This wasn’t the end Japan would have expected.

Mario Pasalic, the Croatia midfielder, walked slowly from the halfway line. His team’s goalkeeper, the 6ft 2-inch Dominik Livakovic of Dinamo Zagreb, had just made a hat-trick of saves from Japan’s penalty-takers. Pasalic picked up the ball, placed it on the penalty spot, and took a few steps backward. Without any fuss or show, he drove it into the corner of Shuichi Gonda’s goal.

The tears streaming down the faces of some of the Japanese players and fans told the story. The end stood in direct contrast to the rest of Japan’s World Cup. Hijame Moriyasu’s side had enlivened the competition, one that somehow contrived to beat Germany, lose to Costa Rica and then overcome Spain, all in the space of 10 chaotic days. Japan were leading the surge by the so-called smaller teams and it would have been a huge boost for Asian football had they made it to the quarters.

Instead, it will be the Croatians who will go through as they prevailed in the penalty shootout 3-1 after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.

That, of course, will be Japan’s regret. Croatia is a shadow of the team that reached the World Cup final four years ago; the poise and the elegance of Luka Modric remains, and the bellicosity of Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Perisic, but around them the supporting cast has diminished. This was a glorious chance for Japan to make the quarter-finals for the first time in its history, to become the second-most successful Asian side the World Cup has seen.

And, for a while, it seemed set to take it, establishing a deserved lead through Daizen Maeda. Perisic, though, drew Croatia level, and slowly, surely, it squeezed the life out of Japan, who, with a bit of smartness in front of goal, could have finished the match inside regulation time.

Three times in the knockout rounds in Russia four years ago, the Croatians came from behind to advance after extra time before losing to France in the final. They once again showed their resilience and patience on Monday.

Extra time came and went and it was time for penalties. Livakovic denied Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida while teammates Nikola Vlasic, Marcelo Brozovic, and Pasalic held their nerves and scored. In between Takuma Asano converted one for Japan after Marko Livaja missed Croatia’s third.

Modric, who had made his debut for Croatia in 2006 against the same opponents at the age of 21, had a forgettable game barring a sweetly struck shot from range that was turned over by Gonda in the 63rd minute. He was replaced by Nikola Vlasic in the 98th minute and the entire stadium gave him a standing ovation, unsure if they would see him again in a World Cup match.

Livakovic has ensured they would.

Written with NYTNS inputs