December 5, 2022 - Livakovic saves three Japan penalties for Croatia's 2022 World Cup quarter-final spot in Qatar!

The Croatia national team met Japan in the World Cup round of 16 match at Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar on Monday, December 5. Japan and Croatia have met twice before at the World Cup, but this is their first knockout encounter.

Japan has surprised many at this World Cup, topping Group E. They defeated Germany (2-1) and Spain (2-1) and lost to Costa Rica (0-1), which was enough for first place. 

Croatia opened the World Cup with a scoreless draw against Morocco, then convincingly beat Canada 4-1, and ended the group stage with a draw against Belgium (0-0). Croatia reached the round of 16 as the second-placed team in Group F with five points. Morocco won the group and will face Spain.

Lineups

Croatia: Livaković - Juranović, Lovren, Gvardiol, Barišić - Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić - Kramarić, Petković, Perišić

Japan: Gonda - Tomiyasu, Yoshida, Taniguchi - J.Ito, Endo, Morita, Nagatomo - Doan, Maeda, Kamada

Match report

It was a shaky start for Croatia, with a close encounter already in the 3rd minute. A precise cross into the penalty area found Shogo Taniguchi, and luckily finished with a Croatia goal kick. 

Croatia kept the ball in their possession, working their way up the pitch with short passes. 

Croatia's best chance was in the 8th minute - Perisic was one-on-one with the Japan keeper and tried bending his shot to hit the far post. Gonda got his hands on the ball, which went back into play. Kramaric was unable to get a shot off in the penalty area. 

Croatia was otherwise quite shaky, with two dangerous free kicks given to Japan by the 18th minute. They were also allowing Japan to get crosses into the box. 

Petkovic had an open chance in the 25th minute. Instead of finding Kramaric alone in the penalty area, he shot at the keeper. Perisic got a great ball into the box for Kramaric, who was double-teamed by the Japan defense. 

Croatia was finally pressing Japan's defense but was unable to finish. However, in the next 10 minutes, they struggled to get out of their third. 

We were lucky at this point that Japan couldn't finish, either. That is, until the 44th minute. Another dangerous Japan free-kick found made its way into the box. Petkovic left his player unmarked. He played Lovren's mark Maeda who scored for 1-0 Japan. 

Croatia had a final chance from a corner to end the half, which was 1-0. The first half ended with 59% possession for Croatia. 

The second half started without substitutions for either side. 

Daichi Kamada shot from the edge of the penalty area and over the crossbar in the 46th minute. 

Kovacic shot on goal off a Juranvic throw-in in the 48th minute. At this point, Croatia struggled to win tackles and headers. 

Croatia called for a penalty on Petkovic in the 51st, but the ref refused to consult VAR. 

Japan was awarded another corner kick in the 53rd minute. 

But then it finally happened for Croatia. A brilliant ball from Lovren found Perisic in the penalty area who perfectly headed far post into the goal for 1-1! 

Japan threatened in the next attack, forcing Livakovic to save the shot with his fingertips and out for a Japan corner. Croatia's defense struggled again in the 60th, allowing Japan to get a shot off. 

Dalic made his first sub in the 61st minute. Budimir went in for Petkovic. 

And then Modric had a stellar shot in the 62nd minute, forcing the Japan keeper to make one of the best diving saves of the tournament. 

Japan made their first subs in the 65th minute for fresh legs. Kaoru Mitoma went in for Yuto Nagatomo.

Croatia had another great chance in the 66th minute. Kramaric crossed to Budimir whose header just missed the goal.

Dalic subbed off Kramamric for Pasalic in the 67th minute. 

Japan made another sub. Hiroki Sakai (Japan) came on for Daichi Kamada.

Perisic had an incredible chance in the 77th minute. Budimir brilliantly played Perisic on the left wing, whose rocket just missed the goal. The ball went out for a corner. 

Japan had yet another free kick in the 80th minute, which Juranovic cleared. 

Croatia seemed to be waiting for a hole to open in Japan's defense. Perisic played into the box to Pasalic whose header missed the goal in the 86th minute. 

Kovacic was shown a yellow card in the 90th minute. 

