"We are fighters", sentenced Livakovic, the Croatian goalkeeper was chosen as man of the match. It was not accidental. He was once again decisive for Zlatko Dalic's team to reach the semifinals, being true to herself, to her habit of having their qualifiers resolved in extra time or on penalties in a major international competition. And he repeated against Brazil in the quarterfinals after having done the same with Japan in the round of 16.
Livakovic, who saved three penalty kicks against Japan in the round of 16, on this occasion deflected Real Madrid player Rodrygo Goes's shot, which together with the stick that Marquinhos commanded led to the classification of the Balkan bloc and the elimination of Brazil. It is the fifth consecutive elimination that the Canarinha has experienced in the World Cups and all have been against European teams. Before Croatia did France, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. "This is a team that has a lot of experience to not collapse when things get bad," summed up the goalkeeper. “When it gets tough we know we can do more. They scored a goal for us in minute 105 and we gave everything for our country. We always do. We trust a lot in our goalkeeper but also in ourselves. It is a merit of all ”, added Kovacic. “I can't describe what I feel, it's the greatest achievement of my life,” said Bruno Petkovic, the Croatia striker who forced the penalty against Brazil scoring in the 117th minute.
“It's impressive to come back here four years later. No one gave us favorites, no one believed we could go this far. But here we are. We were almost lost with Neymar's goal, but we have shown that we never give up. And when we scored first in extra time and then we started scoring in the penalty shootout, we added even more confidence to finish the job", concluded Luka Modric, who at 37 completed the 120 minutes of the quarterfinals.
It was precisely Modric who was seen consoling his Real Madrid teammate, Rodrygo, who ran into Livakovic on the first pitch. “We must congratulate him because with all that it entailed, he had the strength to dare to take the penalty. I encouraged him. I was around his age when I failed in 2008 in a penalty shootout against Turkey. He was 23 years old. He is 21 and this is going to make him stronger”, stressed Modric.
On the other side of the board lay Brazil. That he had gone from dancing with Neymar's record goal to tears. “The heart is overflowing with sadness, it is difficult to find words. It is very sad and worse than last cup. Now it's time to regret, hug my family and then go back to training and playing. The last World Cup? I don't guarantee anything," said the Brazilian.
"All defeats are painful, especially when you have a goal, a dream; there is a four-year job for that moment. It is difficult to find words. We just have to raise our heads and move on. We are sad, everyone in the group gave the best of itself. We got angry, especially because of the way it happened. It was in our hands, it escaped us. Difficult moment. Now we have to keep calm, life must go on, "added Casemiro.
The former Real Madrid player, now at Manchester United, appreciated the fact that Brazil has been eliminated in every tie against a European team since they won their fifth title in the final against Germany in 2002. “It's normal. Europe has more teams in the competition, so you play more often against European teams, ”said the midfielder who assured that he wants to continue in the national team. "I am 30 years old. I am in the best moment of my career, I am very happy in the club that I am in. I lost an opportunity, but you have to see, especially since now a new coach will come, ”he assured, also referring to the fact that Tite had already warned that he was leaving office after the World Cup ended.
Who will not continue is Thiago Silva. The Canarinha striker commented that, at 38, he “maybe he won't have the opportunity to win a World Cup again. It's very sad, but that's the way things are, we have to keep going, I'm proud of what they all did. In football you also depend on what the other team does and we're up against a high-quality team. Perhaps we could have been better at times, but we are not used to such well-organized counterattacks," he said.
