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After watching Russia and Spain take over 90 minutes to determine their World Cup winner, Croatia and Denmark did the same.
A wild opening in which both teams scored in the first four minutes, gave way to a more suspicious match, which ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and went to overtime. In the second half of the extra period, Kasper Schmeichel was shown huge, denying Luka Modric's penalty shot to maintain the level of play. The winner will face Russia, a surprise quarter-finalist, after the hosts had ousted Spain at the penalty kick.
Denmark scored the first goal after 57 seconds. A long throw-in fell for Mathias Jorgensen by the far post, and he squeezed his left chance through traffic for the first international goal of his career to cement a dream start for the Danes. It was the fourth fastest goal in World Cup history and the fastest in four years, when Clint Dempsey scored 29 seconds in the opener against Ghana.
This dream beginning lasted three minutes. An attempt to knock Denmark out of its own zone has bounced on a defender, directly on the trajectory of Mario Mandzukic. The Juventus striker achieved his feat by finishing point-blank to make 1-1 after four minutes.
The match then unfolded in the most anticipated way: a match in which Croatia was right in the ball, but Denmark resisted with his organized defense. Croatia's best chance came on Ivan Perisic's 19-meter free-kick, but it was decisive in the wall.
Denmark selected their team-mates and almost scored the goal in the 27th minute by Martin Braithwaite, who was played in the penalty area on the right-hand side and had a near-post chance snatched by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
On the other hand, Croatia has almost hit twice. Ivan Rakitic fired a shot over 20 meters that Schmeichel parried, but Croatia kept the ball alive, and after a second parade, Perisic was able to score inside the surface and Schmeichel from his line
The fight continued between the two camps, without one or the other really being able to pose a serious threat. Schmeichel was called in a light action a few times during the second half, but Croatia lacked unpredictability or creativity to break Denmark's organization.
Rakitic almost broke through for the winner. He had the time and space of 25 meters to take a shot, and he tried to pick the bottom left corner. Schmeichel may have covered it, but the shot was wide spread from the post.
On the other hand, Braithwaite had the chance to win a spectacular victory after a punch from Subasic. The ball fell on the Danish midfielder at the edge of the penalty area, and he attempted to play volleyball in a loop, only to hit the ball at a distance of about one meter from the post. This was the last action of the regulation, because the match was prolonged
The goal of the opening was a long touch that caused a blow in the 96th minute, Denmark seeming to have a Pione Sisto came on the bench for Denmark for the second overtime period and had an immediate impact, delivering a passage that threatened to unlock the rearguard of Croatia and then shootout in a long-range attempt that missed the post distant in the 107th minute
Croatia had the decisive moment they needed in the 114th minute. Modric split the defense with a pass in the center, playing Ante Rebic at goal. After rounding Schmeichel, Rebic was taken from behind by Jorgensen facing an empty net. He could not get the shot, but was awarded the penalty. When it seemed that Croatia would take the lead, Schmeichel came in huge, denying Modric's penalty and making a clean stop that did not give a rebound.
Stay tuned here for live updates and key points of the match (update here for the latest updates) .
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Here are the lineups for both sides:
CROATIA
Goalkeepers : Lovre Kalinic (Dinamo Zagreb), Dominik Livakovic (Ghent), Danijel Subasic (Monaco)
Defenders : Duje Caleta-Car (Red Bull Salzburg); Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Josip Pivaric (Dynamo Kiev), Ivan Strinic (AC Milan), Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), Sime Vrsajlko (Atletico Madrid)
: Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Filip Bradaric (Rijeka), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter), Real Madrid (Mateo Kovacic), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona)
Forwards : Nikola Kalinic (Milan), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Marko Pjaca (Juventus), Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Manager : Zlatko Dalic
DENMARK
Goalkeepers : Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester), Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield), Frederik Ronow (Brondby)
Defenders : Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) ), Simon Kjaer (Sevilla), Mathias Jorgensen (Huddersfield), Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Henrik Dalsgaa rd (Brentford), Jens Stryge (Udinese), Jonas Knudsen (Ipswich)
Midfielders : Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Lasse Schone (Ajax), Lukas Lerager (Bordeaux), Michael Krohn -Dehli (Deportivo La Coruña), William Kvist (FC Copenhagen), Thomas Delaney (Werder Bremen)
Foreword : Andreas Cornelius (Atalanta), Kasper Dolberg (Ajax), Martin Braithwaite (Bordeaux) ), Nicolai Jorgensen (Feyenoord), Pione Sisto (Celta Vigo), Viktor Fischer (FC Copenhagen), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig)
Director : Age Hareide
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