The match ended 1-1 in regulation time and went to extra time, where two 15-minute halves are played. Neither team made substitutions. 

Japan had a corner in the 91st minute. And another in the 95th minute. 

Dalic made two subs in the 98th minute - Modric came out for Majer and Vlasic for Kovacic. Pasalic stayed on the right wing and Vlasic in the middle. 

Japan had their best chance of the first half in the 105th minute. A brilliant save by Livakovic saved Croatia, then the defense struggled to clear the ball. Japan was given a corner kick. The first half ended without goals. 

Dalic subbed on Livaja and Orsic for Budimir and Perisic to start the second half. The future of the Croatia national team was on the pitch for the second half. 

Japan was in Croatia's half for the first five minutes. Livaja's shot deflected off for a corner in the 111th minute. Croatia continued to attack. 

Livakovic saved another dangerous Japan attack in the 115th minute. 

Croatia had a deep throw-in in the 119th minute. The red added one minute of stoppage time. Majer almost shot on target in the final minute. The match went to penalties.

Japan was up first. 

Livakovic saved Minamino's penalty!!!

Vlasic scored Croatia's first penalty!!!

Livakovic saved Japan's second penalty too, taken by Mitoma!!!

Brozovic scored next for Croatia!!! Croatia was up by two. 

Japan scored their next penalty by Asano. 

Livaja went up next for Croatia and hit the post... 

But Livakovic saved the day again and saved Japan's next penalty!!!

Pasalic needed to score the next one for Croatia to book their spot in the quarterfinal...

And he did! 

Croatia will play the winner of Brazil and South Korea in the 2022 World Cup quarter-final on Friday! 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

December 4, 2022 - Croatia national team coach Zlatko Dalić and superstar center-back Joško Gvardiol addressed the press ahead of the World Cup round of 16 match against Japan. 

Croatia will play Japan at Al Janoub Stadium on Monday at 6 pm local time. There is a fantastic atmosphere within the Croatia national team. Apart from Borna Sosa, everyone else is fully prepared and focused on Japan.

Japan announced that they would enter the match like Samurai.

"We respect our opponent, the winner who defeated two world champions, Spain and Germany. In their defeats, they showed character and quality. We must not underestimate anyone. We know they will go into the match like Samurai; we won't do any worse, either. We know what kind of opponent we are playing against and our mentality. We have to position ourselves in the same way. We will play with maximum respect for the opponent, so the pitch will show who is better," Dalić emphasized at the beginning of the press conference.

He also spoke about Borno Sosa, who was not at yesterday's press conference due to exhaustion.

"We have the last training, so we will see the situation. If Borna is not ready, we will not risk anything. We will look for a replacement. We are still waiting. We need players at full strength for tomorrow because that game will demand it. Regardless of choice, we are ready and will give our best. Whoever we have given our trust to has justified it so far," he adds.

Joško Gvardiol said he was honored to join the coach at this press conference.

"I am honored that the coach took me to today's conference. I hope it won't be the last time I announce the match," he said.

"I know the Japanese players very well. They present many problems, and when they are with the national team, they are a team that fights for the whole 90 minutes and will not give up until the end."

They looked back at the 2020 Euros and being knocked out by Spain.

"That was the situation then. Joško came from the young national team, and we trusted him. You can't become a player if you don't have support. And then we endured some things and matured. Of course, there will be more mistakes and bad moments, but to become a real player, you must go through it all and play matches. I think that Joško justified our trust," said Dalić. 

Gvardiol agreed.

"Everyone makes mistakes, and I made a mistake then. There were a lot of circumstances. Debut matches and jitters, but that's behind us now. I am open to new challenges."

They say the third time is a charm. Can Croatia win the World Cup?

"No one is happier for it to be than us. We will try; we have a chance. We believe in our dream. I'm always an optimist, but this competition is of high quality. We provide excellent results at World Cups. We are among the last 16 with the smallest population and the smallest country. We are a small country, but with big dreams. The goal is to go as far as possible. When Croatia plays and produces good results, our entire nation is happy, and I want it to last even longer," Dalić said.

