Wow, what a day! The quarterfinals of the World Cup on Friday produced two nail-biters with one leading to the biggest upset of the tournament so far as Brazil are heading home after a penalty shootout loss to Croatia.
There was plenty to take away from the two matches on the day. Here are a few takeaways for our OBSERVER ONLINE readers.
Neymar cemented his name in Brazilian history when he scored his 77th goal for the Selecao, equaling a decades-old record held by football great Pele. However, Neymar’s historic goal in the 105th minute wasn’t enough to secure a semi-final spot as the five-time champions were eliminated by Croatia in a penalty shootout.
Livakovic produced another standout performance as he made an amazing 11 saves against an attacking Brazilian side. The 6’2 goalkeeper singlehandedly broke Brazilian hearts, producing save after save with the most important of saves coming in the penalty shootout.
There can be no argument of Messi being missing in action at this World Cup. The Argentina great came up big for his team again, scoring one and assisting on another, as the South Americans beat the Netherlands in a shootout after they played out an exciting 2-2 draw in what was arguably the match of the tournament so far.
Trailing 2-0 with just 10 minutes remaining, the Dutch had looked down and out. But substitute Wout Weghorst had other plans as he grabbed a late brace to send the game into extra-time. Though falling short in the penalty shootout, the Dutch can hold their heads high after a superb performance that showed character.
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