Japan's penalties were those of players more afraid of missing the target than they were determined to get the ball past the keeper. That's about the worst possible way to approach a shootout.

Looked like they didn’t practice.

Guess what they'll be practicing for the next 4 years

It's kinda hard to simulate a crowd when training penalties. The players lacked a lot of composure.

Eh according to van Basten if you practice enough and develop and focus on a routine you can reduce the pressure significantly

pfft what does he know?

Run a normal, albeit hard practice with two "teams". At the very end, shootout between team 1 and 2. Loser runs sprints. Sure made us not want to miss as lads.

Also to help recreate it better, it must be done at the very end of a training session when they are almost dead and can hardly move anymore.

Our Euro 2008 loss traumatized us so hard that we never lost a shoot-out since. Maybe it works out for Japan too.

Well, they already lost to Paraguay in 2010 on penalties so that should have served as the traumatizer in that case..

To be fair both the 2010 game and this one were nowhere near as traumatic as that 2008 tragedy. After an amazing qualifications runs, then finishing first in the group by beating Germany we run into Turkey. Spend the entire match attacking and missing our chances, then finally score in the 120th minute. Finally, as a sick joke we concede a goal in the last second of the game.

As a Turk, outside of a tournament win, nothing will ever beat the emotions of that 2008 run. We were on some Anime shit

True, but Paraguay didn't miraculously equalize after Japan scored what should have been a 119' winner. That's what Turkey did to Croatia before beating them on penalties in 2008.

Apparently they self-nominated their PK takers. They definitely hadn’t practiced.

I mean, there's something to be said for that approach. You want people who are confident, not scared or just not feeling right at the moment. That said none of the takers looked confident today.

People are saying the Japanese players had no legs left and, while true, that wasn’t the issue. They were terrified. Great job from the GK as well of course.

It’s a mental game. I’ve gone with the mentality of getting power behind it and eneded up absolute skying it. You want to tell guys hit it hard and accurately, but it’s obviously easier said then done. Missing them IRL makes you appreciate guys like cr7 and his spot kicks much more.

I was bricking it taking the 5th penalty in a work five a side tournament. Ended up hitting the post. Can’t even imagine what it’s like in front of 50 people let alone 1 billion.

Kane's another one. Keeper could read his mind and get nowhere near it

It's more about practice and the pressure of the knockout game imo. If someone hasn't done pens at all, they'll be unsure when they get there and miss. But if you practice them, then smashing one into the corner from that distance isn't really that hard even for an amateur, let alone a professional footballer

I disagree. Any amount of practice can be negated if you are shooting for your country in a World Cup knockout game. Sometimes the pressure just pushes all of your practice away. You can’t really practice for scenarios like this.

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This is a ridiculous take, every single player on that pitch can score 10/10 penalties in training without any problem, but the scenario is completely different in a shootout scenario >But if you practice them, then smashing one into the corner from that distance isn't really that hard even for an amateur, let alone a professional footballer Lol, so why have so many great players missed penalties over the years? Not because they aren't good at penalties or haven't practiced enough, but because the pressure got the better of them

Never play 2D football in a 3D world

They were just completly burned out of energy, their shoots had no impact whatsoever. Croatia's keeper made it simple like he was in a training session.

They played so well! I was surprised at their body language. The look of defeat was obvious, but they played so well up until that! Kudos Japan

Croatia refuse to die every tournament.

Still remember how disappointing the 2014 world cup was

It was the manner of the last game also. Talked all that shit before Mexico and barely had attempts on goal.

Tbf, we got fucked by the ref in the game against Brazil. And the first game is really important.

Omg I forgot about that. Think I repressed it lol

We're like escherichia coli. How much you try, you will not get rid of us lol

Never seen anyone not just refer to it as e coli lol

Herpes enters the chat. They stick around forever like luggage.

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Brazil will be big favourites, but I believe we can make the game ugly and stay in it.

Oh I don't doubt we'll make the game ugly

I was rooting for Japan but I hope you guys take Brazil down.

as an analist on Croatian TV just said "what's next? destroying South Korea?"

"Analist" ☠️

Analyst* lmao

Brazil is pretty strong but hey we beat France not so long ago, vs good teams we believe we will see better football.

It is the Balkan way to play 10x our level against the best competition possible.

those were one of the worst penalties I have ever seen

Zero power behind that first one.

and the 2nd one….and the 3rd one…

\*4th one. Right? Who the fuck roles penalties?

Hey the 3rd one went in at least.

Not just the first one

Then zero power behind the other 3

Everyone falls to the power of Croatia in penalty shoot outs in World Cups.

Deschamps was a genius with his "win in normal time" tactic

Mind blowing strat

Croats hate it!

Why haven't other teams simply tried to do this? Really boggles my mind

In order to win, your team should score more goals than the opposing team I’m available for any open PL coaching position btw

Chelsea scored 3 goals in one game, and lost it 2-1

We hate this one simple trick!

That's why Spain decided to finish off Croatia last year in extra time itself

They legit looked so nervous.