"The first step is in front of us, and when we pass it, we will look further. Croatia is successful, and the results are in the rank of a world miracle. This is our quality and our success. We continuously play well in big competitions. We have become a football superpower that everyone respects and must respect. A difficult match awaits us against an opponent who wants to prove itself. It will be difficult for us. However, we are happy to be here at the World Cup, that was our goal, and now the goal is to make the nation happy." 

And finally - is this the last national team competition for Luka Modrić?

"Whatever I say about Luka, it's too little. May God give him health, and may he last longer. I am sure that this is not his last competition for Croatia. His physique, training, work, and professionalism prove us right. He is a very important player. I don't want to talk about individuals. After Belgium, there was talk about Gvardiol. We are a team. That's the only way we can get a result. Not Luka or Gvardiol. The individual will jump out if the team is good. Luka is our captain and leader, let him continue," said Dalić. 

Source: HRT

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December 2, 2022 - Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić addressed the press the morning after Croatia secured their World Cup round of 16 spot. Croatia will play Japan on Monday, and Dalić gave his first impressions. 

The Croatia national team will play in the 2022 World Cup round of 16 against Japan, the winner of Group E. Second-placed Croatia will thus face a rather unexpected opponent for a spot in the quarter-final. Coach Zlatko Dalić spoke to the press in Qatar the morning after Groups E and F were completed. 

Recall Croatia and Morocco drew 0-0 in the opening match, after which Croatia beat Canada 4-1 and finished 0-0 against Belgium, enough to win second place in Group F. Croatia thus crosses over with the winner of Group E, Japan, which lost to Costa Rica 0-1, and beat Germany and Spain 2-1.

Have you had time to analyze the match against Belgium one more time?

"I looked at it last night in peace, I got the statistics, and the impression is better than yesterday. Great match by Croatia, great 98 minutes. Control, defense, pressing - everything was at the highest level. Full control. We had two or three situations that could have been fatal, but they came from our mistakes, not Belgium's game.

The complete story was great. There were so many good things. According to statistics, we ran 122 kilometers and did not fail in that segment. Everything we did was very, very good. The impression after the recording is better than after the game."

What awaits Croatia against Japan?

"Tough game for both teams. Spain took the lead and thought it was over, but Japan never wavers and never gives up. Japan deserved to win because they were compact and fast. Germany was eliminated, and Belgium and Denmark, which speaks of the quality of the other national teams. Maybe earlier, we would have chosen Japan as the best option, but they beat Germany and Spain, and Japan is anything but an easy opponent."

How is Croatia doing physically?
"We work very well all the time; training is at a high level. We didn't fail the physical fitness part, and I'm not afraid of that. We have to rest for two days and prepare for Japan, but we are full of energy and motivation. We want to avoid injury. We can't rest the whole team, but it's not necessary either."

How would you rate Japan as a team, and what will be critical for that game?
"If someone finishes first in the group ahead of Spain and Germany, they are good and quality. Japan showed that they do not give up. They came back after losing and have great quality. We must be disciplined and patient and not make mistakes at the beginning of the game. Japan punishes it with counterattacks. We have to have a good comeback."

How does it feel to be statistically one of the best coaches at the World Cup?
"I will look at it from the aspect of Croatian football and the national team. We have continuity; we are always at the top. Along with Germany and France, we are the only ones with medals in the last 20 years. We are a small country; we must be happy and proud. It's not my success, but it's the success of all of us. I hope this is not the end and that Croatia will do better and bigger things.

We have become a team that deserves the respect I'm talking about, not that we play at 1 pm as World Cup finalists. We deserved it with the results. However this ends, it is a fact."

What is the next goal?
"Appetites have not increased. We must be calm and modest and look for what is most important. It's the next game. We must not think that we have done great things. We did what we were preparing for, and we are moving on. When we were first in the group with nine points in Russia in 2018, we went to Denmark. I said then that we would have been losers if we had lost that game. No one would remember the group.

It is the same now. We will not go with big announcements. We will try to win the next game and take the next step. We must be firmly on the ground. We know that Japan has a lot of players in Europe, or eight of them in the Bundesliga. They also have players at Celtic, good players in the championship. The Japan coach knows European football. Japan will be a worthy rival to Croatia.

