Brazil and Croatia were yet to find the net after 120 minutes of play in Friday’s FIFA World Cup quarterfinal fixture at the Education City Stadium, forcing the game into a penalty shootout.
Alisson Becker, goalkeeper of the Selecao Canarinho, has a considerable edge over his Croatian counterpart Dominik Livakovic when it comes to the percentage of penalties saved in their respective careers. While Alisson has a save percentage of 40.6 when a shot is taken from the spot, Livakovic’s figures read 25.9 per cent.
However, Tite’s side will be wary of Livakovic’s recent form. The Croats made it to the quarters thanks to a superhuman show from Livakovic in the Round of 16 game against Japan at the Al Janoub Stadium last Monday, having saved the efforts of Kaoru Mitoma, Takumi Minamino and Maya Yoshida in the shootout. Croatia won that game 3-1 on penalties.
Mexico’s Luis Chavez’s thunderous freekick against Saudi Arabia clocked the fastest speed for a goal in the group stage at 121.69 km/h.
Japan's Ritsu Doan helped his side equalise against Spain with a piledriver of a shot which clocked 120.04 km/h.
Niclas Fullkrug’s smashing hit to equalise the game for Germany against Spain comes third on the list at 118 km/h.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal converted a penalty against Ghana, which was smashed at 117.39 km/h.
Marcus Rashford’s stunning freekick goal against Wales was struck at a speed of 115.63 km/h.
Gareth Bale of Wales scored penalty goal, which flew past Matt Turner of United States at a speed of 113.89 km/h.
Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal for Morocco against Canada touched a speed of 113.23 km/h.
Cody Gakpo of the Netherlands, who has lit up the tournament with three goals, enters the list with his effort against Ecuador which clocked 111.98 km/h.
Lionel Messi’s goal against Mexico, which swung the game in Argentina’s favour, was driven past Guillermo Ochoa at a speed of 109.83 km/h.
Spain's Carlos Soler rounds up the list thanks to his goal against Costa Rica which was smashed past Keylor Navas at 105.81 km/h.
COMMents
In the process, Livakovic became only the third ‘keeper to save three penalties in a shootout at the World Cup after compatriot Danijel Subašić (vs Denmark 2018) and Portugal’s Ricardo (vs England 2006).
Livakovic also carries more experience when it comes to standing as custodian during penalty kicks - on 54 occasions compared to Alisson’s 32.
In regulation time, for both club and country combined, Alisson is the last goalkeeper to have saved an effort between the two, denying West Ham United’s Jarrod Bowen in a Premier League game which Liverpool won 1-0. His only other save this year came in the Champions League in September when Napoli thrashed the Reds 4-1.
Livakovic, who stands at 6’2”, plays for Croatian first divison club Dinamo Zagreb since 2015. Coming into this match, Livakovic had saved 14 penalties in his career, one of them famously coming against Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Europa League in 2020.
On Friday, Livakovic impressed early in the game with crucial saves in the second half. He even stopped Neymar in his tracks in the 55th minute in what looked like a certain goal by the Paris Saint-Germain forward.
Comments
SHARE