FIFA World Cup 2022 saw quite a few upsets. While it started with Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina in the league match, fans would hope that Portugal losing to Morocco was the last upset they had to witness. Among all such heartbreaks and unpredicted results was also Brazil’s defeat to Croatia in the quarterfinals of the tournament. The five-time champions lost in a penalty shootout to see their way out.
After a goalless full-time, Neymar opened the scoring for Brazil in extra time. However, Bruno Petkovic scored the equalizer for Croatia in the dying minutes of extra time to force the match into a penalty shootout. Dominik Livakovic was at it yet again as he saved two of the four penalty shoots aimed at the Croatia net. Marquinhos and Rodrygo failed to covert for Brazil resulting in a 2-4 defeat for the Seleção.
Now, Juergen Klinsmann has explained the reason behind Brazil's defeat to Croatia. The German has criticized the strategy adopted by the Neymar-led team. He has opined that Brazil’s best shooters should have taken penalties first. He cited Argentina’s example who decided to start the penalty shootout with Lionel Messi. Notably, Neymar had kept himself fifth in the line while taking the penalties.
"We were freaking out, it was real drama. We tried to discuss the difference between the drama from the Brazil game compared to the Argentina v Netherlands game and we came up with some ideas," Klinsmann said at a Technical Study Group briefing.
"After conceding the equaliser in the 117th minute, Brazil had no time to switch gears. From the disappointment of conceding a last-minute goal to the penalty shootout, there was no time to settle and approach the shootout positively. For Brazil, they should have maybe put their best shooter first, set the tone with the best penalty taker you have and then go down the rankings."
"With Argentina, they had extra time to play, even with the shock of the (Wout) Weghorst equaliser in the last minute," Klinsmann added. "They had 30 minutes more to play. At the end of the game they were far more clearer (in the head) going into the penalty shootout."