I'm not surprised that Japan is in the round of 16. They deserved it with their games and quality, and I congratulate them on that."

Dalić commented on the photo of Joško Gvardiol in his mother's arms.

"It warmed my heart when I saw it. That's why he's the best stopper in the world; you can't be complete if you don't have those feelings. That picture is the picture of the Croatia national team. I congratulate his mother for raising such a son."

And what about that VAR call in last night's match?
"I don't usually comment on the reffing, but I was angry. It's a centimeter; it takes away the emotion. Because of this, Croatia lost the World Cup title. It hurts. If this were the interpretation, that hand in Russia would not be a penalty."

Source: Index.hr

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June 25, 2022 - Croatia and Japan met in Debrecen for their final match of Group B at the FINA World Championships in Hungary. By winning 21:13, Croatia takes 2nd place in Group B. 

Ivica Tucak's team faced Japan in their final Group B match on Saturday evening. Greece and Germany will meet in the second match at 19:30. Before this game, Greece and Croatia had three points each at the top of the group, in which only the winner goes directly to the quarterfinals. Japan had two points and Germany was without points.

Croatia was able to secure first place in the group if they won by 12 goals or 11 if they scored more than 18 goals. Namely, their competitor for first place, Greece, defeated Japan 18:7 and set the bar high for the Barracudas. Croatia would finish 2nd if they beat Japan with less than 12 goals or a draw.

Match report

1st quarter

Croatia won the sprint and thus had the first attack of the match which did not result in a goal. Vukicevic scored Croatia's first goal for 1:0 with 6:27 on the clock and Vrlic made it 2:0 with 5:44 left. Japan scored their first goal 20 seconds later for 1:2. Japan scored a penalty with 4:50 left to equalize at 2:2. Japan led 3:2 with 2:55 left. Buric scored brilliantly for 3:3 with 2:35 on the clock. Buric scored again for 4:3 Croatia with 23 seconds to go in the first quarter. 

2nd quarter

Croatia won the sprint and first attack in the second quarter as well, but Japan was first to score. It was 4:4 with 7:18 on the clock. Japan took the lead at 5:4 with 6:47 to go but Croatia soon equalized for 5:5. Japan retook the lead at 6:5 with 5:01 left, and it was 7:5 for Japan with 4:36 left. Kharkov scored for 7:6.  Kharkov equalized for 7:7 with 3:28 to go until halftime. Japan retook the lead for 8:7 with 3:03 left. And it was 9:7 for Japan with 2:22 to go. Japan led 9:7 going into halftime. 

3rd quarter

Fatovic scored for 9:8 with 6:57 to go. Japan went to 10:8 in the next attack. Fatovic scored for 10:9 with 6:11 left. Kharkov scored a penalty to equalize at 10:10 with 5:22 left. Krapic finally put Croatia back in the lead for 11:10 with 4:02 left. Krapic put Croatia ahead by 2 goals with 2:46 left. Popadic saved a Japan penalty 20 seconds later. Fatovic scored for 13:11 with 55 seconds left. Bukic scored for 14:11 to end the third quarter with Croatia up by 3 goals. 

4th quarter

Japan was the first to score for -2 (12:14), but Vukicevic quickly put Croatia back to +3 (15:12). Krapic scored for 16:12 with 4:45 left in the match. Kharkov made it 17:12 for Croatia with 4:00 minutes to go. Krapic scored yet again for 18:12 Croatia with just under 3 minutes to go, and again for 19:12 with 2:15 on the clock. It was 20:12 for Croatia with one minute left. Kharkov scored for 21:12 with less than 30 seconds left. The match ended at 21:13 for Croatia. 

Croatia thus finishes 2nd in Group B, meaning they will need to play in the round of 16. Croatia will play next on Monday for a spot in the quarterfinals. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated sports section. 

December 6, 2021 - The Croatia women's handball team lost to Japan in the last game of Group G at the World Championship in Spain. Japan topped Croatia 28:26.

Croatia entered this match without three important players, Ćamila Mičijević, Ivana Dežić, and Dora Krsnik, who are out of the squad after testing positive for Covid-19. Coach Nenad Šoštarić had 10 players and three goalkeepers at his disposal for the match against Japan.

