"Suker? Oh~~ my god!! This is such a surprise!"
"Goal!!!!!!!!!!————"
Kraushevich couldn't help but exclaim.
"Throughout the entire first half, Suker was nowhere to be seen, but suddenly he appeared like a ghost and scored a goal!"
"He appeared exactly where he should be and helped Croatia score!"
"Portugal wanted to equalize in the second half, even overturn the score, but this goal completely threw off everything for them!"
"Rakitic took a shot, Eduardo made a save, but when facing Suker's follow-up, Portugal was powerless!"
"We always see goals like this from Suker—this ghost-like positioning. Any slight negligence and you lose sight of him."
The camera just happened to cut to Tiago.
He opened his mouth in confusion and spread his hands; even now, he didn't understand when exactly he lost track of Suker.
The entire stadium was boiling with excitement.
Croatian fans were almost jumping for joy.
Commentator Kraushevich repeatedly reminded them to prepare for a possible Portuguese counterattack in the second half and to be ready to defend.
So the fans braced themselves for a fierce battle.
But no one expected the match to develop in this way.
Less than ten minutes after the second half kickoff, Suker suddenly scored again with a follow-up shot, extending the lead.
With this goal, Portugal's difficulty skyrocketed.
Cristiano Ronaldo spread his hands, shaking his head repeatedly.
There was nothing he could do!
He had already tried his best to break through the defense; in fact, after their first shot attempt, Portugal conceded another goal.
This kind of concession was definitely demoralizing.
No one expected Croatia to score again at such a critical moment.
Throughout the first half, Croatia was relentlessly attacking and holding strong.
But the second half, which should have been their attacking phase, suddenly conceded a goal.
Who could take that?
Portugal's head coach Santos was raging on the sidelines.
He was furious that Tiago failed to keep track of Suker.
Getting too distracted watching the game?
Not knowing his mission?
Tiago was speechless; he indeed was drawn to Croatia's attack for a few seconds and lost sight of Suker.
But who could have imagined that in just those few seconds, Suker broke free and scored?
"This is truly terrible news," the Portuguese commentator shook his head and sighed. "With this concession, Croatia leads by two goals, and our morale has taken another hit. Guys, pull yourselves together!"
The Portuguese commentator was at a loss.
He had no idea how to explain the situation now.
It was far worse than the passive position the fans saw.
On the sidelines, Van Stoyak's eyebrows twitched; he smiled and waved his hand. "Kranic, sit down. No rush to make substitutions."
Beside him, Bilic suddenly said, "Defend!"
Van Stoyak turned his head, "You think this is the time to defend?"
"Exactly!" Bilic said firmly. "Portugal only has attack as their way forward. Sure, we can attack too, but attacking against the wind carries too much risk. Also, in this situation, there's no need to invest too much attacking effort. Leave Suker upfront as a counterattack pivot, Modric as the hub for offense-defense transition, and everyone else defend!"
Van Stoyak pondered for a moment and nodded, "Alright, I understand!"
"Who do you want to substitute?" he asked.
Bilic thought for a moment, "Perisic and Rakitic."
Van Steek was surprised, "Not Mandzukic?"
"No!" Bilic shook his head seriously. "Firstly, Mandzukic can serve as a pivot during counterattacks. Secondly, during Portugal's corners, he can fall back to contest headers. His coordination with Simunic can restrict Ronaldo's heading."
"And also, Rakitic has covered the most distance in this game; we need to let him rest."
Van Stoyak nodded again, "Alright, I get it!"
Bilic's reasoning was sound; Van Steek had no reason to refuse.
Entering the World Cup knockout stage, Van Stoyak believed Bilic's 'stop' role should be displayed.
Bang!!
On the pitch, Ronaldo and Simunic collided fiercely; Simunic held his ground, preventing Ronaldo from heading the ball.
But it also left Simunic a bit shaken.
Besides Suker, Ronaldo was definitely the second toughest opponent in aerial duels.
After landing, Ronaldo watched as the ball was cleared and his eyes were full of unwillingness.
Tiago, eager to make a contribution, tried a long-range shot at the falling ball.
But the shot failed to keep the ball down and flew onto the stands.
"Don't play like that! Don't waste chances!"
Ronaldo shouted turning his head.
If they were leading, this wouldn't be an issue.
But now, they were trailing!
Every opportunity was precious!
They couldn't waste it like that.
"They're starting to get anxious!" Suker wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled, "This is when you have to hit them hard!"
Modric shrugged, "I think so too, but the coaches are making substitutions."
They turned their heads to look.
Two people were standing on the sidelines.
Dujmovic and Vukojevic.
At the same time, Croatia substituted Rakitic and Perisic.
"Come on!"
They clapped and entered the pitch.
"Croatia is making substitutions. Vukojevic, who was previously sidelined due to injury, is making his first World Cup appearance. He showed excellent performance as Croatia's starting defensive midfielder in Euro 2008, and now he finally steps onto the World Cup stage!"
Vukojevic ran onto the field excitedly, shouting loudly.
"Guys! I'm here!"
Srna: "Too slow!"
Modric: "Stop jumping around like a kid."
Suker: "If you play badly, I'll tackle you!"
These friends exchanged teasing words, but that's exactly their way of welcoming him back.
Suker walked over and extended his hand.
Smack!
Vukojevic slapped it firmly.
"Welcome back!"
Suker gave him a strong hug, then dashed toward the front.
Others also warmly welcomed Vukojevic's return.
Seeing this, Kraushevich rubbed his hands excitedly, "Vukojevic is back, meaning Croatia's starters are all here. This is something to celebrate, but of course, we also need to watch his condition since he's been out of the field for a long time and needs to adapt."
Before he finished speaking, a whistle suddenly blew from the pitch.
Suker turned his head and saw someone lying on the right side of Croatia's half.
"Ouch! Thigh! Hiss~~~"
Srna kept gasping, pointing at his thigh with a painful expression.
Players quickly gathered around.
Suker hurried over and saw Srna lying down, repeatedly massaging his thigh.
"Stop rubbing!" Suker pushed Srna's thigh aside. Soon, the team doctor ran over.
Everyone's eyes focused on the pitch, especially Croatian fans in the stands, nervously watching.
They had just welcomed Vukojevic's return.
Could Srna be injured again?
Soon, the doctor made a crossed-hand gesture to the main referee, signaling Srna could no longer continue playing.
Finally, Suker helped Srna up, and Srna hopped off the field.
"Walk slower! What's the rush!"
Watching Srna hop quickly, Suker gave a small annoyed reminder.
Srna felt awkward and slowed down.
"Sorry!"
Srna said helplessly.
"No need to apologize; everyone gets injured sometimes. Don't think too much, rest well!"
After sending Srna off the sidelines, Croatia used their last substitution to bring on Lovren to strengthen defense.
At the 60-minute mark, Croatia had used all three substitutions.
"Srna seems injured. The World Cup always presents various challenges, and we had prepared for lineup losses, but who expected Srna to be the first to go down!"
"As captain, Srna has always been a pillar in Croatia's defense line. He runs back and forth tirelessly, contributing outstandingly to both attack and defense. Losing Srna is more than just losing a key player!"
The World Cup is always accompanied by attrition.
Many teams already started to lose starters during the group stage.
Croatia had prepared accordingly.
But didn't expect it to be Srna.
Up to now, Srna had been very healthy, with few injuries, maintaining good form.
But last season, after winning the treble with Inter Milan and preparing for the World Cup, facing stars like Higuaín and Ronaldo added extra pressure, causing injury problems.
Currently, Srna's injury has not been diagnosed, but Croatian players need to stay alert.
They cannot afford more losses!
With no substitutions left, Srna's departure meant Simunic, as the second captain, took over the armband.
Simunic was a former captain but stepped down with the arrival of Suker and Srna, becoming the vice-captain.
When he put on the captain's armband, he naturally took on the leadership role.
"From now on, focus on defense, communicate actively, and don't let anything affect us. Let's win this game!"
Simunic loudly clapped and shouted.
Croatian players shouted together.
Now they just had to defend well to stop Portugal's attacks.
Leading by two goals, the advantage was on their side.
They didn't need to rush.
Portugal also made substitutions.
Almeida, Simao, and Pepe came off.
Danny, Liedson, and Pedro Mendes came on.
Compared to Croatia, Portugal's bench was cramped, with almost no available replacements. This was Santos squeezing out his last bit of attacking power.
If this couldn't break through Croatia's defense, he had no other options.
Time ticked by.
Ronaldo kept trying long shots to break Croatia's goal.
Sometimes, he dribbled and tried to win set pieces.
But under Croatia's dense defense, they used numbers to limit Ronaldo, giving him no chance to create set pieces.
Tackles and interceptions were clean and decisive.
Eventually, Ronaldo had to fall back and try long shots again.
Substitute Danny, using his stamina advantage, kept dribbling and breaking through on the wings, but Vukojevic stuck close to him.
Although Vukojevic's form wasn't fully recovered, he still managed to contain Danny.
Danny kept looking to the middle as he advanced.
His intention was clear: to deliver a high ball, aiming to pass to Ronaldo.
But Croatia's Dujmovic always followed Ronaldo closely, and Simunic watched him like a hawk in the penalty area.
