DOHA, Qatar (AP) — By way of inhabitants, there’s no contest between Brazil and Croatia.“Brazil has 200 million folks, we solely have 4 million,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić mentioned Tuesday. “So we’re just about like a suburb of a significant metropolis in Brazil.”Certainly, Croatia is among the least populous nations who certified for this World Cup.On the soccer subject, nevertheless, Croatia has been punching above its weight for years, ever because it completed third in 1998 in its first World Cup as an unbiased nation, proper as much as reaching the 2018 closing in Russia.So Croatia has perception coming into a quarterfinal in opposition to five-time champion Brazil on Friday.“By no means underestimate Croatia. Croatia is a small nation. However we’re courageous, defiant and constant,” Dalić mentioned. “We are going to all the time give every little thing we’ve received, particularly this era of gamers.”Goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic saved three spot kicks in Croatia’s penalty shootout win over Japan on Monday.Livaković comes from the identical city, Zadar, as Croatia’s 37-year-old captain Luka Modrić. He was the backup goalkeeper to Danijel Subasic in 2018.Mario Pašalić, who transformed the decisive penalty for Croatia, had already performed the identical factor for AC Milan in a shootout win over Juventus within the 2016 Italian Tremendous Cup — which was additionally performed in Qatar.“We practiced penalties the day earlier than the sport and I noticed Livaković saving 4 or 5 wonderful penalties,” Dalić mentioned. “I don’t assume it’s luck. It’s psychological energy. It’s character. It’s braveness.”The shootout victory got here following a 1-1 draw after further time, through which Japan opened the scoring through the first half.Croatia additionally fell behind in each sport of the knockout stage in 2018.“That exhibits the desire and the dedication and the religion of the entire staff,” Dalić mentioned. “It’s one factor enjoying for the golf equipment — it’s a matter of contracts, it’s a matter of status. But it surely’s a very totally different factor to characterize your nation, as a result of that is patriotism — it’s pleasure, it’s emotion, so it’s totally different.“I’m very pleased and proud that I’ve the gamers who react in that manner,” the coach added, “that may present this energy of character.”___Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf___AP World Cup protection: https://Fifanews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports