After a Wild Start Levels, Croatia Ousts Denmark in Shootout

For a while, there, it looked like this Round of 16 match at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium would go to the first team scoring 10 goals.

What with the Danes snapping net one minute after kickoff and Croatia matching them three minutes later, the World Cup record book will now show those as the fastest pair of opening goals in the tournament's history.

It won't show, however, the vastness of barren gamescape before a ball touched twine again.

 

If anyone figured they could pick up the action in progress after the sides had settled in, they missed most of the fireworks.

Denmark took advantage of confusion in Croatia’s box, where the ball found its way to Mathias Jørgensen, who gladly accepted his good fortune:

The Danish Dynamite -- really -- barely had time to relish their quick start when the Vatreni -- Blazers -- benefitted from similar confusion inside the Danes' penalty area.

The ball fell to Mario Mandžukić's feet and he didn’t miss, either.

 

So, after only five minutes, it appeared like this would be a shootout of another kind.

 

Nope.

Luka Modrić -- who's  the most talented among a host of Croatia's talented players -- was making silly mistakes, and Christian Eriksen seemed to be matching him gaffe-for-gaffe for the Danes. It was just that kinda match the rest of the way.

However, with four minutes remaining in regulation, Modrić threaded a deep needle to Ante Rebić. Dude navigated past Kasper Schmeichel but was brought down inside the area by Jørgensen.

Modrić had the chance to wrap up the result then and there, but Peter Schmeichel's kid shut him down:

 

On to penalties, and this was a highlight reel for both 'keepers:

• Schmeichel saved two, but
• Danijel Subašić took the match by saving three.

 

That was Ivan Rakitić knocking home the winner as Croatia prevailed on penalties, 3-2.

They made the World Cup semi-finals in 1998, falling to France, 2-1. Dudes have shown the sorta firepower and tenacity to get that close again.

If so, this is the one they'll recall and heave a sigh of relief. It was an escape.