The drums are beating for the quarterfinals and the brightest night at the World Cup in Qatar is about to kick off.
Messi's precision passing was a miracle in this Netherlands-Argentina clash of the centuries, as the script stumbled from a 2-0 lead to a late penalty shootout that seemed to tell an epic story.
In Van Gaal's Dutch team, Messi and Argentina's brilliant achievements are remarkable, while Croatia is even more impressive in terms of spiritual will.
Before the match against Brazil, the game seemed to be in no doubt, after all, the dominance of the five-star Brazil was obvious, while Croatia's journey looked choppy.
However, if you think only in conventional terms, Brazil seems to be winning.
But Modric in the war once again showed dogged resilience and never lost order despite Croatia being overwhelmed by Brazil for most of the match.
Even when the talented Brazilian player breaks through a seemingly impenetrable defense, Vakovic's shot always gives a rebound.
An overconfident Brazilian team was dealt a blow. They thought they had broken their opponents' strong defense at the end of the group stage, but they were not expecting to be dragged into extra time.
Of course, Brazil is on course to advance. Neymar scored first for the Samba Army in the first half of extra time, and Brazil is almost assured of victory from a strength comparison.
However, Fred's attack was spoiled in the final moments, earning Croatia a chance to counterattack. It was the only shot on goal in the 116th minute of the match, and Petkovic's goal leveled the score.
It was reminiscent of Croatia's Euro 2008 quarterfinal against Turkey. Modric assisted Krasniqi in the 119th minute, but Semih equalized in the last minute to send the game to penalties.
Fourteen years ago, Croatia ended up having the last laugh, and this time, it was Croatia that won the penalty shootout again.
Interestingly, the Euro 2008 loss instead started Croatia's record of going to overtime eight times in their last nine WC knockout games.
Croatia drew with Portugal in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2016, with Quaresma completing the winning goal in the 117th minute to keep Croatia out of the top 8.
Croatia were hailed as the kings of extra time at the 2018 World Cup as they knocked out Denmark and Russia on penalties to reach the final in historic fashion.
At last year's Euros, Croatia once again reached the knockout stage. Despite going 1-3 down in the 80th minute, they chased down two consecutive goals, but ended up finishing 3-5 in the round of 16.
This World Cup, Croatia's matches against Japan and Brazil went to penalties, and just like four years ago, the Checkers had the last laugh.
In the last 14 years, the only match Croatia didn't play in extra time was the 2018 World Cup final, where they ended up losing 2-4 to France to finish as runners-up.
Modric and his teammates won four consecutive penalty shootouts in the World Cup knockout stages!
The Croatians standing in front of the penalty spot are like a group of "execution" fighters facing the powerful, and one wonders when they will fall in front of the penalty spot.
The answer was surprising: Croatia went down 3-4 to the national football team in the third-place playoff for the 2017 China Cup.
As is always the case with black humor, the excitement of the World Cup continues with an unexpected semi-final between Argentina and Croatia.
Who will actually advance to the finals this time?
