In 109 minutes of a pulsating, nerve-wracking match. world cup It was a long time coming, and referee Espen Escos finally called time.
Portugal advanced to the round of 16 after a close match. 2-1 victory over Croatia Thursday at Toronto Stadium.
That doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the most dramatic of clashes, which ended in a relentless back-and-forth game, with Josko Gvardiol’s game-saving equalizer 13 minutes into the second half having its cruelest ending for Croatia, only to be ruled out for offside after a video review.
Croatian legend Luka Modric, 40, looked as depressed as he heard the final whistle in what is likely to be the last time he will play in a World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, lives to fight again tomorrow, and moments before that he could not hide his expression of relief as he stood helplessly on the sidelines, believing Portugal had won.
Here’s how it all happened.
First goal in stoppage time
After 90 minutes of play, an electronic bulletin board announced 10 minutes of extra time, but at that point it was hard to imagine how much drama would be packed into the next few minutes.
In the 94th minute, Rafael Leao sent in a swirling cross that substitute Gonzalo Ramos rose high to meet and head home past the diving Croatian goalkeeper.
Cue enthusiastic celebrations by the Portuguese players. They had to survive the last few minutes and advance to the next round.
Croatian counterattack
As the clock struck 103 minutes, Croatia knew their time was running out.
From the left side, Ivan Perisic fired an in-swinging cross into the box with his right foot.
Igor Mantanovich slightly glances with his head – and this is very important – to flick the ball. It bounced off Mario Palasic’s thigh and rolled down the goal.
Gvardior charged forward and smashed the ball into the back of the net.
It’s time for Croatian players and fans to get excited. Ronaldo, on the other hand, shook his head in disbelief.
But wait…
As the celebrations continued, replays showed Parasic was in an offside position when the ball came to him. However, the shot hit Portugal national team defender Renato Veiga midway through, and the Portuguese player’s last touch raised the possibility of it being onside.
VAR will begin reviewing the footage immediately. Croatia’s hopes rest in the hands of a video assistant.
Meanwhile, Portugal’s staff watched replays on the sideline and are convinced it was offside.
The key question is whether Mantanovic actually made contact with the ball before it hit Veiga.
This was because Parasic was standing in an offside position the last time the Croatian player played the ball forward.
Sensors inside the World Cup ball were able to detect slight contact, and Escos was directed to the sideline monitor, where he confirmed Mantanovic’s contact.
“Croatia’s number 20 touches the ball…Final decision: offside,” an announcement was made over the stadium’s speaker system.
The Portuguese players cheered as if they had scored a goal. There were tears in the eyes of the Croatian players. Perisic fell to his knees. Modric threw his hands in the air.
Enraged Croatian fans threw bottles onto the field, delaying the restart for several minutes.
What happened up until then…
The first half was a misfire, with nothing to separate the teams, but things changed after half-time, with Perisic putting Croatia ahead in the 53rd minute.
Leo almost equalized with Portugal’s long-range curling shot, which hit the bar and came back. Ronaldo then thought he had scored his first goal in a World Cup final, but was ruled out for a slight offside, which would be a theme for this match.
Portugal is undergoing many changes. Ronaldo stays
Portugal coach Roberto Martínez will make four substitutions at a time in an attempt to turn the game on its head. Crucially, he has kept Ronaldo despite the veteran forward struggling to make an impact.
From a Portuguese corner kick, giant defender Veiga falls to the ground after a penalty challenge from Nikola Vlasic. Ronaldo fired a shot into the center of the goal, tying the match and ultimately scoring in the final round of the World Cup.
Diogo Costa’s heroic goalkeeping
Croatia has many chances, having reached the final and semi-final of the last two World Cups. Portugal’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa blocked Mateo Kovacic’s long-range shot and then stopped the player’s shot as well. He then made a sprawling save to block Igor Matanovic from close range.
Petar Susic beat Costa, but his celebrations were cut short by an offside flag.
In the 81st minute, Portugal made further changes by removing Ronaldo for what could have been his last World Cup appearance.
After leaving the contest, Ronaldo wore the jersey of former teammate Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident exactly one year ago. He and his teammates soaked in the emotion of the victory and thought of their dear friend.
Meanwhile, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic wondered what happened and had harsh words about video replay rules and decisions.
“All these decisions take the joy out of football. I’m not saying VAR isn’t useful sometimes, but VAR kills the emotion of the game. It kills everything inside you. It kills what you’re experiencing in the moment. Football should be fair. We’ve gone too far with VAR.”
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
