A priori, Dominik Livakovic did not win The goalkeeper’s anxiety at the moment of the penalty (1970), by Peter Handke, as a bedside book in Qatar. The goalkeeper of the Croatian team did not show the slightest emotion when approaching the first penalty shootout of the World Cup, Monday, December 5, against Japan. Minamino’s first shot? Stopped with an authoritarian plunge. Mitoma’s second? The Croatian goalkeeper relaxes and blocks the ball. If Asano manages to deceive the Vatreni wall, the latter has completed his work by stopping the last Japanese shot. Carried by its doorman, Croatia got out of the Japanese trap, and qualified for the quarter-finals of the World Cup (1-1, 3-1 on pens).
“Our goalkeeper was exceptional”, welcomed the Croatian coach, Zladko Dalic, after the meeting. Before Livakovic, logically named man of the match, only two goalkeepers managed to save three shots on goal in the World Cup: the Portuguese Ricardo, in 2006, and his compatriot Danijel Subasic, in 2018.
Is there a school in Croatia that trains goalkeepers to take penalties? The Dynamo Zagreb player hails from Zadar, Dalmatia, like the former AS Monaco goalkeeper. “In Croatia, we do it like that. You saw it four years ago, and I continue the task of my predecessor,” smiled Dominik Livakovic, before refuting having been lucky to come across shooters perhaps impressed by the context. “We had prepared, we had analyzed their shots before the match. They weren’t bad penalties, they were strong. » Among the Croats, the goalkeepers pass, but the quality remains. Finalists of the Russian World Cup – and defeated in the final against France – the Croats had gone through extra time in each round of the competition, with the exception of the final, and had won twice in the penalty shootout to goal.
“A battle of nerves”
On Monday, at the Al-Janoub stadium in Al-Wakrah, in southern Qatar, Luka Modric’s teammates resumed their (good or bad) habit of extending matches beyond regulation time. Opposed to uninhibited and willing Japanese who beat Germany then Spain in the group stage, the Vatreni did not develop a brilliant game. “It was a difficult match and we didn’t manage to be dominant, especially in the middle of the field.recognized coach Zlatko Dalic. But because Japan played a great match. »
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