RUSSIA, July 2: Danijel Subasic saved three penalties, and Croatia’s World Cup hopes.

In the second straight shootout of the tournament, the Croats advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over Denmark on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

Subasic tipped the first penalty of the shootout from Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen onto the post. He then dived to his right to save an attempt from substitute Lasse Schone. Finally, he used his feet to block Nicolai Jorgensen’s attempt.

“He was a hero tonight,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said. “He saved three penalties in a shootout. You don’t see that every day.”

Subasic became only the second goalkeeper to save three penalties in a shootout at the World Cup, matching the feat of Portugal keeper Ricardo against England in 2006.

Croatia will next face host Russia in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Sochi. Russia also advanced on penalties, beating Spain 4-3 following another 1-1 draw.

Croatia had a chance to take the lead late in the game at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, but Luka Modric’s penalty was saved by Kasper Schmeichel. The Denmark goalkeeper, who also saved a pair of penalties in the shootout, dived to his left to smother Modric’s attempt in the 116th minute.

Subasic’s three saves and Schmeichel’s two made it the most combined saves in a World Cup shootout.

Modric, however, made his penalty in the shootout and Ivan Rakitic scored the decider with a shot to the left side of the net as Schmeichel dived the wrong way.

After surviving the shootout, Subasic had to survive the celebration. Domagoj Vida lifted the keeper onto his shoulders as they celebrated the win, and then dropped him.

“He is fine,” Dalic said.

Croatia entered the match after impressing in the group stage, including a 3-0 dismantling of two-time champion Argentina at the same stadium. But Denmark, unbeaten in 18 games coming into the game, provided tough opposition.

The Danes took the lead in the first minute when defender Mathias Jorgensen scrambled in a shot that went in off Subasic’s left hand and then the left post. It was Denmark’s fastest ever World Cup goal.

Croatia equalized in the fourth minute with another untidy goal. Henrik Dalsgaard’s clearance hit a teammate and fell for Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic to hook the ball in.

The teams stayed even for the next 116 minutes, including the 30 minutes of extra time.

But it was Schmeichel, the son of former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, that sent it to extra time with his penalty save on Modric’s attempt.

The Croats earned the penalty when Ante Rebic was set free on a counterattack and skipped past Schmeichel, only to be fouled from behind by Mathias Jorgensen — the scorer of Denmark’s goal.

Modric’s spot kick was weak, though, and Schmeichel dived to his left to smother it for the first of his three penalty saves.

In the shootout, Schmeichel saved attempts from Milan Badelj and Josip Pivaric.

“I am so sorry for Kasper and the whole team,” Denmark coach Age Hareide said. “That’s just the brutality of football.”

FAMOUS FACES

Two famous faces watched from the stands, Peter Schmeichel and Davor Suker.

Peter Schmeichel jumped out of his chair and roared with delight when his son saved Modric’s penalty in extra time. The former Manchester United keeper did the same when Kasper Schmeichel stopped two penalties in the shootout.

Suker was the happy one at the end, though, watching as his country made the World Cup quarterfinals for only the second time. Suker was the star for Croatia when it made the semifinals in France in 1998 in its first World Cup appearance.

RUSSIA NEXT

Croatia will next face the host nation, a team written off at the start of the World Cup.

“We must not relax. We must not be arrogant,” Dalic said. “Russia would not have progressed if it was not a good team.

“The whole world will watch. We’ve come so far, but we do not intend to stop here. I am sure Russia has the same mentality. It is going to be a big game.” AP

BASEL, Nov 13: Switzerland full back Ricardo Rodriguez was also eligible to play for Chile and Northern Ireland might have been wishing on Sunday that he had.

For the second time in four days, Rodriguez proved decisive as Switzerland clinched their two-leg playoff tie 1-0 on aggregate.

Having converted the hugely controversial penalty which gave the Swiss a 1-0 win in Belfast on Thursday, Rodriguez made a timely intervention which prevented the tie going into extra time.

Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer failed to cut out a corner, Jonny Evans beat his marker to the ball and headed towards goal only for Rodriguez, born in Zurich to a Spanish father and Chilean mother, to hook it off the line.

The set-ball specialist is one of Europe’s top left backs although he currently finds himself in a struggling AC Milan side and had the misfortune to give away a decisive penalty when they lost the Milan derby last month.

“He had two good games and he was in the right place at the right time,” said Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic, using his words sparingly as usual.

Petkovic said he was proud of his players although he was not so happy when misfiring forward Haris Seferovic was jeered off the field by a section of the home crowd.

“It’s a shame,” said Petkovic. “We should learn from the Northern Ireland supporters who continued supporting there team all the time, even though they were behind.”

“That’s not to say that our fans didn’t support us, but we need their backing for the whole 90 minutes.”

The Swiss players were relieved to have finished a 12-match campaign which featured 10 wins, one draw and a single defeat, away to European champions Portugal in their final group match

“The best moment was the final whistle,” said team captain Stephan Lichtsteiner. Asked to analyze the game, midfielder Granit Xhaka said: “Nobody is interested in how the game went.”

CROATIA BOOKS THEIR PLACE

Croatia clinched a place in next year’s World Cup on Sunday after holding Greece to a goalless draw to complete a 4-1 aggregate victory in their playoff tie.

Having done the hard work four days ago by triumphing in the first leg in Zagreb, Zlatko Dalic’s team finished the job comfortably against a much-improved Greek team, who were full of attacking intent and tenacious tackling.

Despite the home side’s brave efforts, however, it was Croatia who came closest to scoring with Ivan Perisic hitting the post in the first half as the visitors qualified with ease for the showpiece in Russia.

No team has overturned a 4-1 first leg deficit at this stage, while the Croatians have now not lost a major tournament playoff match on any of their five occasions.

There were some flashes of danger from Michael Skibbe’s Greece side. However, despite having more possession, chances were few and far between and they failed to test Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subasic until the 87th minute with Panagiotis Tachtsidis having his shot saved.

Skibbe shuffled his pack considerably, making six changes after their poor performance in the first leg – three of those came in defence with Giannis Maniatis, Giorgos Tzavellas, and Kyriakos Papadopoulos replaced by fit-again captain Vasilis Torosidis, Kostas Manolas and Panagiotis Retsos.

The changes, coupled with a vociferous home crowd inside the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium, seemed to work as the hosts looked more competitive, tenacious in the tackle and chasing every lost cause.

For all Greece’s enthusiastic and energetic play, however, Croatia always looked threatening when they managed to get forward, with Perisic, Nikola Kalinic and Mario Mandzukic all causing problems with their movement and slick passing.

Inter Milan midfielder Perisic came closest to a goal when his fierce shot cannoned off Orestis Karnezis’ left post with the Greek goalkeeper well beaten just before half-time.

Greece continued to try and chip away at Croatia but apart from Tachtisidis’ shot, the visitors held on comfortably to ease through. AGENCIES

ZAGREB, Nov 10: Croatia took a decisive step toward World Cup qualification on Thursday, overwhelming Greece for a 4-1 victory in the first leg of their playoff.

Captain Luka Modric, whose recent form for Real Madrid had been criticized in Spain, opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute – before leaping into the air in celebration.

Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi awarded the penalty after Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis failed to control the ball and fouled Nikola Kalinic with a poorly judged clearance.

Kalinic added another goal six minutes later, flicking in a cross from Ivan Strinic with the side of his foot.

Greece struggled to regain composure and rarely attacked, but Sokratis Papastathopoulos briefly silenced the home crowd, sending a header over keeper Danijel Subasic and into the net.

However, relief for the visitors was short lived. Ivan Perisic headed in a cross from Sime Vrsaljko in the 33nd minute as the Croats dominated both wings.

The fourth goal came four minutes after the break from Andrej Kramaric, swooping in after another Greek error, by Kostas Stafylidis.

As fans and players celebrated at Zagreb’s Maksimir Stadium, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic highlighted the second leg on Sunday.

“We had a tremendous game. I’ve thanked the players and the fans who made us feel like we had an extra man on the pitch,” Dalic said. “But it’s not over. This was the first game.

“Our aim tonight was to pressure Greece down the wings, and that worked. We had a lapse in concentration and conceded a goal, but I can’t really complain.”

Over 90 minutes, the Croats dominated possession and had nine shots on goal compared to Greece’s three.

“It was a very difficult night for us … We have never made so many mistakes in one game,” Papastathopoulos said. “Of course Croatia has the upper hand now. They have a 90 percent chance of going through.”

Greece coach Michael Skibbe said his team failed to fully recover from the first goal.

“If you help your opponents score the first and the fourth goal then it’s very difficult to be competitive,” he said. “Of course we are very unhappy right now. We will be a better team in the next match.” AP