GleamVibe

Heading into the World Cup final, Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subašić had already made a name for himself. Not only did his team shock the world by reaching the final, but he also put in several man-of-the-match calibur performances along the way.

In a tournament as strenuous as the World Cup, you will undoubtedly need your goalkeeper to win you some matches if your team is going to make a deep run, and Subašić certainly earned his paycheck at this tournament. His most memorable performance came in the round of 16 against Denmark when he saved three penalties in the shootout to help his team to victory over a determined Danish side.

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In the final, the magic wore off for Subašić and his teammates as France beat up Croatia, winning 4-2, to bring home their county’s second World Cup trophy. Throughout the match, Subašić looked like only a fraction of what we had grown accustomed to seeing from him earlier in the tournament. He was hesitant, a bit slow, and stuck to his line for the duration of the match.

Prior to Croatia’s semifinal against England, there were concerns he would miss the match due to a recurring hamstring injury he aggravated against Russia. Even though he was able to help Croatia win the quarterfinal shootout, he was unable to take goal kicks during extra time and missed training in the lead up to the England match. An injury like the one Subašić suffered against Russia doesn’t just disappear overnight, thus it’s entirely possible he was still limited due to the hamstring aggravation during the final.

Perhaps there could have been a different outcome if Subašić had been fully fit, but there were issues independent of his fitness level that also contributed to Croatia’s loss. Plus, regardless of any possible limitations, Subašić was still selected to play, and once you cross that solid white line you are expected to perform in the face of adversity, especially on the grandest stage.

Though France showed their dominance against Croatia there were definitely some small adjustments Croatia, and at times Subašić himself, could have made on three out of the four goals that would have given the keeper—even if he was carrying a knock—a better chance of holding France at bay.

In the 18th minute, when France won a free kick 30 yards from Croatia’s goal, Antoine Griezmann hit a swerving free kick into the box, which was crowded with both French and Croatian players. It was redirected fractions of an inch past Subašić’s outstretched right hand and into the net by Croatia’s own Mario Mandžukić. One-nil to France.

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It’s a play that could be viewed as unlucky since it skimmed off the head of one of Croatia’s own players, but it was truly anything but that. The own goal was a result of Croatia’s subdued set piece tactics—keeping a low line—which put them in a difficult situation from the very beginning of the free kick. The own goal could have been avoided altogether if they had adjusted one small detail and instead kept their line higher.

By keeping their line so low, Croatia invited France’s attacking players into a dangerous area where they were able to create traffic and bully Croatia’s defense. Any small flick by either team could have lead to an easy goal—just as we saw on against France and earlier in the tournament against Russia.

In principle, I understand why Croatia wanted to keep their line low—so they could attack the ball with their defenders moving forward and avoid players running against their own goal. However, there are two major flaws to this tactic: 1) It creates an unnecessary chaos of busy bodies in the box that block your defenders’ and goalkeeper’s path to the ball, and 2) It reduces your goalkeeper’s distance and reaction time to a shot on goal.

When facing set plays around your own box, you want to give your defensive players (including the goalkeeper) the opportunity to do what they are paid to do—defend the goal—while also minimizing the opponents’ opportunities on your goal. The low line is more advantageous to the attackers as it allows them the ability to time their runs to perfection and set picks to open space for an attempt on goal.

It would have suited Croatia better to have kept a higher line on the set piece because it would have afforded more space to defend the ball while simultaneously making it more difficult for the French players to time their runs and attack the ball successfully. It also would have demanded a more precise and difficult ball from Griezmann, as he would have to time his kick with the runs of his onrushing attackers without a target to focus in on (like he had due to the low and static Croatian line).

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From Subašić’s perspective, a higher line would also have been advantageous because: 1) It would have created more space between him and his back line (and France’s attacking players) that could have allowed him to come and claim the ball around the six-yard box, and 2) It would have given him more distance and time to react to a header on goal as the resulting redirect would likely have come from further away from the goal than it did here. Most importantly for Subašić, the extra distance and time would have given him the necessary seconds needed to get himself set, ready to react to the header on goal, and make up the vital inches he was missing on his attempted save. For a good example of the benefits the extra distance and time can afford a goalkeeper in these situations, watch Hugo Lloris’ magnificent stop against Uruguay.  

I do think Croatia’s set piece tactics were carried out by design—they have been defending this way the whole tournament—but I can’t help but think how differently this set piece could have turned out with just a small tactical adjustment by Subašić and the rest of his teammates.

France’s third goal of the night came off a clinical left-footed strike from Paul Pogba in the 59th minute. After receiving a pass from Kylian Mbappé, Griezmann played the ball back to the top of the box toward a patient Pogba, who was preparing to hit it first time toward goal. Pogba kept his body weight forward and his chest over the ball, and ripped his initial shot into a wall of onrushing Croatian defenders only for the ball to then bounce back out to him for a second shot on target. Pogba didn’t waste the gift of a second chance and rifled his shot into the left corner of the net. That gave France a 3-1 lead.

