Croatia have broken Japan’s resistance and are back on level terms in their World Cup last 16 match.
The Croatians would’ve had reason to worry after falling behind to Daizen Maeda’s goal shortly before half time, knowing that they would need to break down a Japanese team that have been at their best when playing without the ball.
However, much to Croatia’s delight, they have managed to get an equaliser early into the second half courtesy of Tottenham Hotspur’s Ivan Perisic.
Dejan Lovren produced an inch perfect on to the head of Perisic, and his header from just inside the 18-yard box flew into the corner of Shuichi Gonda’s goal.
CROATIA LEVELS THE SCORE 🇭🇷
Perišić with an absolute beauty of a header 🎯 pic.twitter.com/ZO3yuXGIm4
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 5, 2022
🗣 "Gorgeous cross. Golden header!"
Ivan Perisic has pulled Croatia back level with superb header for his first goal at this World Cup ⚽
🇯🇵 1-1 🇭🇷
📺📻📲 Watch on @BBCiPlayer, listen on @BBCSounds and get more on the @BBCSport app #BBCWorldCup #BBCFootball
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 5, 2022
That goal was Perisic’s tenth for Croatia at international tournaments, making him their leading scorer in that regard.
