Celtic defender Josip Juranovic helped his nation reach the World Cup quarter-finals as Croatia came back from a goal behind to defeat Japan.
The right-back started his fourth game at the prestigious tournament after featuring in all three of his nation’s group-stage fixtures.
After coming second place in Group F, Croatia may have thought they got off a little lightly after Japan finished top of their group, which included former world champions Spain and Germany.
However, there was a reason Hajime Moriyasu’s side finished top, and they proved to be a difficult test for Juranovic and his teammates.
After a somewhat up-and-down start to the World Cup, Juranovic has settled into his regular right-back role with Croatia, putting in an improved performance against Belgium.
Despite dominating early possession, Japan grew into proceedings in the opening 45 minutes and were the better side towards the end of the first half.
The 2018 World Cup finalists went 1-0 behind just before the break, with Juranovic’s Celtic teammate, Daizen Maeda, scoring the opener.
Although Maeda’s strike didn’t come directly from Juranovic, the defender may take some of the blame after needlessly giving away the first of two corners in the lead-up to the goal.
But following the half-time break, Croatia composed themselves and fought back into the game with Ivan Perišić scoring a fantastic header.
With the two sides not being separated after 90 minutes, the game was taken into extra time, and Juranovic played the entire 120 minutes of the fixture.
Overall, Juranovic put in an improved performance in possession across the two-hour period, completing 64 of his 73 passes (88%), creating two chances for Croatia and delivering 4 accurate crosses out of eight.
The full-back also completed 100% of his ground duels (2 out of 2) whilst making four clearances and recovering the ball nine times [FotMob/Opta].
Again, though, neither side could be separated at 1-1 following the goals on either side of the first and second half, and the knockout tie was to be decided by penalty shootouts.
As Celtic’s designated taker, many Hoops supporters might have expected Juranovic to step up and take a penalty from 12 yards.
However, the Hoops number 88 was not given the opportunity, with Croatia scoring three of their four penalties to win the tie and Japan missing three of their kicks.
The Celtic man will be expected to keep his place in the Croatia side as they prepare for the quarter-finals of the World Cup later this week.
They will go up against either South Korea or Brazil, who face off later on this evening to decide who reach the next stage of the tournament.
You would expect Croatia will need to up their performance, with early tournament favourites Brazil, potentially on the horizon.
A familiar opponent in Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid awaits Josip Juranovic, having faced off against the winger earlier this season in the Champions League.
Huge commiserations to Daizen Maeda and Japan, whose run comes to an end. But it is a fantastic achievement for Juranovic, and we wish him all the best of luck for the next round!
In other news, Jermaine Jenas is silenced by Daizen Maeda as Celtic star shines on the biggest stage.
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