Croatia players may fill the void in Fantasy teams left by Spain, as they prepare for a World Cup quarter-final with Russia.
Zlatko Dalic’s side remain one of the favourites from their side of the draw to reach the final and offer plenty of value with their assets.
We’ve got all the goals, assists and Fantasy talking points from Sunday’s second last sixteen match.
To read the report on Spain vs Russia, CLICK HERE.
CROATIA 1-1 DENMARK (3-2 on penalties)
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Kasper Schmeichel (£5.1m) – 9 points
- Mario Mandzukic (£8.9m) – 6 points
- Mathias Jorgensen (£4.9m) – 6 points
- Thomas Delaney (£7m) – 5 points
- Ante Rebic (£5.5m) – 4 points
Kasper Schmeichel (£5.1m) was the Fantasy star on Sunday evening, although his success was short-lived as Denmark crashed out of the World Cup on penalties.
The Danish goalkeeper emerged as the top-scoring player from the match after he made a crucial penalty save from Luka Modric (£9.1m) in the dying embers of extra-time.
He went on to make two further saves in the shoot-out but his opposite number Danijel Subasic (£5.6m) made three to send Croatia through to a quarter-final match with Russia.
Denmark took the lead in just the second minute when a Jonas Knudsen (£4.0m) long-throw was flicked on by Thomas Delaney (£7.0m) and bundled into the net by Mathias Jorgensen (£4.9m). It was the first goal conceded by Croatia’s first-choice back-four and goalkeeper at this World Cup.
There was a quick response, though as a poor clearance came off Andreas Christensen (£5.0m) and was turned into the net by Mario Mandzukic (£8.9m).
After such an electric start, the match fizzled out and ended up going to extra-time. In final moments of the additional 30 minutes, Ante Rebic (£5.5m) was sent clean through, skilfully took it round Schmeichel and was about to slot into an empty net when Jorgensen brought him down.
The Huddersfield defender was shown a yellow card instead of a red for his genuine attempt to play the ball, but a penalty was still awarded.
Modric took it but it was well-saved by Schmeichel, sending the match to a second penalty shoot-out of the day.
Modric managed to net his in the shoot-out after Christian Eriksen (£9.1m) had seen his saved by Subasic.
After two Schmeichel saves and three from Subasic, it was Ivan Rakitic (£8.5m) who scored the winning kick to send Croatia through to face Russia.
There will be keen interest in Croatian assets for the later knockout rounds, especially now that managers are looking to offload Spanish players.
Subasic and his defensive colleagues may prove popular. At this tournament so far, Russia have not scored a goal in open play against any nation higher than 45th on the FIFA World Rankings.
CROATIA XI (4-1-4-1): Subasic; Strinic (Pivaric 81’), Vida, Lovren, Vrsaljko; Brozovic (Kovacic 71’); Perisic (Kramaric 97’), Rakitic, Modric, Rebic; Mandzukic (Badelj 108’).
DENMARK XI (4-4-1-1): Schmeichel; Knudsen, M Jorgensen, Kjaer, Dalsgaard; Braithwaite (Sisto 105’), Delaney (Krohn-Dehli 98’), Christensen (Schone 45’), Poulsen; Eriksen; Cornelius (N Jorgensen 66’).
World Cup Data
We’re delighted to offer World Cup data as an early addition to our regular season offering to help those playing Fantasy games over the summer.
We’ve secured Opta data, not only for the tournament itself, but also from the Qualifying Rounds for Europe and South America and for international friendlies involving the participating nations. This includes all the matches played right up to the tournament kick-off.
Just to stress, this World Cup offering comes packaged with the regular Fantasy Football Scout membership.
Check out this new trailer detailing the World Cup content below…
McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy
Join our McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy league ‘FantasyFootballScout’ using the code: HEWJPVYR
Fantasy iTeam
Fantasy Football Scout is supporting Fantasy iTeam, a free World Cup game available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch and Android. We have an official Fantasy Football Scout League open to UK users only, with a £1000 of Amazon vouchers to give out, split between the top three performers. There’s also the small matter of £10k worth of prizes available in the main competitions: Overall World Championship and Manager of the Gameround.
Click here for details and here to sign up.
Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 1887.
Please note, users must be over 18 and based in the UK to join our league.
