MOSCOW (AP) – The Latest on Sunday at the World Cup (all times local): 10:4 After a frantic start, Croatia and Denmark are going to…
MOSCOW (AP) – The Latest on Sunday at the World Cup (all times local):
10:4
After a frantic start, Croatia and Denmark are going to 30 minutes of extra time with their group-of-16 World Cup match tied at 1-1.
Both goals came in the first four minutes in Nizhny Novgorod. Mathias Jorgensen gave Denmark the lead after only 58 seconds, and Mario Mandzukic equalized in the 4th minute. The second half has seen far fewer attacking chances with both teams playing more cautiously.
The winner will advance to a quarterfinal against Russia, which beat Spain 4-3 in a penalty shootout after their match finished 1-1 after extra time.
____
10:29 p.m.
Mathias Jorgensen has bagged the record for Denmark’s fastest World Cup goal with his score just under a minute into a knockout game against Croatia, but he would have had to have been a lot faster to set the tournament record.
Jorgensen’s goal doesn’t even crack the World Cup’s 10 fastest. The record belongs to Hakan Sukur’s strike just 11 seconds into Turkey’s game against South Korea in 2002.
Sunday’s match in Nizhny Novgorod did join some rare company moments later when Mario Mandzukic got the equalizer for Croatia: It’s just the third time the World Cup has seen two goals in the first four minutes.
The scoring slowed down after that, with the two sides still tied at a goal apiece with about 15 minutes to play.
___
10:05 p.m.
Andres Iniesta has announced his retirement from international football following Spain’s loss to Russia in a penalty shootout at the World Cup.
Iniesta, who scored the winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final, played 131 times for Spain.
He was surprisingly benched to start the round of 16 game against Russia but went on in the second half with the score at 1-1. The score remained 1-1 after extra time and Russia went on to win 4-3 on penalties to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
The 34-year-old midfielder has signed for Japanese club Vissel Kobe after spending his entire senior career at Barcelona.
___
9:46 p.m.
Croatia and Denmark are tied 1-1 at halftime in a round-of-16 match that started in a sprint with each side scoring in the first four minutes.
Mathias Jorgensen scored for Denmark in the 1st minute, getting the goal after a scramble in the area with the shot deflecting off Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
Mario Mandzukic equalized in the 4th minute, capitalizing on a series of Danish blunders to score from short range behind Kasper Schmeichel.
The goal was only the second given up by Denmark in its last eight matches. The Danes are unbeaten in their last 18 matches.
The winner of this match will face Russia, which upset Spain in a penalty shootout earlier Sunday.
Both keepers came up with key saves and the Russian crowd – outnumbering the Danish and Croatian fans – repeatedly chanted RUS-SI-A, RUS-SI-A.
___
9:30 p.m.
Spain’s king visited the national team to give them words of encouragement after the Spanish lineup lost to Russia in a penalty shootout and crashed out of the World Cup on penalties.
King Felipe VI attended the match at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium and sat beside FIFA’s president and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
After Spain lost 4-3 on penalties, the king went downstairs near the team’s dressing room.
Photos on the Spanish national team’s official website show Felipe greeting and consoling Spain captain Sergio Ramos and goalkeeper David De Gea.
The Kremlin says King Felipe VI has congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on the home team’s win.
The Russian president’s press service says the call also included “a short exchange of opinions about issues of further development of bilateral relations.”
Spain’s king is a soccer fan who, as crown prince, attended the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg to see La Roja beat the Netherlands 1-0 in extra time.
____
9:04 p.m.
Mathias Jorgensen has scored in the 1st minute for Denmark but Croatia has rallied quickly with an equalizer in the fourth of the World Cup round of 16 game.
Jorgensen scored after a scramble in the area and a deflection off Croatian goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
Mario Mandzukic swooped after a series of blunders by the Danish defense to make it 1-1.
___
8:51 p.m.
Spain set a World Cup record for completed passes in a game. But it counted for nothing in the end as the 2010 champion failed to make good use of the ball before losing a penalty shootout to Russia.