This is the goal of the night where I think Subašić was the most unlucky. As the ball was initially traveling from Griezmann toward Pogba, Subašić was searching for the ball, keeping his feet on the ground, and ready for the shot on target. Right as Pogba was about to hit his initial shot, Subašić swiveled his head to the right side, which allowed him a clean sight of the ball coming off of Pogba’s right foot and toward the lower left corner (Subašić’s right) of the goal.

Subašić got ready to dive and started to explode to his right just as the initial ball was hit only for it to be blocked by the traffic in front of him. He had to pull up on his dive, stop his momentum from taking him too far too his right, while managing to stay on his feet.

Subašić had only a split second to decide what to do next: hold his position on the right side of his goal—while exposing a majority of his goal back to his left—or adjust himself back toward the center of the goal, where he could be better situated to face a shot to either corner and also get a cleaner sight of the ball. He elected for the latter, and precisely as he adjusted his momentum back to his left, Pogba struck the rebound back to the area that Subašić just vacated for a goal.

Subašić never had a chance to get himself set—he had both feet off the ground as the ball was struck—and therefore wasn’t able to adjust his body shape in time to attempt a save. You see him try to adjust himself as he lands on his left leg, but by then it’s too late as the ball is already halfway to the goal, making it virtually impossible for him to react in time to make the save.

While Subašić would have been better positioned to make a save on Pogba’s shot if he held his position on the right side of the goal, it’s hard to fault him wanting to position himself more centrally and getting a direct line to the ball. Every second is valuable to a goalkeeper’s reaction time and, in this moment, Subašić valued his sight of the ball as the most important variable in him making the save. It’s an assessment he has to make in a split second and, unfortunately for him, he got it wrong this time. If he had instead held his position on the right side (Pogba’s left) of the goal, trusted his defenders to cover the left half of the goal for him, he would have ultimately been in a better position to make the save.

In the 65th minute, France was pushing forward, searching for their fourth goal. They had Croatia on their heels, retreating toward their own net. Lucas Hernandez was streaking up the left wing when he elected to hit an onrushing Kylian Mbappé in the middle of the field. Mbappé settled the ball with his right foot, while simultaneously turning his body toward the goal. Most players, even experienced ones, would make this touch and turn in two different movements, but Mbappé does it in one—this speaks volumes of his ability at just 19 years old.

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Following his first touch, Mbappé then set himself up with another touch to his right before unleashing a marvelous strike on goal. The ball caught Subašić off guard and wrong footed for France’s final goal of the evening.  While it was a splendid strike from Mbappé, it was also too passively defended by Croatia’s center back, Domagoj Vida, which put Subašić at a disadvantage when attempting to make the save.

When Mbappé received the ball close to 30 yards from goal, Croatia’s Vida was far too slow in attempting to close down the young Frenchman. At this stage, Croatia had five defenders behind the ball, to France’s three attackers. The advantageous numbers Croatia had behind the ball should have been Vida’s signal to step up and put pressure on Mbappé. The closest man to the ball needed to step up and Vida failed to do so. Even though it’s an important detail that Vida should have gotten right, it still wasn’t the deciding factor in the outcome of the play. What happened next completely threw off Subašić in goal and allowed Mbappé to fire his shot into the back of the net uncontested.

Mbappé’s shot was on goal from a central position, which meant that Mbappé, if unchallenged, could shoot to either side of the net. Therefore, Subašić wanted Vida to close Mbappé down from one side, making the ensuing shot more predictable for the goalkeeper. Vida’s movement toward Mbappé from his right was Subašić’s signal that Vida should cover the right half (Mbappé’s left) of the goal, leaving the left half his own responsibility.

Then, just as Mbappé went to strike the ball, Vida did something strange—he pulled back while sticking his right leg out across his body and turning his back toward the ball. Vida’s movement opened up and exposed the right half of Subašić’s goal, which allowed Mbappé to swing his hips and strike his shot back to the space Vida just came from.

Instead of Vida turning his body, Subašić would have preferred him to keep his chest and body square to the ball in order to block the shot. Vida’s turn made him as small as possible, exposing the near post, while also blocking Subašić’s sight of the ball. As with France’s third goal, Subašić was beaten because he couldn’t see the shot until it was too late, leaving him minimal time to react.

If Vida had instead closed down Mbappé as he turned to shoot, and kept his body square to the ball, we would likely have seen a different outcome to this play. Vida would have blocked the near post, making Subašić’s responsibility the far post and the result predictable. Rather than leaving a save/block to chance, they would have given themselves twice the chance to make the save or block the shot.

To cap it all off, as Subašić was expecting the ball to go to his left—with Vida covering his right—he had his body weight leaning to the left side of his goal (in preparation for a shot to his preferred side), only to be let down when Vida turned his body away from the ball.

The radical movement from Vida exposed the right half of Subašić’s goal, leaving him completely helpless, and capping off a painfully unfortunate night for the Croatian goalkeeper, whether he was carrying an injury or not.

(Photo: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

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