FIFA World Cup : Croatia vs Canada

 With two upsets earlier in the day, the match between last time finalist Croatia & Canada was expected to be fiercely fought, & both the teams provided enough excitement for the spectators. 

Canada, needing nothing less than a victory stormed into an early lead within 2minutes of the game, as Alphonso Davies jumped up to intercept a delightful cross sent by Buchanan from the right & his brilliant header went in like a bullet into the Croatian net past the hapless keeper for the fastest goal of the tournament till now. Davies had made a hash of a penalty earlier against Belgium, when Courtois had blocked his shot, & today he made amends in style, for the first ever Canadian World Cup goal. 

Croatia struggled for their customary midfield control initially, & gradually got into the groove. Opening the Canadian defense & midfield, Kramaric had a the ball into the net, only to be ruled offside. However, they kept the pressure building & got their reward when Perisic played a beautiful pass inside the box & the onrushing Kramaric fired a left footer past the outstretched keeper to level the score. The Croatians sensing blood, kept up the ante & just before half time found their lead, when Livaja fired them ahead beating keeper Borjan with a cool strike. 

After an entertaining 1st half, Canada again started the 2nd half in cavalier fashion looking for an equaliser & Osorio missed his mark by inches from just outside the box as the ball went past the bar. Croatia too pushed ahead & Kramaric missed with just Borjan to beat. Around the 70th minute, Kramaric got his second goal, as Perisic sent a delightful pass from the left side inside the box & Kramaric received & his low shot beat Borjan into the bottom corner, as score line read 3-1 in favour of Croatia. Canada continued to press hard, but despite their intent, finishing was their bane. On the other side, Croatia, kept control & from another counter attack in the injury time, Lovro Majer found the net to end the game 4-1. The midfield superiority of the Croatians with masters in Modric, Perisic & Kovacic in the fray, despite their greying years. With this result, Canada is virtually out of reckoning for the round of 16. For Croatia, they now sit top in Group F with a game left against Belgium, where a draw should see them into the knockout stages. However, its going to be a must win game for Belgium & hence this could be a humdinger for the spectators.