Croatia became big at penalties and ended with the illusion of the Russian World Cup

C roacia sits in the semifinal suffering. The technicians put their combination to send Russia in penalty – as in KO, against Denmark – and ended up with the dream of the hosts.

"I congratulate my boys, but also Russia, which It was not a good match, it was a fight, we were very lucky," acknowledged Zlatko Dalic.

And the Croatian technician is right, because the peaceful Sochi spa became a place, where both teams struggled with clenched teeth.

Although the balcnicos arrived with the lineage and the favorite cartel, the first to strike was Russia. The local team was not a team that looked like, but had moments of brilliance that escaped any calculation. In this, Denis Cherysev was an artist: when his painting showed nothing, he took an ace from his sleeve to send a goal that forced Croatia to react. The draw came a few minutes later, through Andrej Kramaric.

In overtime, the Croats took the lead (Domagoj Vida's header), but Russia responded with another testazo – Mario Fernandes nationalized Brazilian – and stretch the definition, until the shootout at dramatic goal, where goalkeeper Danijel Subasic – who saved a penalty – and Ivn Rakitic – who scored the winning goal – were the heroes.

Croatia is in the semi-finals and now we can see the faces with England, which was shipping to Sweden (see pages 4 to 8.)

Comparison with the historic balcnico table which was third in France 98 comes immediately. "It's not possible to compare because they are little different," says "El Mercurio" Robert Jarni, of the team that dazzled on Gallic soil. "We want to take advantage of this win and not put more pressure on us with 98," Ivn Rakitic said.

What Jarni is sure of is that they have something to dream about: different players, which means we have very high quality players who can make a difference. "

" We did not play well in the first half, we could not win but we showed character "
LUKA MODRIC, Croatian captain

" I am very happy, Russia was not an easy opponent, and when we won 2-1, I went to get a vodka in my heart. "
DAVOR SUKER,
President of the Croatian Federation

"I was focused throughout the match, but after the Rakitic penalty, I was relieved."
ZLATKO DALIC,
coach of Croatia.