Quarter-Final - Croatia (p)1-1 Brazil - Friday 9th December, 2022

[Waylander]

Great goal by Neymar, I would have had him off at 70 mins!

Great fight back by Croatia.

[Redcanuck]

Love it.  Brazil dances no more.

[El Profesor]

Enough is enough. We need to hire an european coach.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, El Profesor said:

Enough is enough. We need to hire an european coach.

Wow really, I can't imagine Brazil without a Brazilian as the manager tbh

[Rick]

And Croatia go through. I commend them for being good defensively, but I can never get behind negative football like that as somebody who appreciates teams going for the win from minute one. That’s probably a weird take to most on here because you do what you need to win, but as a viewer I hate seeing that football rewarded. 

[RandoEFC+]

11 minutes ago, El Profesor said:

Brazil was caught on a counter-attack despite having the advantage. What a silly way to concede. 

Tragic night from Casemiro.

 

I was out of the room, heard the goal go in and assumed Brazil had got another as Croatia did not look like scoring. Then I saw the replay of the 3 vs 3 counter attack and just thought wtf, how do you end up in that position at 1-0 in extra time in a World Cup knockout? Daft.

Great penalties from Croatia to be fair. Shame for me as a neutral to see Brazil go out at this stage.

[Machado]

2 minutes ago, El Profesor said:

Enough is enough. We need to hire an european coach.

Sorry mate. Do feel like Brazil had the talent and balance to win the competition. Failed game plan for sure today.

Credit to Croatia though. Warriors out there.

[Cicero]

Just now, Rick said:

And Croatia go through. I commend them for being good defensively, but I can never get behind negative football like that as somebody who appreciates teams going for the win from minute one. That’s probably a weird take to most on here because you do what you need to win, but as a viewer I hate seeing that football rewarded. 

Wouldn't call it negative myself. Loads of technical players who are great in moving the ball around starting out from the back.  They are just poor up top. 

[Cicero]

Just now, RandoEFC said:

I was out of the room, heard the goal go in and assumed Brazil had got another as Croatia did not look like scoring.

Literally the same exact thing happened to myself. Baffled when I saw the notification on my phone. 

[Rick]

Just now, Cicero said:

Wouldn't call it negative myself. Loads of technical players who are great in moving the ball around starting out from the back.  They are just poor up top. 

Negative was probably harsh, but they barely did anything going forward in this tournament and that’s just not the football I want to see being successful. 

[Tommy]

Is Neymar crying?

[Waylander]

Klinsman saying Neymar should have had the first penalty not the last one to set the tone.

[True Blue]

I swear Croatia has to be the luckiest team in the tournament. Went throught the group stage as Lukaku can't score a sitter. Against Japan they were inferior won on penalties, against Brazil tonight one shot on target in 120 minute and won on penalties.

[6666]

Antony really is the next Cristiano.

 

[Mel81x+]

Tough on Brazil but honestly Croatia just bossed them from the first minute. Didn't give them room to operate and in the end got their reward. If any team is going to play them next they need to watch this and just learn that either you come out hard from the get-go or they'll take you the distance and their ability to turn penalties in their favor is just ridiculous.
 

[Danny]

Shout out to Roy Keane who began the mindgames to send them out

[Bluewolf]

4 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Is Neymar crying?

I hope so... 

[El Profesor]

Just now, Dr. Gonzo said:

Wow really, I can't imagine Brazil without a Brazilian as the manager tbh

The problem is that there isn't really any good options after Tite. Perhaps Fernando Diniz. But I think we should hire someone from another school of football. 

 

3 minutes ago, Machado said:

Sorry mate. Do feel like Brazil had the talent and balance to win the competition. Failed game plan for sure today.

Credit to Croatia though. Warriors out there.

Well, that's sport I guess. I do think that the midfield formation was the problem. Brazil had one plan and zero alternatives. 

 

[Inverted]

5 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Wouldn't call it negative myself. Loads of technical players who are great in moving the ball around starting out from the back.  They are just poor up top. 

Yeah I think Croatia are just good at leveraging the fact that despite not being full of attacking brilliance they have a midfield and defence which is excellent at retaining possession and suffocating games. 

A lot of people might not have thought it from the eye test but Croatia had more of the ball, which is poor given that Brazil were in my eyes heavy favourites. Possession doesn't mean much in itself but every second Modric, Brozovic and Kovacic have the ball is a second where Brazil aren't getting to use their attacking talent. 

[El Profesor]

5 minutes ago, Waylander said:

Klinsman saying Neymar should have had the first penalty not the last one to set the tone.

I agree. The Rodrygo miss really set the tone. It never felt possible to reach Croatia, especially because Alisson isn't good at saving penalties.

[OrangeKhrush]

bummer,  the Samba boys are all play but very little work. 

[Machado]

I did think taking Vinicius out so early was a mistake too.

You want that kind of player in later stages of the game where it's more chaotic.

[Lucas]

Wow. You have to give Croatia massive respect. Another major tournament semi final, their third World Cup semi in recent times.

They are just so streetwise. They have one of the oldest squads and yet they continuously find a way. Their record in penalty shootouts is insane.

I feel for Brazil but at the same time, I think they have paid the price for not only playing a sub par 90mins v Croatia, but then thinking they had it won after Neymar put them up. You could see in their faces at HT they thought they had won it.

And to cap it all off, you fuck up the penalty order so your star man watches whilst a defender missed the decisive pen. Madness. But that's Brazil for you.

[Reluctant Striker]

I never agreed with the idea Croatia were a spent force. I have huge respect for how they do what they need to do so often. And the apparent belief & desire to succeed. But I find them in no way an attractive & pleasant watch. As a neutral they are a bit dull.

Brazil? They do have a crazy amount of attacking talent & most of it can easily be back in 4 years time. Surely questions over tactics. And IMO the general lack of high quality midfielders.

[Stan]

Will done to Croatia. Battled hard defensively and had the better penalties. Happy for them.