Brazil coach Tite insisted he didn’t make a mistake by failing to use Neymar in the penalty shoot-out that sent the World Cup favourites crashing out of the tournament.
Neymar, who had brilliantly fired the South Americans into an extra-time lead, was detailed to take the fifth penalty after Croatia took the quarter-final to spot-kicks thanks to Bruno Petkovic’s equaliser. Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic saved three penalties in his country’s shoot-out victory over Japan in the last round - and he was the hero again.
Livakovic saved from Rodrygo and then saw Marquinhos hit the post - prompting Neymar to collapse to the turf in tears. Tite said: “The fifth penalty is the decisive one.
