Just when Luka Modric and Croatia looked ready for one last dance, the rug was pulled away. A beautifully curled equaliser from the Italy substitute Mattia Zaccagni, with virtually the last kick of eight minutes added time, sent Luciano Spalletti’s holders through and surely means Croatia are out. They seemed to have just written a stunning new chapter when Modric blasted in 33 seconds after missing a penalty. Italy barely came close after that until Zaccagni sparked scenes of disbelief in a stadium packed with Croatia supporters who had been ready to party into the Saxon night.
The cruellest of endings looked likely for Modric when, early in the second half, he fired a penalty too close to Gianluigi Donnarumma. Within 33 seconds, though, he had wrought a moment for the record books. In the next attack he thrashed in a rebound to become, two and a half months shy of his 39th birthday, the European Championships’ oldest goalscorer.
If nothing else, the mathematics behind Croatia’s task were uncomplicated at the outset. This was essentially a straight knockout, unless an improbable set of results came to pass elsewhere, and not one they could take to extra time or penalties. Their ability to go the distance is legendary but only a shorter, sharper shock to a similarly nervy Italy would do here. Zlatko Dalic needed to freshen up a team that had struggled against Albania’s energy so it was little surprise that he rotated in four positions, the forwards Mario Pasalic and Luka Sucic given their first starts of the tournament.
The margin between success and failure for Italy was blurrier. A point would do; anything less would at best consign them to 48 hours chewing on the third-place lottery. Spalletti bore out his promise to shake things up: they had been outplayed by Spain but the intention behind three changes here and a switch to 3-5-2, Giacomo Raspadori and Mateo Retegui deployed as strike partners, was that they asserted themselves.
It was Croatia, though, who began on the front foot. Their support, numerically dominant by a distance, had lit up Leipzig in the previous 24 hours and in the fifth minute Sucic lined up a firecracker of his own. The Red Bull Salzburg player, who at 21 is chief among the prospects Croatia hope will take the baton from their celebrated old guard, cut inside and demanded a flying tip-over from Donnarumma with a rising 25-yard drive.
Spalletti had admitted, in previewing the match, that in some aspects Croatia were a more skilful and technical side than his own. It appeared that way early on, Dalic’s players evidently the more practised at working the ball in tight spaces. Josko Gvardiol earned approval from the chequered throngs with smart footwork in his own half; an incisive move at the other end resulted in Matteo Darmian stretching to stop Pasalic converting an Andrej Kramaric centre.
Italy were finding space with the occasional quick switch out wide and, as the 20-minute mark passed, claimed a foothold. A towering Retegui headed wide, via a snick off Gvardiol, having seemingly done the hard work in meeting Riccardo Calafiori’s delicious left-sided cross. It sparked a prolonged period of pressure that brought three corners and, from the last of them, an even better opportunity to score. Alessandro Bastoni had nobody near him at the far post when Nicolò Barella chipped the ball back across but his header was marginally too close to Dominik Livakovic, whose reflex stop was nonetheless mightily sharp.
Now it became a genuine knife-edge affair. Both teams were snapping, hustling, prowling with intent. Smoke drifted through the air from a series of fireworks set off behind Livakovic’s goal; Donnarumma beat away a driven cross from Modric and, shortly afterwards, his counterpart did well to hold a low effort from Lorenzo Pellegrini. For all the questions asked, no resolution lay in sight when the interval arrived.
Nine minutes into the second half, Croatia had one in view. What a staggering sequence of play it was, and what testament to Modric’s career. Who would have bet on him failing to score from the spot when the referee, Danny Makkelie, awarded a penalty after Kramaric’s shot flicked the arm of the substitute Davide Frattesi?
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It took a VAR check but Croatia’s vehement appeals were grounded in reality: Frattesi’s limb was outstretched and Modric had a chance to make history. The look of anguish that crossed his face when Donnarumma dived left to parry resembled, for the briefest moment, that of a man crushed. That was deceptive; of course it was.
Within a minute Croatia roared straight back. A deep Sucic cross from the inside right was guided towards goal by Ante Budimir, introduced by Dalic at the break, and Donnarumma again saved brilliantly. But there was Modric, running around the ball and hammering in emphatically, to offer one of the summer’s most thrilling moments so far.
The stands shook, blazing red. This was now an atmosphere to rival any but Croatia needed to stand firm. Italy embarked upon a kitchen sink job and Bastoni, thudding onto a right-sided corner, missed the target when given a fine opportunity to make amends. Spalletti called upon Enrico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca. Croatia were defending for their lives now, although Italy had to be mindful of not conceding again and Bastoni took a Marcelo Brozovic cross away from the lurking Budimir’s head. A frantic Italy seemed to have run out of time before Zaccagni, open on the left flank and given space to size up his finish, applied the late twist.
