Croatia Is the World Cup Team That Refuses to Lose
Croatia, a nation of four million people, needs one more win to reach a second straight World Cup final. If it happens, it will probably come on penalties, and certainly after extra time.DOHA, Qatar — Zlatko Dalic knew that something had to change. Dalic, the coach of Croatia, was just not sure, at that precise moment, exactly what it was. Brazil was starting to ratchet up the pressure, its bright yellow jerseys pouring forward in waves. His Croatia team was scrabbling to repel the attacks. His players, he could see, were barely hanging on.His first instinct was that he needed new blood, fresh legs. In particular, his prized midfield — the timeless Luka Modric and his unflinching lieutenants, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic — seemed to have pushed itself beyond its limit. Perhaps, he and his staff wondered, an increase in energy might offset the unavoidable decrease in quality.In a break in play, Dalic summoned Modric, Croatia’s totemic captain, to the sideline. He was considering “replacing the midfield,” Dalic told him. What did he think? Dalic should have known the answer. Modric, at the age of 37, gave the idea the shortest shrift imaginable. Modric stayed on. He was there as Croatia held out for extra time. He was there as Bruno Petkovic scored a late equalizer to send the game to penalties. He was there to take, and score, the third spot-kick, the one that swept a country of fewer than four million people to the brink of a second successive World Cup semifinal.“This is Croats,” Dalic said. “They take it when it is most difficult.”Luka Modric and Croatia are one win from their second straight World Cup final.Gabriel Bouys/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThat indefatigability, that refusal to countenance defeat, has become Croatia’s calling card. On its run to the World Cup final in 2018 and to a semifinal against Argentina here, Croatia played five knockout games. All five went to extra time. Four of them went to penalties. Croatia won them all. It has become a team that does not so much beat its opponents as outlast them.“We know nobody likes to play against us,” defender Borna Sosa said as his teammates were still celebrating Friday’s victory against Brazil. “We have really good players and a really good mentality, and it is always really difficult to win against us. We are ready to go until the end.”A Brief Guide to the 2022 World CupCard 1 of 9What is the World Cup? More