Croatia ousted Denmark 3-2 on penalties as Daniel Subasic was the unlikely hero with three important saves in the shootout. The Blazers fell behind inside 58 seconds of the match as Mathias Jorgensen gave the Danes a dream start, but Mario Mandzukic equalized just 118 seconds later. The frantic start soon faded as the game receded into mediocrity thereafter, while Luka Modric also missed a penalty in the second-half of the extra-time.A penalty shootout beckoned, and Subasic denied Christian Eriksen, Lasse Schone and Nicolai Jorgensen to send the Blazers through to their first quarter-finals in 20 years.
Let’s discuss three reasons why Croatia won today:
1 Immediate response to Denmark’s opener
Conceding a goal inside the first minute of the match can be a big blow. For the side trailing would be under sustained pressure to restore parity before further damage is done. That can instead, lead to further mistakes. Croatia though appeared to be spurred on after Jorgensen put the Danes ahead after just 58 seconds on the clock.
The Blazers wrestled control of the ball after the restart and pushed forward. Denmark found themselves in a tizzy, while a botched clearance in the final third allowed Mandzukic to equalise. Sime Vrsaljko parried an Ante Rebic cross that cannoned off Christensen’s face, and the Juventus star latched on to the loose ball from barely 5 yards out to pull Croatia back on level terms.
2 Targeting Christensen to push Denmark on the back foot
Denmark have some really quality centre-backs in Simon Kjaer and Matthias Jorgensen that manager Are Hariede loves to play in his favoured back-four. But then, Andreas Christensen is too talented to be left on the substitutes’ bench and Hariede opted to play him in the holding midfield role. This was a bold move, though his experiment backfired significantly in the first-half.
The Chelsea starlet lacked the mobility to match Croatia’s teriffic midfield triumvirate of Modric, Rakitic and Brozovic. Since he was higher up the field than usual, Christensen was directly up against more attackers, more pressing and clearly wilted under the pressure. This allowed the Blazers to push the Danes on the back foot and prevent them from regaining the lead.
3 Daniel Subasic’s heroics in the shootouts
For all the underwhelming show for a majority of the game, this has to be the single biggest reason for Croatia’s win today. Subasic was breached before a minute had passed in the game, though hardly had anything else to do besides taking goal-kicks and flying out of his position to catch a couple of corner-kicks sent inside the area. But when he was needed to step up, he did, with aplomb.
The AS Monaco shot-stopper gave Croatia the perfect start to the shootout, having stopped Christian Eriksen’s effort from twelve yards. He swung the tide once more by denying Lasse Schone with another terrific stop. Josip Pivaric was the next to fluff his lines, but Subasic wasn’t to be cawed down as he then blocked Jorgensen, and Ivan Rakitic finished off the job.