Colombians outnumber English fans in Moscow

Danijel Subasic saved three penalties and Croatia’s World Cup hopes.

In the second straight shootout of the tournament, the Croats advanced to the quarter-finals with a 3-2 victory over Denmark on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

Subasic tipped the first penalty of the shootout from Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen on to the post. He then dived to his right to save an attempt from substitute Lasse Schone. Finally, he used his feet to block Nicolai Jorgensen’s attempt.

“He was a hero,” Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic said. “He saved three penalties in a shootout. You don’t see that every day.”

Subasic became only the second goalkeeper to save three penalties in a World Cup shootout, matching the feat of Portugal keeper Ricardo against England in 2006.

Croatia will next face hosts Russia in the quarter-finals on Sunday in Sochi. Russia also advanced on penalties, beating Spain 4-3 following another 1-1 draw.

Croatia had a chance to take the lead late in the game at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium but Luka Modric’s penalty was saved by Kasper Schmeichel. The Denmark goalkeeper, who also saved a pair of penalties in the shootout, dived to his left to smother Modric’s attempt in the 116th minute.

Subasic’s three saves and Schmeichel’s two made it the most combined saves in a World Cup shootout.

Modric, however, made his penalty in the shootout and Ivan Rakitic scored the decider with a shot to the left side of the net as Schmeichel dived the wrong way.

After surviving the shootout, Subasic had to survive the celebration. Domagoj Vida lifted the keeper on to his shoulders as they celebrated the win and then dropped him. “He is fine,” Dalic said. Croatia entered the match after impressing in the group stage, including a 3-0 dismantling of two-time champions Argentina at the same stadium. But Denmark, unbeaten in 18 games coming into the game, provided tough opposition.

The Danes took the lead in the first minute when defender Mathias Jorgensen scrambled in a shot that Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic on his side’s quarter-final against the hosts

went in off Subasic’s left hand and then the left post. It was Denmark’s fastest ever World Cup goal.

Croatia equalised in the fourth minute with another untidy goal. Henrik Dalsgaard’s clearance hit a teammate in the head and fell for Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic to hook in. The teams stayed even for the next 116 minutes, including the 30 minutes of extra time.

But it was Schmeichel who sent it to extra time with his penalty save on Modric’s attempt, cheered on by father and former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

The Croats earned the penalty when Ante Rebic was set free on a counter-attack by Modric and skipped past Schmeichel, only to be fouled from behind by Jorgensen.

Modric’s spot kick was weak, though, and Schmeichel dived to his left to smother it for the first of his three penalty saves. In the shootout, Schmeichel saved attempts from Milan Badelj and Josip Pivaric.

“I am so sorry for Kasper and the whole team,” Denmark manager Age Hareide said. “That’s just the brutality of football.”

Davor Suker was also at the game, watching as his country made the World Cup quarter-finals for only the second time. Suker was the star for Croatia, claiming the Golden Boot with six goals when they made the semifinals in France in 1998 in their first World Cup appearance.

Croatia will next face the host nation, a team written off at the start of the World Cup.

“We must not relax. We must not be arrogant,” Dalic said. “Russia would not have progressed if they were not a good team.

“The whole world will watch. We’ve come so far but we do not intend to stop here. I am sure Russia have the same mentality. It is going to be a big game.” If World Cup results were dictated by the devotion of a country’s fanbase, then England can forget about football coming home when they play Colombia tomorrow.

Surely no team has a more dedicated following in Russia than Los Cafeteros, whose supporters have already turned Saransk, Kazan and Samara into Bogota and are threatening to do the same to Moscow.

The South Americans’ yellowshirted groupies should outnumber England fans at the Spartak Stadium, with 30,000 having cheered on their team so far in Russia and another 10,000 expected to travel to the capital for tomorrow’s game.

According to official Fifa figures, 68,667 tickets have been sold in Colombia via its official World Cup sales platform, bettered only by the United States, Brazil and Germany — and more than twice as many as in England. All this despite Colombia being almost four times as far from Russia as England, with an average wage more than four times lower and a population four million smaller.

Goalkeeper David Ospina, of Arsenal, said: “The support has been incredible — it’s been our inspiration. There are Colombians all over the world but the support here, in Russia, has meant everything to us.

“It shows the passion and belief that we have in our country. It has felt like a home game in every game — they make more noise, have more colour and always have more supporters than the rest. It shows how much football means to our country.”

Exemplifying Colombians’ commitment are Mateo Caicedo and Cesar Cruz from Pereira, who said they had flown to Madrid a month ago before hiring a motorhome and driving to Saransk for Colombia’s Group H opener against Japan.

“It took a week,” said 27-year-old Caicedo, revealing he and Cruz, 29, then drove for 24 hours to Sochi for Germany v Sweden (they did not have tickets for Poland v Colombia in Kazan), 26 hours to Samara for Senegal-Colombia and finally 17 hours to Moscow.

The pair are not the only Colombians to have undertaken this epic road trip, according to Caicedo, who said he had spotted “three or four” other yellow, blue and red motorhomes on their travels. Admitting the decision to drive had been down to cost, Caicedo said he and Cruz did not have tickets for tomorrow’s game.

The tickets sold in Colombia by Fifa — 14,000 more than for the last World Cup in neighbouring Brazil — may not even account for the number of fans they have in Russia, according to Caicedo.

“Many Colombians live in Europe,” he said. “It’s easier for fans to travel from Europe to Russia than from Europe to Brazil.”

He said supporters had come from as far as Australia, a claim corroborated by Cristian Pooul, who said he had flown to Moscow from Perth.

It was no surprise to see Caicedo and Pooul forecast a win for Colombia but what was a shock was that neither could remember the names of any England players.

“Harry Kane!” exclaimed Caicedo after looking up their squad on his smartphone. “He’s a warrior. He’s a good player.”

One Colombian who did have tickets for the match was Juan Pablo Villamil from Bogota, who insisted he had no knowledge of the dreadful shootout record of Colombia’s opponents after he said of tomorrow’s game: “I think they’re going to penalties.”

We must not relax. We must not be arrogant. Russia would not have progressed if they were not a good team.