Chapter 634: Even God is Helping Him! Lin Quan Kills the Game!
Beep!
The referee blew his whistle to stop the game and immediately rushed over to check on the injured player. Lovren lay on the ground, clutching his stomach, curled up like a shrimp in visible agony. Beads of cold sweat covered his forehead, clearly showing how much pain he was in.
The referee glanced at him, then signaled for the medical team to bring out the stretcher. At the same time, he cast a wary look at Lin Quan. That was a powerful strike, and Lovren had taken the full brunt of it.
Seeing that Lin Quan's penalty didn't go in, Luka Modric let out a sigh of relief. However, his relief quickly turned into concern as he saw Lovren writhing in pain. The medical team was already treating Lovren, but it didn't seem to be working. Judging by the doctor's furrowed brow, it looked like Croatia would be forced to make a substitution.
Lovren was a key defender for Croatia, and if he had to leave the game so early, it would be a huge blow to their defense. Modric glanced at Lin Quan with a complicated expression. While there was no direct evidence to prove that Lin had intentionally aimed to hurt Lovren, Modric couldn't shake the suspicion.
After all, how could someone who had never missed a penalty suddenly make such a basic mistake?
Modric began to suspect that Lin Quan had deliberately targeted Lovren. He thought that Lin had intentionally missed the penalty because it was awarded due to a referee's mistake, and he didn't want to win by taking advantage of that. But why go after Lovren? Perhaps it was revenge for the earlier tackle or for Lovren's disrespectful comments.
This explanation made sense.
Having come to this conclusion, Modric's feelings toward Lin Quan grew even more conflicted. Should he commend Lin for his sportsmanship, for not taking advantage of the referee's mistake? Or should he blame him for his vindictive actions that led to injuring a teammate?
It was a difficult situation. It didn't feel right to thank Lin, but it also didn't seem fair to criticize him.
Modric wasn't the only one in Croatia with these mixed emotions. Several players threw uneasy glances at Lin Quan, who remained calm and unfazed by the attention.
Lin Quan had expected this reaction from the Croatian team. In fact, this was exactly the effect he had wanted.
Sure, the referee gave him a penalty, but Lin could afford to pass it up. However, Lovren needed to pay for his actions. Lin had his principles, and he was confident that he could win the match without relying on a penalty.
"Oh no! Lin missed the penalty! A shocking mistake from him," exclaimed the Spanish commentators, their disbelief clear in their voices.
"If that had gone in, this match would've been over," another added.
But their surprise quickly turned to excitement when they noticed Lovren struggling and being substituted.
"Wait, the injured Croatian defender can't continue! He's being replaced!"
In the Spanish commentary box, the tone shifted. The commentators realized that Croatia's defense, already under immense pressure from Spain, had just lost one of its key players. This left their defense even more vulnerable, and now Spain had a golden opportunity.
The Spanish team also recognized this. Once Croatia brought on their substitute defender, Spain immediately began to target him, launching attack after attack in his direction.
The substitute, Vedran Ćorluka, had no time to warm up and was thrown into the game cold. Players who haven't warmed up properly are often hesitant to make aggressive movements or quick decisions. This made Ćorluka the weak point in Croatia's defense, and Spain was quick to exploit it.
Spain's entire team was on the same page. One after another, their players—Diego Costa, Lin Quan, Iniesta, and Isco—took turns attacking Ćorluka's zone. They relentlessly tested his defensive abilities, leaving him feeling overwhelmed and out of breath.
Even though his teammates tried to support him, Ćorluka couldn't shake the pressure. Most of the burden still fell on his shoulders, and with his teammates shifting their focus to cover his area, gaps began to open up elsewhere in Croatia's defense. Spain quickly capitalized on these opportunities.
In the 40th minute of the first half, Lin Quan, who had the ball in midfield, made a clever move. Instead of pushing forward through the center, he feigned an attack. As he accelerated toward the middle, he subtly left the ball behind, fooling his defender, Ivan Rakitić.
Rakitić hadn't realized that Lin no longer had the ball and continued to chase him. With Rakitić drawn out of position, Busquets calmly picked up the ball and switched play to the right flank, where there was plenty of space.
By the time Croatia realized that Spain had used a feint to create this space, it was too late. David Silva received the ball on the right wing and cut inside, driving toward the box. Croatia's left-back finally arrived to challenge him, but Silva quickly shifted the ball sideways, creating room to shoot.
Two Croatian defenders rushed to block Silva's shot, but it was another feint. Instead of shooting, Silva passed the ball to the right side of the box, where Spanish right-back Dani Carvajal had made an overlapping run. Carvajal delivered a low cross into the box.
Diego Costa, who had outmuscled Ćorluka, slid in between the two Croatian center-backs and finished with a sliding strike, sending the ball into the back of the net.
The score was now 2-0, with Spain extending their lead!
The goal caught Croatia off guard. They hadn't even had time to react before Spain found the back of the net again. This second goal dealt a severe blow to Croatia's morale. You could see the dejection on the players' faces.
Conceding two goals in the first half was far worse than they had anticipated, and that was after Lin Quan had missed a penalty. With more than 20 minutes still to play before Spain's stamina might drop, Croatia wasn't confident they could stop Spain from scoring again.
If Spain managed to score a third goal, it wouldn't matter if Spain's players were exhausted in the second half—it would be nearly impossible for Croatia to come back from a three-goal deficit. Even scoring two goals to catch up was going to be incredibly tough.
Although Croatia's defense was valiant and determined, as they had shown throughout the tournament, their attacking capabilities weren't as reliable. Offense required creativity and skill, and hard work alone couldn't guarantee goals. This had been evident in their previous match against Russia, where they struggled to break down a solid defense.
Against Spain, whose defense was even stronger than Russia's, scoring two goals was no small feat.
Ćorluka, who had failed to mark Diego Costa, was filled with regret. He knew he had played a role in the goal, and his partner in defense, Domagoj Vida, felt the same. Vida had left Costa unmarked to help block David Silva, allowing Costa to sneak in and score.
But Diego Costa wasn't concerned with any of this. Having just scored another World Cup goal, he was overjoyed. Since returning to Atlético Madrid from Chelsea, his form had been inconsistent, and many doubted whether he could compete with top strikers like Luis Suárez or Robert Lewandowski. Some even questioned whether his ability had diminished after his major injury.
This World Cup was his chance to silence those critics and prove he still had what it takes to compete at the highest level.
If he performed well in the tournament, all doubts about him would disappear. But if he failed to impress, the criticism could spiral out of control, possibly even leading to his departure from Atlético Madrid.
The fans in the stadium gave Costa a round of applause, though the cheers weren't as loud as they would have been for Lin Quan. Even fans have their preferences, after all!
Twenty minutes earlier, when Spain hadn't yet scored, coach Vicente del Bosque had been feeling anxious. But now, with two goals in the bag, he could finally relax.
"Their morale is on the verge of collapsing. If we score another goal now, we could break them entirely, and the second half would be a breeze," Del Bosque thought, surveying the Croatian team's mood.
"It's too bad there's not much time left in the first half," one of his assistants chimed in, pouring cold water on Del Bosque's hopes.
Del Bosque glanced at the clock. After finishing their goal celebration, the match had reached the 43rd minute of the first half. Including stoppage time, there were probably only about four minutes left before halftime. Scoring another goal in that short time would be difficult.
"Even if we don't score, we still have the second half," Del Bosque responded. But in his mind, he was already thinking about how to set up the team's defense in the second half.
Without a doubt, Croatia's plan was to exploit Spain's aging squad, waiting for the Spanish players to tire out before launching a counterattack. It was a good strategy, but it hadn't accounted for Spain's two-goal lead in the first half.
Now, Spain had a safety net. And if the older players started to run out of energy in the second half, Del Bosque still had three substitutions at his disposal. He could use them to replace fatigued players while also disrupting Croatia's rhythm.
As an experienced coach, these tactics came easily to Del Bosque. While he was thinking about how to secure the second half, Croatia's coach had other plans. He knew it would be difficult to come back from 0-2, so he urged his team to launch one final attack before halftime.
Croatia's sudden offensive shift took Spain by surprise, catching them off guard.
In the 45th minute, Modric played a brilliant through ball, finding Mandzukic on the edge of the box. Mandzukic held off Sergio Ramos and laid the ball off to Kramaric, who was charging forward.
Without taking a touch, Kramaric struck the ball. It was a quick, sharp shot aimed perfectly. De Gea reacted too slowly to save it.
Just as the ball seemed destined for the back of the net, ready to spark celebrations from both Kramaric and the Croatian fans, a loud "bang!" echoed through the stadium.
The ball had hit the inside of the goalpost and bounced back into play.
Reacting quickly, Gerard Piqué booted the ball out of the penalty area, leaving Croatia stunned.
The ball… didn't go in?!
Was God on Spain's side?
Seeing the ball bounce off the inside of the post and back into play was hard for Croatia to accept. Their spirits, already low, completely crumbled at that moment.
"Attack, quickly! The game isn't over yet!" Del Bosque screamed from the sidelines, jumping out of his seat when he saw where Piqué's clearance was headed.
And it wasn't without reason that Del Bosque was so excited. Piqué's clearance, whether intentional or not, was perfect—it had turned into a brilliant pass.
Spain had a clear path to the goal. Except for the Croatian goalkeeper, Subašić, the Croatian half was wide open!
A lone Spanish player was sprinting furiously toward the ball, engaged in a foot race against Subašić to see who would reach it first.
In the end, the player in red won the race, reaching the ball just before Subašić could intervene and sending a long-range shot sailing toward the goal.
Subašić could only watch in despair as the ball soared through the air, flying over his head and into the net from more than 40 meters away!
It was a goal!
The score was now 3-0!
With a stunning long-range strike, Lin Quan had sealed the match!