Croatia fought a great battle against a persistent, tough, and quick Japan, led about 50 minutes of the match, but were left without strength in the end. Croatia did not score a goal in the last seven minutes, and after leading 23:20 in the 46th minute, they fell behind 24:26. Mistakes plagued the end of the match and defeat was inevitable.

Larissa Kalaus scored six goals for Croatia and Ana Turk five, while Nakayama led Japan with nine goals.

Croatia played against Japan only once before at the 2005 World Championship in Russia.

The match against Japan was important because the winner transfers two points to the second round. Three national teams advance from each group. After that, four new groups of six teams will be formed, and the national teams will transfer the points won against other teams from the group to the second round.

Thus, Japan will transfer two points to the second round of the competition, while Croatia will not transfer any, because they only won against Paraguay, which ended its journey in the championship.

In the second match of the group, Brazil defeated Paraguay 33-19. Thus, in the second round, Brazil transferred four points, Japan two, and Croatia no points.

In the second round in Alicante, Croatia will play Spain (4), Argentina (2), and Austria (0).

Recap

CROATIA: Bešen (0+1), Kapitanović, Pijević (6); P. Posavec 3, S. Posavec 3, Kalaus 6(3), Ježić 4, Burić, Šimara, Debelić 4, Turk 5, Mamić, Blažević 1. Coach: Nenad Šoštarić.

JAPAN: Kametani (8+1), Baba; Nagata 1, Fujita, Gray, Ohyama 1(1), Aizawa 3, Matsumoto, Iwabuchi, Kondo 2, Nakayama 9(4), Yamamoto, Kitihara 4, Sahara 2, Hattori 6(1), Yoshidome. Coach: Shigeo Kusomoto.

7-meter throws: Croatia 4(3), Japan 9(6).

Exclusions: Hrvatska 8 minutes, Japan 12 minutes

Player of the match: Kaho Nakayama.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

January 15, 2021 - Croatia and Japan draw in the first round of Group C at the World Championship in Egypt. 

After the tournament host Egypt and Chile opened the 2021 World Handball Championship on Wednesday, and a day later seven more first-round matches were played, the Croatia handball team met Japan to begin their Group C campaign at the World Championship in Egypt. 

On Thursday, coach Lino Červar wrote off four players for the first round of the competition, thus cutting the player list to 16 names to begin Croatia's journey at the World Champs.

Croatia is the favorite of Group C, which also includes Angola and Qatar.

Croatia v. Japan Recap

Strlek put Croatia in the lead in the first minute for 1:0, though Japan equalized moments later from a 7-meter shot for 1:1. Japan took the lead in the 3rd minute for 1:2.

Strlek scored the equalizer for 2:2 in the 5th minute. Japan scored for 2:3 in the 6th, and 2:4 in the 7th. Japan was up by 3 goals in the 10th minute, up by 4 in the 11th, and up by 5 just moments later.

Martinovic gave Croatia life again in the 12th minute for 3:7 and again for 4:7 in the 14th. 

Mamic scored for 5:8 in the 15th and Maric for 6:9 in the 16th.

Japan was up by 5 goals in the 19th minute - 7:12. 

Horvat scored for 8:12 in the 20th minute. 

Japan had its biggest lead in the 22nd minute - 8:14. Martinovic scored for 9:14 moments later. 

Japan took advantage of Croatia's shaky defense and scored in almost every attack. Croatia missed many certain goals, which came back to haunt them. 

Horvat scored for 11:16 in the 25th minute. 

With one minute to go in the first half, Cindric scored for 14:17, which was the result going into halftime. 

Maric scored for Croatia to open the second half and bring them only two goals behind - 15:17 in the 31st minute. Cindric scored for 16:18 in the 33rd minute. Cupic made it 17:19 in the 37th.

Japan was up by four goals in the 39th minute. 

Maric scored for 18:21 in the 40th minute. Horvat scored for 19:22 in the 42nd. 

Duvnjak finally scored for 20:22 in the 43rd minute and again for 21:22 in the 45th. Cindric scored for 22:23.