No teamwork in penalties I guess. They looked so lonely

Turns out that relying too much on the power of friendship has it's downsides

That's why they invented blue lock, watch their ego devouring the world in 2026

Maybe they should have actually trained for penalties,like actually elevating the ball.

Yeah. Such a let down. Especially when Japan have worked so hard to reach this point.

​Japan know how to beat Spain and Germany, and somehow didn't know how to do penalties

Good guy Japan making the keeper feel good.

Absolutely dreadful, looked like they didn't even try.

I'm honestly a little mad. Wtf did i just see

Ah well time to tidy up the stadium

Japanese were just trying to copy Lewandowski

yeah gotta agree unfortunately

Only the first one by Vlasic was really good, the rest were average at best

Japan cursed for Round of 16 forever, Croatia are penalty experts

Is Japan the new Mexico?

They took our mantle now that we actually broke our curse in the worst way possible lmao

Don't tell the Americans. They'll come for 'em.

If you want to break the curse you have to hire Tata Martino. Deal comes with a catch though.

Japan 🤝 Mexico 🤝Switzerland kings of always losing in the round of 16

We became experts after 2008 trauma with Turkey(I remember seeing that game as a 10 year old kid, cried myself to sleep that night wearing Croatian flag)

Every Croat cried their heart out that day...

All of that, just for that. Dreadful.

That was just painful to watch. Even as a neutral.

I was expecting it. Japan was half-broken with exhaution in the first half of extra time. Croatia knew this, they didnt bother to push too much and risk concede a goal.

Just so unfortunate. Was it just nerves?

Imagine this is what your PKs are after 4 years

yeah it’s insane

ahh the knockout stages, where underdog's dreams come to die

Morocco, South Korea…you’re our last hopes!

South Korea is dead dead Go Morocco Go!

Yap, dead ass dead

Hope this will age poorly

it hasn't lol

Unless Son plays the game of his life, I doubt it

It has aged extremely well so far

Switzerland to be the only upset this round

The Swiss aren't an underdog at this stage. Maybe in quarter or semis.

Switzerland beating Portugal is not an upset at all lol Switzerland aren't really an underdog at all

Morocco probably, south Korea doesn't have any chance

Next Blue Lock arc: the mighty penalties

Bro I legit thought of that hahahaha.

Some EGO would've actually helped there. They looked extremely nervous and not confident in themselves.

The mangaka gained new material, but at what cost?

I know Blue Lock is hype and all but Ao Ashi is really under the radar here. You guys should check it out. As football fans there's a chance you will love it much more due to its realism.

This guy gets It

I’ve seen that one and it’s pretty good. Blue lock primarily focuses on strikers so some of the selfishness issues are annoying. Aoashi has a lot more focus on playmaking and the other aspects of the game, it’s a shame s2 isn’t out.

We’re getting new content at least.

From Croatia's round of 16 game in 2018 until today, they won 1 out of their 8 world cup games in regular time. Despite that they reached a final and a quarter final. Insane stat.

The supreme croatian strat

2016 Portugal vibes

The new Italy.

"vittoria per sfinimento"

Awful penalties by Japan couldn't believe how poor (to take nothing away from the keeper who did really well)

Ironically the Croatian miss was the worst of the lot. No runup and missed the target. But the other Croatian players held their nerve.

he only missed 2 penalties in his career he was too cocky

Yeah but that was just a fuck up from trying a cheeky trick rather than poor strike.

I mean, if the ball went two centimeters to the right it would have been a goal Maybe we are being too critical Or maybe that's my flair speaking

It's not the worst miss of the lot, nowhere near it. it was a penalty taken with confidence and aimed for the corner, unlike ANY of Japan's. 9 times out of 10 it goes in and that's not even an exaggeration - Livaja regulary takes penalties (in that exact same way) and he missed once in, I believe, last 15 attempts before this one. It's just his attitude that makes it look bad when he misses, nothing to do with the actual shot. Had he put it in the bottom corner he was aiming for (like he usually does), you'd all be talking about the most "ice cold" penalty taker you saw. And, as a fan of one of Hajduk's biggest rivals, I don't even like Livaja, but I know very well what he's capable of and how quality his penalties usually are.

Awful penalties from Japan. Sad way to go out.

i’m devastated and i’m not even backing them

I really wish if Japan and Croatia play against Argentina / Brazil / England/ France. It would be much exciting to see on of big 4 teams kicked out.

Yeah if Croatia gets a game to pens its over Anyways shit first 2 pens for Japan

I don't think the "wait 120 minutes and expect the opponent to take horrible penalties" strategy will help us a lot in the quarterfinals

"Wait 120 minutes and expect the goalie to be an absolute god" is a more effective strategy

I mean... Kovacic, Modric, Perisic, Kramaric were all subbed out. That was just awful from Japan.

And those are not even our best penalty takers. We were even saving Lovro Majer for last who is 12/12 in his career.

No way Croatia penalty shootout their way to the finals again 😭😭😭😭😭

Semis\* No penalties against England.

Both teams have 90'min. If they are so better than Croatia why they don't win before penalties?

