Brazil defender Marquinhos had never taken a penalty before missing his spot-kick during the FIFA World Cup QF against Croatia
Brazil crashed out of the FIFA World Cup after their quarter-final loss against Croatia as Marquinhos missed the final penalty of the shootout that sealed his nation's exit from the tournament.
The centre-back stepped up to take the fourth spot-kick for Brazil, despite never having taken a penalty before in his career.
Neymar Jr. gave the Selecao the lead in injury time after the first half of extra time. It was a tremendous effort from the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward as he went past an army of Croatian players with the help of Lucas Paqueta. Neymar kept his composure to get around Dominik Livakovic and find the roof of the net.
Croatia, however, refused to give up. Bruno Petkovic found the equalizer for Zlatko Dalic's team in the 117th minute of the game. The ball took a wicked deflection off Marquinhos, leaving Alisson Becker stretching in despair before going into the back of the net.
The game progressed to a penalty shootout, where Croatia won 4-2, converting all of their efforts. Tite was probably keeping his team's designated penalty-taker Neymar in reserve to take the fifth spot-kick. However, his side's other shooters were rather inexperienced.
Rodrygo took the first penalty for Brazil, only to see it saved by Livakovic. The Real Madrid forward was taking only the fourth penalty of his career during the shootout.
Casemiro was the next to step up. The Manchester United midfielder was also taking the first penalty of his career, but made no mistake, thrashing it into the bottom corner.
Pedro also converted from the spot. His record from the spot was also far from impressive; out of eight penalties taken prior to the shootout, Pedro had missed three and scored five.
Marquinhos stepped up to take the fourth penalty and could only hit the post.
What a moment for Croatia! 🫶
They're in their THIRD World Cup semi-final - they only qualified for the first time in 1998! 🤯
#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup https://t.co/I3AD7UGJuB
The win handed Croatia a ticket to the semi-finals of the tournament for the second straight edition. They were the finalists in 2018 and were defeated by France.
Brazil's FIFA World Cup drought continues after loss against Croatia
Brazil are the record winners of the FIFA World Cup with five trophies to their name. However, their last triumph came in 2002, in the Japan & Korea edition.
With the tournament's return to Asia, many hoped Brazil could end their drought. It wasn't to be, however, as Croatia broke Brazilian hearts.
In the wake of their elimination, Tite has left his post as the head coach of the Selecao.
#WorldCup2022
Tite leaves Brazil. He’s no longer the head coach of the Seleçao after the game lost vs Croatia. It’s over. 🚨🇧🇷 #WorldCup2022 https://t.co/9UQW63Gfy6