FIFA’s in-game analysis showed Spain’s players successfully passed to each other 1,029 times against Russia in Sunday’s round of 16 game. That’s more than eight passes per minute and more than 12 of the 32 World Cup teams managed in all of their three group-stage games combined.
Sweden advanced to the round of 16 having completed just 660 passes, and used them to score five goals.
Spain managed a single goal Sunday in a 1-1 draw, and that one was inadvertently put in his own net by a Russian defender.
Having 74 percent of possession simply was not effective against a well-organized Russia defense.
___
8:40 p.m.
Local authorities in Marrakech say a player from Morocco’s World Cup squad has been in involved in a car crash in which someone died.
Midfielder Amine Harit was driving in the city on Friday when the accident occurred. According to reports, Harit collided with a pedestrian attempting to cross a road.
Hicham Boulatar, the regional authority’s head of communications in Marrakech, told The Associated Press that the victim was 29 or 30 years old.
The 21-year-old Harit, who plays for German club Schalke, has been released pending an investigation and his passport has been suspended. Morocco was eliminated from the World Cup in Russia at the end of the group stage. Harit played in the opening loss to Iran and wasn’t used in the other group games against Portugal and Spain.
___
8:10 p.m.
Croatia has returned to full strength for the World Cup round of 16 game against Denmark at Nizhny Novgorod.
The Croatians won all three of their group games and conceded just one goal. Once again, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic anchor a strong midfield and Danijel Subasic is in goal.
Denmark coach Age Hareide has made two changes from the last match with France. Jonas Knudsen starts in defense in place of Jens Larsen, and Yussuf Poulsen returns up front to replace Pione Sisto.
The winner will meet Russia in the quarterfinals.
Lineups:
Croatia: Danijel Subasic, Sime Vrsaljko, Ivan Strinic, Ivan Perisic, Dejan Lovren, Ivan Rakitic, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Mario Mandzukic, Ante Rebic, Domagoj Vida.
Denmark: Kasper Schmeichel, Simon Kjaer, Jonas Knudsen, Andreas Christensen, Thomas Delaney, Christian Eriksen, Martin Braithwaite, Mathias Jorgensen, Henrik Dalsgaard, Yussuf Poulsen, Andreas Cornelius.
___
7:55 p.m.
Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev has been voted player of the match after making a series of impressive saves to help the hosts beat 2010 champion Spain and reach the World Cup quarterfinals.
It was 1-1 after extra time and Akinfeev saved spot-kicks from Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion and Iago Aspas while four of his teammates all scored as Russia won the shootout 4-3.
Akinfeev says “I just feel emptied out.”
Spain dominated the possession during the game – completing more than 1,000 passes – but was too passive against a well-organized Russian defense.
Spain led in the 12th minute when captain Sergio Ramos helped force Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich into an own goal when his back was turned to the play. An error in Spain’s defense let Russia level in the 41st, after Gerard Pique’s raised arm blocked a header by Artyom Dzyuba at a corner.
Russia next plays Croatia or Denmark who play later Sunday.
Akinfeev says, “We were hoping for penalties because Spain are hard to beat – Spain can’t always be lucky.”
___
7:42 p.m.
Host Russia has advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals after beating 2010 champion Spain on penalties in their round of 16 game.
The game finished 1-1 after extra time, and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev made two key saves to help Russia win the shootout 4-3.
___
7:31 p.m.
Russia and Spain are going to the first penalty shootout of the 2018 World Cup.
The host nation and the 2010 champion are tied at 1-1 after extra time thanks to Sergei Ignashevich’s 12th-minute own goal and Artyom Dzyuba’s 41st-minute penalty.
Spain put pressure on Russia in extra time, with substitute Rodrigo forcing a good save from Igor Akinfeev, before Dani Carvajal’s shot on the rebound was blocked.
Spain appealed for a penalty after some grappling in the box at a free kick, but referee Bjorn Kuipers did not award the spot-kick after conferring with the video assistant referees.
There hasn’t been a World Cup penalty shootout between two European teams since Italy beat France in the 2006 final.
____
7:05 p.m.
Russia’s Alexander Yerokhin has become the first player to be brought on as a fourth substitute during a World Cup game, going on in the 97th minute against Spain.
