Japan loses the Round of 16 in the Qatar World Cup 2022 against Croatia on penalties.
Japan scored the opening goal in the 41st minute as Maeda scored from the sloppy clearance attempt from Croatian defense. In the second half Ivan Perisic scored a wonderful header on the bottom left corner as they equaled the score in the 55th minute. Both the sides played a very good football but unable to convert all those deliveries into goal. The score was 1-1 and the game went to extra-time and then to penalties.
Japan won the toss and chose to kick first. Minamino, ex Liverpool player who currently plays for AS Monaco in Ligue 1 shoots the first penalty as Dominic Livaković saves the first one. Nikola Vlašić who is the first penalty choice taker misguided Japan goalkeeper Gonda to other side. Dominic Livaković has been the man for Croatia. He saved 3 out of 4 penalties and became the hero for the night. On the other hand, Gonda wasn’t able to save any penalties, only Marko Livaja had a shot off-target in the penalty shootout.
Japan, who defeated Spain and Germany and acquired 1st position in their group knocked out Germany, one of the favorites to win this World Cup. Their lack of handling pressure at the big stage ended their fairy tale run.
Image credits: beIN Sports USA
💫PLEASE DO FOLLOW US FOR MORE UPDATES. ❌WE DO NOT HAVE IRRITATING AND SPAMMY NEWSLETTERS. ✅EVERYTHING IS AND WILL BE FREE FOREVER. SEE YOU AGAIN IN YOUR STORIES AND FEED 🙂