Croatia finally equalized in the 48th minute thanks to a Brozovic goal for 23:23! It took them nearly all game.

Duvnjak made it 24:24 with 10 minutes to go and Maric scored yet again for 25:25! 

Cindric scored for 26:26 with 7 minutes to go and 25:25 with 5 minutes to go.

Cupic scored from 7-meters with 3 minutes to go - 28:28.

Cupic scored for 29:29, which was the final result of the game.  

The three best teams from each group will advance and transfer points to the next round. 

In the second round, there will be four groups with six national teams each, and the two best will advance to the quarterfinals, from which they will play by knockout until the end of the competition. 

Group C intersects with Group D, which includes Denmark, Argentina, Bahrain, and DR Congo.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

June 21, 2019 - The Croatia water polo team and Japan met on Friday for the quarterfinal of the World League Super Final in Belgrade. 

Croatia continued their fight for a spot at the Tokyo Olympics next year against Japan in the quarterfinal of the World League Super Final in Belgrade, Serbia. In the group stage of the tournament, Croatia defeated Kazakhstan and Australia and lost by a goal to Serbia. Croatia thus secured second place in Group B. 

Croatia kicked off the quarterfinal match with a goal by Maro Jaković a minute into the first quarter, which was followed by another from Andro Bušlje for 0:2 Croatia. Japan came back with a goal by Inaba with less than 5 minutes to go in the first and equalized with just over three minutes to go. Japan even took the lead a minute later for 3:2,  but Bušlje and Fatović put Croatia back ahead for 3:4 at the end of the first quarter. 

Fatović opened the second quarter for Croatia with a goal, which was followed by another for 3:6 with just under six minutes to go in the second. Japan came back with one for 4:6 30 seconds later, and Krapić increased Croatia’s lead to 4:7. A goal by Vukičević made the game 4:8, and while Japan came back for 6:8 with a minute and a half to go before halftime, Šetka and Miloš pushed the result to 6:10 at the half. 

Croatia continued dominating in the third quarter - Fatović scored for 6:11, and by the middle of the quarter, Croatia was leading by six goals (8:14). The third quarter ended at 8:15 for Croatia. 

Croatia won the sprint at the start of the fourth quarter and increased their lead thanks to a goal by Krapić for 8:16 a minute in. Japan came back with two goals to decrease Croatia’s lead to 10:16, but Buljubašić scored for 10:17. It was 11:17 with four minutes to go, but Joković put Croatia back up to 11:18 seconds later. 

With two minutes to go, Croatia led 12:20, and the game ended an incredible 13:20 for Croatia. 

In the semifinal, Croatia will play the winner of Spain v. Kazakhstan. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Croatia handball team met Japan in their second game of Group B at the World Championship in Munich, reports Gol.hr on January 13, 2019. 

After the Croatia men’s handball team opened the 2019 World Handball Championship with a major victory against Iceland, they faced Japan at 16:30 on Sunday. 

Croatia entered the game as the favorite over Japan, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Already by the 5th minute, Croatia was up 3:1, though Šego did have to make some good saves in goal. 

It was Vranković and Štrlek to break Japan for 6:1 in the 8th minute and Duvnjak lobbed one across the entire court for 7:1. 

Japan finally got their second goal in the 13th minute and continued with a series of goals for 10:6 in the 15th. 

With Šego’s excellent goalkeeping, Japan really wasn’t able to do much - Horvat scored for 13:7 and Karačić scored for 14:7. Japan, however, was finally able to come back to -5. 

Bičanić and Karačić scored for 18:12 in the 30th minute, and at the half, the score was 18:13 for Croatia. 

Croatia continued strong in the second half, and by the 40th minute, Croatia was up by 10 - and better yet, with the help of Mandić, Croatia was up by 11 in the 49th minute. 

Croatia did not fail to keep the big advantage in the remaining 10 minutes and ended the game with a final result of 35:27. Croatia has thus secured their second win in Group B of the World Championship. Zlatko Horvat was named the player of the match. 

Croatia will play Macedonia on Monday, January 14th, for their third game of Group B, followed by Bahrain on the 16th and Spain to finish off the group on January 17th.

Bravo, Croatia!

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