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#2 Croatia's never-say-die attitude
Croatia began their World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Nigeria following which they hammered South American heavyweights Argentina 3-0 to ensure a Round of 16 spot. They won their group with nine points and were clear favourites to win the Round of 16 tie against Denmark.
The game against Denmark got off to a surprising start as Croatia conceded early. However, a couple of minutes later Croatian striker Mandžukić scored to bring his side level. The regulation time ended at 1-1 and extra-time followed.
Croatian skipper Luka Modrić had a chance to give his side the lead in the 116th minute from the penalty spot but was denied by the Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and the game had to be decided on penalties.
The psychological advantage was with Denmark as they had fought their way back into the match after saving Modrić's spot kick. However, Croatia showed a positive mentality and won 3-2 on penalties.
In the quarter-final match against Russia, Croatia once again conceded first but restored parity before half-time.
The 90 minutes weren't enough to find a winner and once again Croatia headed to extra-time.
Domagoj Vida scored a header in the 100th minute and it looked Croatia were heading to their first World Cup semi-final in 20 years; however, Russia equalized with five minutes of extra-time to go and took the game to a penalty shootout.
Croatia won by 4-3 on penalties and became only the second team in World Cup history to win two consecutive penalty shootouts after Argentina in 1990.
The semi-final game against England saw a similar story unfolded as Croatia conceded first and made a comeback in extra-time.
After an exhausting knockout World Cup stage till now in which Croatia have played for 120-minutes in three consecutive matches, they have experienced every scenario but refused to give up.
This experience of making a comeback in three consecutive matches will surely come in handy in the final match against France.
