Brazil coach Tite insisted he didn’t make a mistake by failing to use Neymar in the penalty shoot-out that sent the World Cup favourites crashing out of the tournament.
Neymar, who had brilliantly fired the South Americans into an extra-time lead, was detailed to take the fifth penalty after Croatia took the quarter-final to spot-kicks thanks to Bruno Petkovic’s equaliser. Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalties in his country’s shoot-out victory over Japan in the last round - and he was the hero again.
Livakovic saved from Rodrygo and then saw Marquinhos hit the post - prompting Neymar to collapse to the turf in tears. Tite said: “The fifth penalty is the decisive one.
“There is more pressure and the players who are best prepared should take that penalty kick. The only disorganisation in our team was that we did not score more than one goal during the game.”
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic admitted he would have asked Neymar to step up if he had been in Tite’s position. “I would have used him,” said Dalic.
Dalic added: “When it came to penalties, I knew Brazil had lost the game. I knew we were favourites then. We always win when it comes to penalties.
Should Neymar have been earlier in the penalty pecking order? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“This is one of the great wins of our country’s history. Only Croats can fight like that. Look how we came back. We demonstrated once again that when Croatia is in a fight we will never surrender.
“We are only a small country and we have beaten one of the tournament’s biggest favourites. We have a very strong character and we don’t ever give up. I believe only teams with great character and strength can come back like that.”
Croatia now set-up a semi-final meeting with either Argentina or the Netherlands - the pair squaring off later in the evening. It is impossible to know whether Brazil would have been there should Neymar's position in the penalty pecking order had been changed.
What would not have altered though is the fate of his manager. Having already confirmed that he would be stepping back from the role come the end of the World Cup, Tite's exit was officially confirmed following their defeat to Croatia.
The 61-year-old leaves having overseen 81 matches in charge having lifted the Copa America in 2019. Neymar actually earned 54 caps under him, scoring 31 goals in the process.
His extra-time strike against Croatia saw the PSG superstar b ecome the joint-highest goalscorer in his nation's history alongside the great Pele.