Even if Danny crossed, Ronaldo would have a hard time contesting headers.
In Croatia's penalty area, there was almost no jumping space.
"Corner! Earn a corner!" Ronaldo shouted loudly.
At this stage, they were struggling to penetrate.
Croatia's defense was too dense.
Long shots didn't work; no set pieces.
They had to rely on corners.
"Portugal keeps attacking, but still can't get any chances. Corner! Portugal's chance!"
The Portuguese commentator said nervously.
He looked at the time; less than 20 minutes left.
Suker was still in the front, Mandzukic had fallen back to contest headers.
Bang!
Portugal took a corner, Ronaldo immediately ran to the far post, ready to jump.
But Simunic quickly followed and disturbed him; Mandzukic headed the ball clear.
The ball flew to Tiago's feet.
"Clear it out!"
Croatia's goalkeeper Pletikosa shouted.
"Can't clear it, prepare to contest!"
Tiago passed the ball to the wing again; Danny pedaled to create space and crossed into Croatia's penalty area again.
Bang!
"Ronaldo touched it! Ah~~~ Pletikosa pushed the ball away!"
"Amazing! Ronaldo still keeps such a high jump at almost 80 minutes!"
In the recent duel, Ronaldo clearly jumped higher than Mandzukic and Simunic.
Seeing the ball not go in, Ronaldo looked frustrated.
But he felt some gaps opening and just needed to increase the pressure.
"Go up!"
Suddenly, a voice rang in his ear.
Ronaldo turned and saw Suker had dropped back, and Mandzukic started running forward.
Mandzukic and Simunic couldn't jump as high as before.
This was a hidden danger!
If Ronaldo kept jumping like this, the goal would be in danger.
Suker couldn't let this potential problem grow, so since Mandzukic couldn't jump high, Suker would go forward as the counterattack point, dropping back to contest headers.
"Suker actually dropped back! Obviously, Ronaldo's headers are causing big trouble for Croatia, so Suker had to drop back to contest headers!"
Still a Portuguese corner.
Suker and Ronaldo stood on the same line, eyes constantly watching Ronaldo's moves.
Danny took the corner again.
The ball flew toward the middle.
Suker and Ronaldo almost started simultaneously.
Bang!
Before jumping, they bumped into each other, but didn't affect their jump timing.
Swish!
Swish!
Suker and Ronaldo jumped simultaneously.
With powerful leg explosiveness, their jump height was about a head and a neck above others, standing out clearly.
However, under mutual interference, they didn't get the timing quite right.
"Damn it!"
Ronaldo's height began to drop.
But he was shocked to see Suker still held the highest point.
This hang-time!
Suker kept his eyes on the ball and suddenly flicked his head.
"Luka!"
Suker landed and shouted angrily, "Counterattack!"
Then, Suker sprinted hard forward.
At the same time, Modric, Pranjic, Dujmovic, Mandzukic, and Corluka all charged forward.
Dujmovic ran toward the wing; he might not get a shot chance but wanted to open space and distract Portugal's defense.
Another crazy Croatian-style counterattack!
All Croatian fans cheered excitedly.
Modric passed the ball laterally to Suker.
Suker took a big stride and sprinted.
He ran all the way near the penalty area line, looked left and right, then passed the ball to Mandzukic.
Mandzukic controlled, turned, and shot.
Bang!
"What the hell? Missed?"
Suker couldn't help shouting.
The ball was pushed away by Portuguese goalkeeper Eduardo, flying toward the right side.
There, Dujmovic moved laterally and pushed the ball back to Suker.
The pass was poor; Suker could only chest the ball down.
As the ball was about to drop, Carvalho made a fierce tackle.
If Suker shot, he would definitely be tackled down.
Suker lifted his knee, lightly flicked the ball sideways, successfully sending it to the side.
At the same time, he lightly jumped, avoiding Carvalho's harsh tackle.
At that moment, Modric rushed forward to meet the falling ball and struck a fierce right-footed volley!
Swish!!
The ball hit the net.
At 87 minutes, Croatia scored again.
Modric completed the killing blow!
"Goal!!! Modric!!!"
"Killer goal! That's the killer!"
"An 87th-minute goal! Portugal has no chance now! They have no chance!"
"Croatia leads Portugal 3-0 and is about to win this match!"
"We're half in! No! We've already got most of our bodies in the World Cup quarterfinals!"
"Since 1998, Croatia has again entered the World Cup quarterfinals!"
"Amazing young men! Amazing Croatian heroes!"
"Our hearts beat for Croatia, and we cheer for these Croatian heroes!"
Kraushevich's face flushed red; he excitedly raised his arms!
"Croatia! Long live!!"
"World Cup quarterfinals! Here we come!!——"