The battle of two underdogs, presumably a boring match, turned out to be a thrilling Quarterfinal game. Two goals within 90 minutes and two goals scored during the extra time(one of them with 5 minutes left ), put the game into the Penalty Shoot Out!
The big-name star players among these two teams are Luka Modric (Man of the Match) and Ivan Rakitic, and they are both from Croatia. They both played well and to their standard.
Zero to Hero and to Zero
Mario Hernandes, the Brazil-born Russian defender had an average game. He scored the equalizing goal in 115 minutes with a thumping header. However, He could'nt cope with the huge pressure during the penalty shoot out, he missed his shot, far off the target, it was indeed a poor penalty.
Croatia marched to the Semifinal with England awaiting.