalize. As you know, Wang Jingbin's goal was the first for the national soccer team in the Lippi era.
The two sides then went into a penalty shootout. Perošević hit the crossbar in Croatia's third penalty, followed by Fan's penalty. In the fifth round, Rhodia Misic's penalty kick was saved by Shi Xiaotian and Wang Jinxian was defeated 4-3. The total score beat Croatia 5-4 and finished third.
It's worth noting that Livakovic hasn't started that tournament yet and he can't even play in China. Now, he has saved Croatia in the knockout stage of the World Cup. Against Brazil, he contributed 11 saves, setting a single-game record since the 2014 World Cup. Meanwhile, with four penalties in this World Cup, no goalkeeper in history has more than him.
