Croatia beats Ghana to advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup

The Croatian national football team has advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup, after beating Ghana 2:1 in Philadelphia last night. Croatia will now play Portugal in the round of 32. The game will be played in Toronto Stadium with opening kick-off set for 7PM EST.

Going into the decisive final match of the group stage Coach Zlatko Dalić decided to leave defender Joško Gvardiol, winger Marco Pašalić and striker Petar Musa on the bench, and instead started midfielders Nikola Vlašić and Petar Sučić, with Ante Budimir leading the attack.

It was precisely Vlašić and Sučić who got the ball rolling for Croatia. Vlašić had the first big chance of the game hitting the goalpost - in the 18th minute of play. Croatia would take the lead in the 31st minute of play, after Mateo Kovačić found an unchecked Sučić, who drilled the ball in to the lower left corner of the Ghana net from more than 20 meters out.

With Croatia playing an aggressive dominant game, Ghana's only real chance in the first half came in the 40th minute of play when winger Antoine Semenyo shot just wide of Dominik Livaković's goal. However, going into the second Ghana made a series of substitutions and changed-up their formation for a much more aggressive style play. This would pay off in the 73rd minute of play, when center-back Derrick Luckassen scored his first ever goal for the national team after converting a free kick with a header.

However, this did cause a panic within the Croatian ranks, as a draw would have also been enough to ensure the team's place in the knockout stage. Nonetheless, coach Dalić's team was clearly looking for a win, and in the 82nd minute of play midfielder Mario Pašalić's blistering shot seemed sure to give Croatia the lead but goalkeeper Benjamin Asare made a spectacular save but pushing the ball over the crossbar for a Croatian corner. However, Asare was unable to keep the ball out of Ghana's net on the ensuing corner, after a crisp ball in from captain Luka Modrić found Vlašić who masterfully nodded the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Here's what Vlašić had to say about scoring the biggest goal of his national team career: “Yeah it's an incredible feeling to score, but the win was the most important thing. It's always nice to score, but honestly, it would have been all the same to me if anybody else had scored the goal, because this is truly a group of good players, we all stick together, we pray together, and God means a lot to all of us. And I think people can see that. This is a unity in which I truly feel that we are like one family.”

For Sučić his goal to take the early lead was the first World Cup goal of his promising career. However, he too, was more focused on the team and playing well as a unit: “We knew how tough they are on defense, and that it would be a tough game, but I think that today we truly played a good game today. I would say that we were in good form today. Obviously, things can always be better. There are always a few details to fine tune. But, I have to congratulate the boys, we achieved our first goal, and that was to pass the group stage.

In the other Group "L" game played in East Rutherford New Jersey, England beat Panama 2:0. England thus finishes first in the group with seven points from two wins and one draw, while Croatia is second with six points from two wins and one loss. Ghana is third with four points from one win, one draw and one loss, while Panama was eliminated with three losses. Here's what coach Dalić had to say about the win and advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup: “It was a big win and we ended the group stage with six points. Ghana was a difficult opponent and they played very well. We changed our tactics somewhat, and it was truly fantastic. What we showed today, is that we have returned to our traditional settings, what we've been doing for the past nine years. That's the way we played today. I was a little erratic in this regard in the first two games, but this was the true Croatia. We have achieved our goal of advancing past the group stage, and now we're moving on. We'll return to our base camp today, put this game behind us and prepare for the next game.”

In the round of 32, Croatia will play Portugal, who finished second in Group "K" after a draw with Colombia in their final round of play. Croatia will return to Toronto for the Portugal game, with opening kick-off at 7PM eastern Standard Time on Thursday, or 1AM Central European Time on Friday. Should Croatia beat Portugal it would go on to face the winner of the Spain - Austria game.

Source: HRT