Well done to Russia for beating Spain and progressing to the Quarter Finals. This is the first time Russia was involved in a penalty shootout in the World Cup and it will really boost their confidence that they managed to win and progress to the Quarter Finals for the first time ever ! Despite their lack of quality, their hard work and discipline helped them to this win over Spain. It is always good for any tournament to have the hosts progressing very far. Russia's goalkeeper Akinfeev was surely the man-of-the match for not only saving 2 penalties but also for having an error-free match. Akinfeev has always been error-prone like a clown in goal but for once he played like a proper goalkeeper ! It was boring to watch as Russia concentrated far too much on defending but that is the only way they could have beaten Spain. After all, Spain have been on a 23-match unbeaten run before this match. The last time Spain lost a match was to Italy in the Euro 2016 Round Of 16 match. But most of that unbeaten run was under their previous coach Lopetegui who was sacked after joining Real Madrid. That seemed to have unsettled Spain as they were never convincing in any of their matches in this World Cup. Also, Spain always seems to lose to the host team as they also lost to South Korea in 2002. By losing this penalty shootout, Spain have now joined England and Italy as teams who have lost the most penalty shootouts(3) in the World Cup history.
Really disappointed with Denmark for losing to Croatia in penalty shootouts. This was a very boring match with both teams struggling to create many chances. Denmark dominated the match in patches but failed to take their chances. Eriksen was missing for most of the match and has to take the blame for missing the crucial first penalty in the shootout. I think that put pressure on other Denmark players as all their penalties were poor. Croatia's penalties were poor as well but Denmark's were much worse. Thought their best player, Eriksen, will inspire Denmark in this match but he has been poor in this World Cup apart from a brilliant goal against Australia. Denmark had a chance to make a mark in the World Cup but they wasted their chance. Don't think Denmark will get a better chance than this next time.