After a hard game with the Spaniards, the Russians worked hard, but alas, this did not work.. Before the main match around the stadium "Fisht" in Sochi gathered numerous fans who hopefully went to the game. To support the Russian players arrived and the famous trio, weaving rolls on the game with Spain. Fans have already been christened their main talisman. 44 thousand 287 people came to the game - it was at full notice. For the team of Croatia flew the president of the country Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovich, for our athletes - the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. The head coach of the national team Stanislav Cherchesov was not surprised by the choice of the starting lineup for the match.

It included the best players. On the spearhead of the attack again was Artem Dzyuba. In addition, Denis Cheryshev, who missed the legendary meeting with Spain, returned. Due to the absence of Yuri Zhirkov, who was injured, our national team once again played in a scheme with four defenders. Recall, it was used in the group stage. At the 31st minute Denis Cheryshev with the transfer of Artem Dzyuba with a cannonball hit the gate of opponents. Fans and players were full of emotions, the stands literally exploded with the screams "Russia!" !, however the whole game was still ahead. The game of our players was seriously different from the match with Spain. If there we went to the defense, today the team was in the attack. At the 39th minute the ball flew into our goal. The return goal scored by Andrey Kramaric. The first time ended with a score of 1: 1. The first replacement almost at the very beginning of the second half - Alexander Erokhin came out in place of Alexander Samedov, who "dropped out" of the game. Croatia sometimes surpassed us in speed, but Russian players tried to respond by attacking the attack. In the 70th minute of the game Cherchesov brought out Smolov instead of Cheryshev. Meanwhile, fans were raging in the stands. Russians were much more Croats - they were powerful support of our players. On the 80th minute Dzyuba left the field - he was replaced by Gazinsky. Suddenly, on the 89th minute the misfortune happened to the Croatian goalkeeper - Subasic was injured. He fell to the field, writhing in pain. The goalkeeper injured the back of the thigh, but Croatia's substitutions have already ended. After the second half, ended with the previous score, added two more for 15 minutes, as in the match against Spain. At the 101st minute Domagoi Vida scored our second goal - missed after a corner. The camera snatched the sobbing fans in the stands. Girls could not stand the intensity of emotions and offensive goals. Dzagoev after the goal was replaced by Golovin. At the 115th minute Fernandez scored his first goal in the World Cup and equalized the score! 2: 2! Tribunes raged. The fans chanted "Russia!" And cried, now with happiness. Fan zones across Russia exploded with applause.

Of course, this was our most persistent match for the whole championship. The head coach of our national team Stanislav Cherchesov was even more emotional during the match than before, although it is difficult to imagine. However, it was too early to rejoice - our team was waiting for a penalty shootout. Until the end of the match there were only a few minutes and the fans and coach together with the reserve rose from their seats and looked forward to the final whistle.