Danijel Subasic, whose heroics brought Croatia to the World Cup 2018 final, which included beating Denmark and Russia in the knockout rounds, appeared to move gingerly in the World Cup final against France.
He was clearly at fault for two goals. The first was France’s third goal by Paul Pogba and the fourth one by Mbappe. Subasic appeared catatonic for both goals, not even attempting to jump to his right.
Before the semi-final against England, Subasic had been questioned whether he was fully fit.
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He said he felt the pain before kickoff (before England) but was determined to feature for his side. He said: “I started warming up before kick-off and I felt the pain in the muscle. My physiotherapist massaged my leg a bit and saw I could play. “Later, I felt the pain again, but I didn’t want to give up. I knew that the coach needed another substitution. During the break the masseurs did some quick work and, like a Formula One car after a pit stop, I was as good as new. It’s been a long season, but you play in a World Cup semi-final once in a lifetime and there’s no point giving up now.”
England didn’t test him much, beyond a free kick but questions surely will be raised whether Subasic played with an injury. A lot of Twitter users felt that Subasic might have been carrying an injury, given his failure to react to the shots.
Here's what Twitter said:
— (@BaghdadBob69)
July 15, 2018
France overwhelmed Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on Sunday to lift the trophy for the second time in 20 years.
The French, playing their third World Cup final, were made to sweat initially and were lucky to go ahead when Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic headed an Antoine Griezmann free kick into his own net in the 18th minute, the first own goal in a World Cup final.
Ivan Perisic levelled with a powerful shot 10 minutes later but the Croatia midfielder was then penalised for handball following a VAR review and Griezmann stepped up coolly to convert the 38th-minute penalty and put France 2-1 up.
Croatia fought hard for an hour but gradually ran out of steam after playing extra time in their three previous matches, and goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe gave France a three-goal cushion.
Mandzukic pounced on a mistake by France keeper Hugo Lloris to cut the deficit in the 69th minute, making it the highest-scoring final over 90 minutes in 60 years, but Croatia could not find the net again in their first World Cup final.
With inputs from PTI
