World Cup: "The greatest moment of my career", the Croatian goalkeeper hovers after his 3 saved shots

Croatia has not yet reached the heights reached at the 2018 World Cup but Dominik Livakovic is already on his cloud.

The goalkeeper ensured qualification for his country by deflecting three Japanese attempts in the first penalty shootout of the round of 16 (1-1, 3-1 on pens).

“It's an amazing feeling.

Thank God it ended well.

They pressed high from the start of the match, which was difficult.

This is the greatest moment of my career, ”paraded the 27-year-old goalkeeper after qualifying.

[📺VIDEO] 🏆 #beINFWC2022 #JPNHRV

🇯🇵🇭🇷 Relive the penalty shootout between Japan and Croatia!

👀 With a record performance from Livakovic! https://t.co/Oq508eDTKV

— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) December 5, 2022

The Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper is the third goalkeeper to make so many saves in a single session in World Cup history.

In 2018, his compatriot Danijel Subasic achieved a similar performance against Denmark.

“We knew they would be strong in defense and that they had good transitions.

We were ready for anything, even penalties.

Yesterday (Sunday) we even worked on them, so we were ready.

In any case, everything ended well,” revealed Livakovic on receiving the man of the match trophy.

🗣️ "We were ready for anything."@Budweiser Player of the Match, Dominik Livaković, revealed the Croatian team even practiced their penalties ahead of their Round of 16 clash with Japan 🧤 #YoursToTake #Budweiser #POTM @budfootball pic.twitter.com /Wp04VbG3vJ

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 6, 2022

The Croatian fully launched the Vatreni in their session by taking out the first shot from Takumi Minamino.

He continued by deflecting Kaoru Mitoma's attempt and while Marko Livaja's post could have given hope to the Blue Samurai, Livakovic extinguished any revolt by disgusting the experienced Maya Yoshida (34).

Qualified after going through extra time in seven of the last eight knockout games they have played in a major tournament, Croatia know what they owe their guardian angel.

“It was not easy, we did not evolve at our usual level.

We showed character to come back to score.

And that's where Livi (goalkeeper Livakovic) performed a miracle,” greeted Luka Modric at the end of the game.

This time, the Croatian star left the light to his doorman.