Subasic stars as Croatia upset hosts in penalties to meet England in semifinal
Although Russia made it further at this year's World Cup than most anyone expected, it was Croatia that advanced to the semifinals with a 4-3 shootout victory Saturday following a 2-2 draw.
The overachieving hosts, the lowest ranked team in the tournament at No 70, were trying to make it to the World Cup semifinals for the first time since the Soviet Union finished fourth at the 1966 tournament in England.
Even Russian President Vladimir Putin was taken in by the host nation's surprising run, at least according to Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov.
"Putin called me during the day, and he called me right now," Cherchesov said. "He congratulated us on a very good game. He said what we showed on the field was great. I told him we were disappointed. He said we should have our eyes open and make the next steps."
The Croats hadn't advanced to the semifinals at the World Cup since 1998, when the country made its first appearance. Croatia will next play England in the semifinals on Wednesday in Moscow.
With the crowd silenced following an extra-time header from Croatia defender Domagoj Vida in the 101st minute, Russia defender Mario Fernandes scored with his own header in the 115th to send the match to yet another penalty shootout.
Fernandes, who was born in Brazil but rejected a chance to play for that country's national team in 2011, sent his penalty kick wide of the net in the shootout, giving Croatia the advantage.
Both goalkeepers made early saves in the shootout, with an injured Danijel Subasic stopping the opening shot from Fyodor Smolov. Igor Akinfeev later blocked an attempt from Mateo Kovacic.
At 1-1, Fernandes missed his shot - only the second player to miss in any of the four shootouts at this year's World Cup.
The teams then traded two scores each before Ivan Rakitic calmly converted the winning penalty.
"We should have finished the job before penalties but maybe it's written in the stars we have to go through the extra drama," said luka Modric, whose penalty bounced off Akinfeev's hand and the post before entering the other side of the net.
Denis Cheryshev gave Russia the lead in regulation time with a long-range shot into the upper corner in the 31st minute. Croatia equalized with Andrej Kramaric's header near halftime.
"I left everything on the field and unfortunately we were unlucky," Russia midfielder Roman Zobnin said. "We gave everything we could."
It was the second straight time both teams played in a penalty shootout. Russia beat Spain 4-3 and Croatia defeated Denmark 3-2 in the round of 16.
Argentina in 1990 had been the last team to win consecutive World Cup shootouts. The defending champions at the time defeated Yugoslavia in the quarterfinals and Italy in the semifinals that year, which also made Italy the last host nation to lose on penalties before Saturday.
The victory overwhelmed Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, who cried after Rakitic's winning penalty.
"It wasn't a beautiful game, but it was a battle," Dalic said. "We were lucky. I was concentrating throughout the match, but after that penalty it came bursting out of me."
MOOT MIDFIElD
Modric and Rakitic were decisive in the shootout but didn't play up to expectations in regulation and extra time, unable to create many significant chances for Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic up front.
Both players were beaten by Cheryshev in the play that led to the opening goal for the Russians.
CHERYSHEV AGAIN
Cheryshev was Russia's leading scorer at the World Cup with four goals. He converted the final penalty for Russia in the shootout against Spain, as well as the winner against Egypt and a pair of goals in the opener against Saudi Arabia in the group stage. Many fans gave him a standing ovation when he was taken off in the second half.
Subasic heroics
Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic was the star against Denmark for the three saves he made in the penalty shootout that put the team into the World Cup quarterfinals.
What he did against Russia may be viewed back home as a greater accomplishment.
Subasic appeared to pick up a significant leg injury in the final moments of the second half on Saturday. He grabbed the back of his leg near his hamstring and it appeared he may need a substitute.
But a replacement never arrived. Subasic was able to play through extra time and again made a key save in the penalty shootout as Croatia won 4-3 and advanced to the semifinals for the second time in its history.
Subasic saved the first attempt of the shootout when he made an adjustment while diving to get a hand on Fyodor Smolov's attempt. It set the tone as Croatia became the first team since Argentina in 1990 to win consecutive World Cup games on penalties.
And it earned the exhausted group a date with England in the semifinals.
"I think we are underdogs from Day 1 and it's good for us," Croatia defender Dejan lovren said. "When you've got all these other teams, France, Belgium, England, that's the top teams from the beginning and we are the underdogs. Maybe we can change something."
Subasic didn't need to win the shootout the same way he did against Denmark, when his three saves were the reason the Croatian team advanced. After saving the first, Subasic was aided when Mario Fernandes missed the net with the third attempt. Croatia's shooters did enough that Ivan Rakitic's successful penalty was the winner and set off another wild celebration with Subasic on the bottom of the pile.
Subasic's four shootout saves are tied with Harald Schumacher of West Germany and Sergio Goygochea of Argentina for the most in a single World Cup.
"He could go on and that was the most important thing," Croatia captain luka Modric said. "I'm not sure how it affected him. But he saved fantastically the first shot in the shootout. I asked him and he said he was OK, it did not affect him much. Thank God everything is fine with him."
For a while it didn't look like Subasic would be around for a shootout. He went down injured late in the second half after appearing to injure his hamstring while trying to keep a deflected ball from going over the line for a corner kick. Croatia began warming up its backup goalkeepers in case Subasic was unable to continue into extra time. Even before extra time arrived, Subasic had to block a shot from Smolov from a tight angle late in second-half stoppage time.
In extra time, Subasic blocked and smothered Daler Kuziaev's attempt, which appeared to be a game-saver until Fernandes came unmarked on a free kick and his header to the far post couldn't be stopped in the 115th minute.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said Subasic's uncertain health affected how he wanted to manage his substitutes going into extra time. His hand was forced when Sime Vrsaljko went down with a knee injury early in extra time and Dalic was forced to use his final substitution to replace the defender. At that point, Subasic had to go the rest of the way for the Croatians."They've shown character once again," Dalic said.