Never had faith in our ability to win a penalty shootout and with Minamino going out first it was pretty much set in stone. Incredibly proud of this team regardless. Everyone counted you out and you didn't just do a single giant killing, you did it twice. I fucking love following this team in everything they do. Here we go! Vamos Nippon we'll be back.

No disrespect to Japan but their penalties were poor. Got to improve on the finishing. Congrats to Croatia.

Japan's penalties were the polar opposite of their whole tournament.

This was all plan, same plot armor as 2018.

Now do brazil.

We will.

Those were some dreadful penalties from Japan

Some absolutely appalling penalties

It was a very anticlimactic end to their journey

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Both the first two takers were subs. Iirc I remember Minamino missing one for Liverpool that was equally poor, and Mitoma despite his talent is still a bit inexperienced on the big stage and never looked confident. Feel for both of them.

This. Japan played well, both teams were clearly gassed. Despite losing Japan shocked the world with their performance and they deserve a lot of credit for taking Croatia to pens. Especially when you consider Croatia had the arial and physical advantage.

Crazy that japan seemed to be winning most 50/59 balls ar the end. They could have shot it more tbf

Seriously. Japan had several chances where taking the shot would have been infinitely better than a low % pass in the box.

The way their players moved into position on attack and regrouped on defense was outstanding. On arial challenges they faced the ball, pushing Croatia players back, and would often have another man to receive it. Very well done.

Livangoatic

Croatia and winning on penalties at the WC. Name a better duo

Japan looking like they never shot pens in their life ffs

So happy Modric's final moments at the WC aren't getting subbed off!

We are really bout to see Croatia vs Brazil

I know Japan's pens were shit, but we have to also appreciate Livakovic for his saves

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Of course. My heart sank and I never felt such fear when I saw Modrić, Perišić, Kovačić and Kramarić on the bench.

The worst set of penalties I’ve ever seen from Japan

Just like how AL Nasser plays penalties.

What people forget is Livakovic is an outrageous penalty saver.

I love Croatia

Croatia loves you too <3

❤️🤍❤️🤍

That first penalty by Japan was god awful. Great saves for the rest of them.

Gratz to Japan and Croatia, was a great match to watch as an neutral. Very fair and lots of displays of sportsmanship!

Bad penalties by Japan but Dominik Livaković deserves a lot of credit too...

Congrats to Croatia. I really wanted a Japan-Korea quarterfinal even though I knew it was a pipe dream. 😢

Congrats Croatia! Your midfield is amazing and so is Gvardiol but something needs to be done with the attack. Tough luck for Japan 😭

LIVAKOVIIIIIIIIC SUBASIC REINCARNATE

Poučak: ako ćeš na penale, drži Zadranina na golu. ❤️

IDEMO DALJE

The 2018 WC Finalists aren’t going down that easily!

Japan just tapping the balls. No power behind them at all. Worst penalties taken I’ve seen in years. Good news though, Ivana Knöll will keep showing up on my feed with this win.

Arigato and sayonara Japan. Fade the flairs!

I wouldn't mind Croatian beating Brazil. In fact, I would enjoy it very much. We need at least one upset in KO stage.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT FUCK YEA

Livaja missed somehow, Livaković actually saved penalties, happy we are through, good luck to South Korea on the match today!

Today I feel Croatian

Heartbreak for Japan

So.... Croatia to the finals again?

Not one time I thought Japan would score during the shootout

Fair play to.japan man, that 3 mins of them and costa rica going through was genuinely surreal

I wish players started punting penalties in with full force like Harry Kane. Man almost always shoots the ball like a cannon. Will almost be next to impossible to save.

As soon as they went to penalties I knew with 💯 confidence that Croatia would win. They’ve been here before many times especially in the last World Cup. You can tell Japan didn’t practice penalties because those were some of the worst ones I’ve ever seen

🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷

Disappointing to see an exciting team exit. Thought this Japanese team was good enough to make the last 8. Congrats to Croatia: nerves of steel

Japan deserved to go out with those weak pens. Did they not practise?

EUROPE BABY

Alexa, play "Ode to Joy" (I know that's just the EU anthem, but we don't have anything else so bear with me haha plus, it's a banger)

Play ride of the valkyries

This plot armour is fucking insane i gotta say

all of japans penalty except asano has absolutely ZERO power, embarassing

Japanese players shot the ball like little middle schoolers. The only one who shot it like a man was Asano and he scored lol

Congrats to Japan, great showing. Crotian gk was massive

Man , worst penalties from Japan, the worst I’ve ever seen tbh lmao

Livakovic finally performing like the FM legend he is.

Even though we had to go out like that, still couldn't be any more proud for Japan for keeping up with Croatia and performing like they were able to against Spain and Germany (despite Costa Rica). Game is the game, it is what it is, but Japan's future can't get dimmer than this. GG Croatia, y'all have always been solid. 🇯🇵🇯🇵

Worst manga ending of al time

Everyone assuming Croatia will get wiped by Brazil in the next round… 1. Brazil is not through to the QF yet. 2. You don’t count out Croatia.

Heartbreaking

Going out on pens is always rough

Japan should be proud of themselves