Denmark vs. Croatia started with two of the silliest goals of the World Cup (Videos)
After Spain bored us – and itself – to death for 120 minutes in Sunday’s first World Cup Round of 16 game, Croatia and Denmark wasted no time jolting us out of our stupor in the second.
The two European sides traded absolutely silly goals in the first four minutes of their elimination match.
Denmark was ahead after just 56 seconds, via a (very) long throw, a hesitant dribble-turned-pass, and a shot saved by the Croatian keeper … onto his own post and in:
Well that didn’t take long! pic.twitter.com/6qdZuJ5k17
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 1, 2018
But the favored Croats answered thanks to an unfortunate Denmark gaffe. An aimless cross trickled through to Henrik Dalsgaard, who cleared the ball straight into the face of teammate Andreas Christensen. It fell to Mario Mandzukic, who equalized:
…andddd Croatia have equalized!
What a start to this game! pic.twitter.com/pfqplcfc9v
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 1, 2018
Silly. Stupid. Insane. Perhaps nonsensical. Pick whatever adjective you like. What a weird start.
The game has calmed down since, though. Those were the only two goals of the 90 minutes. Croatia and Denmark are now headed to extra time. The winner moves on to face Russia in the quarterfinals.
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Henry Bushnell covers global soccer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell, and on Facebook.
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