Russia's World Cup dream came to an end after losing on penalties to Croatia. The home fans' excitement after their team scored a last-minute equaliser, turned to sadness as Croatia won 4-3 on penalties.
Croatia were the favourites for the quarterfinals clash. They got two great midfielders in Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric.
Russia had their hattrick hero against Saudi Arabia, Denis Cheryshev in their line-up. And he made a quick impact with the opening goal in the 31st minute. After taking a pass from Artem Dzyuba, Cheryshev beat Modric and fired home from outside the box.
Then Andrej Kramaric leveled the score just eight minutes later. Mario Mandzukic crossed inside the penalty area for Kramaric to head home.
Both team had their chances but failed to get the winner in 90 minutes. However, Croatia took the lead in the 101st minute, Domagoj Vida headed the ball low into the net from a corner kick.
Five minutes before the end of extra time, Russia draw level again, substitute Alan Dzagoev holding up a free-kick for Mario Fernandes to head home in the 115th minute.
At the end, the winner had to be decided through penalty kicks. Rakitic scored the winning penalty and Croatia beat Russia 4-3 in the shoot-outs. They advance to the semifinals and will face England.
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