Five conclusions after Croatia squeeze past valiant Denmark | OneFootball

It might not have been the best spectacle we’ve seen at this World Cup, but any game settled by penalties is alwauys going to be dramatic.

Denmark gave a great account of themselves in Nizhny Novgorod but they’ll be going home, while Croatia will face Russia – the conquerors of Spain – in the quarter-final.

Here’s what we made of it all …

This World Cup has been uniquely brilliant

The World Cup is always an amazing festival of football, but there’s something about this one that makes it stand out from the crowd.

You might think a World Cup without the likes of Germany, Argentina, Portugal and Spain (not to mention Italy and the Netherlands) is no World Cup at all, but this tournament isn’t necessarily better or worse than any of those that went before, it’s just different.

We’ve seen big shocks, countless beautiful goals, a number of crazy matches (France 4-3 Argentina was the first time in history a World Cup match has finished 4-3 after 90 minutes) and whatever you think of VAR, you surely can’t deny it’s added an extra layer of drama to a game which was already pretty dramatic to begin with.

After the damp squib that was Euro 2016, Russia 2018 has been a breath of fresh air and however it ends, we’ll still be reminiscing fondly about this tournament many years from now.

And just when you thought we’d had enough madness for one day after Spain were dumped out on penalties, Croatia and Denmark produced two hilariously slapstick goals inside the first four minutes on Sunday night. We really have been spoilt.

Four years from now, the first 48-team World Cup will kick off in December in Qatar. Things will never be the same again, so enjoy the status quo while it lasts.

It hasn’t been a great summer to be a goalkeeper

Danijel Subašić became the latest World Cup goalkeeper with egg on his face when he allowed Mathias Jørgensen’s tame effort to slip under him for the opening goal after less than a minute of this match.

The Croatian’s error wasn’t the first high-profile gaffe this tournament has produced, and it probably won’t be the last.

It will be a long time before Argentina’s Willy Caballero will be able to show his face in his homeland after his sensational blunder against Croatia earlier in the tournament, while Manuel Neuer will cringe every time he remembers how he was dispossessed miles from his goal for South Korea’s winner against Germany last week.

Even David de Gea – arguably the best goalkeeper in the world – never really recovered from his shocking mistake in Spain’s 3-3 draw with Portugal, and ended the tournament having made just one save.

The Goalkeepers’ Union will be working overtime trying to clean up this mess, and who knows whether the Adidas Telstar ball has in some way been responsible for some of these clangers.

But for the neutral, goalkeeping howlers will always make things more interesting, so let’s hope for a few more over the next couple of weeks.

Ante Rebić has quietly been one of the best players at the World Cup

There was a bit of noise being made about Croatia’s number 18 before this tournament began, and it’s growing louder with every passing game.

He may not have had a great deal of competition, but Rebić was the best player on the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium pitch on Sunday night and his pace, power and intelligent movement provided a constant threat down the right-hand-side, before it won what should have been the match-winning penalty deep into extra-time.

Back in May, the 24-year-old scored twice to give Eintracht Frankfurt a shock 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal final and the Bundesliga champions are just one of a number of big clubs said to be sniffing around the former Fiorentina man this summer.

His stunning volley against Argentina raised his profile even further and his performances throughout the tournament have probably added a few million euros to his transfer value.

Four years ago in Brazil, his World Cup ended in disgrace when he was sent off for a studs-up challenge on Mexico’s Carlos Peña. He still has fewer than 20 caps for his country but the way things are going, he could be a mainstay of this Croatian team for years to come.

We’re going to hearing a lot more about this guy, that’s for sure.

Thought that game was boring? Get used to it

The two matches were saw today served as a reminder that not every game at this stage of the tournament can be France 4-3 Argentina, or even Uruguay 2-1 Portugal.

The line between triumph and disaster could not be clearer once we reach the last 16. Win and you’re still alive, lose and you’re on the first plane home.

The first five minutes of this game may have suggested we were in for a mad one, but the following 115 were probably even more forgettable than Spain v Russia, and that’s saying something.

You can’t blame teams for playing a bit more conservatively with the stakes so high, and we’re probably in for more cagey, tactical battles than seven goal thrillers from here on in.

If you’re desperate for entertainment, we can recommend a very good circus.

The last man rule needs to be revised

At the start of the last domestic season, the rule was changed so that committing a foul in the penalty area as the “last man” was no longer punishable by a straight red card.

In principle, it was a sound idea. If you are denied a clear goalscoring opportunity then you should be provided with one in return, and it’s unnecessary for the defending team to suffer the “double jeopardy” of giving away a penalty and losing a player.

But tonight, we saw a flaw in the logic.

In the closing stages of extra-time, Rebić raced through on goal, rounded Kasper Schmeichel and was scythed down by Jørgensen just as he was about to tap in what would surely have been the winning goal.

The defender might argue he tried to play the ball, but it was the dictionary definition of a professional foul and, like Luis Suárez’s handball on the line against Ghana in 2010, it should really have warranted a red card.

Instead, Luka Modrić missed the resulting penalty and had Croatia not won the shoot-out anyway, Jørgensen would have been free to play for Denmark in the quarter-final and beyond.

When it comes to fouls in the box, perhaps the punishment should be decided on a case-by-case basis. With the availability of VAR, there’s really no excuse for getting it wrong anymore.

Neither side really did enough to win this match, but Croatia march on and unlucky Denmark head off home.

Beat Russia in the next round and Croatia will face either England, Colombia, Sweden or Switzerland in the semi-final.

The stars are aligning.