On the eve of Croatia’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Russia last November, Luka Modric sat down with Dominik Livakovic for a chat. The Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper had lost his place to Ivo Grbic after being blamed for mistakes in the 2-2 home draw against Slovakia a few weeks earlier that jeopardised his country’s chances of securing a place in Qatar.
“I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t care about you but I see that you are not progressing with the national team,” Modric tells Livakovic in a conversation that was captured during the Netflix documentary, Captains.
“Maybe it’s the pressure you’re under, maybe it’s not … but you’re radiating uncertainty and that rubs off on the team. Do you understand? Why can’t you make a mistake? We all make mistakes. I feel that your problem is that you’re afraid of making them … name one person who doesn’t make mistakes. I didn’t get to where I am by being scared, it only makes things worse. Look, you’re a great goalkeeper. You know that, right?”
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Modric’s approach has certainly paid dividends. Little more than 12 months since that conversation in a hotel lobby, man-of-the-match performances against Japan and Brazil at the 2022 World Cup transformed Livakovic into an instant hero in Croatia. The 27-year-old became only the third goalkeeper in history to save three penalties in a World Cup shootout in the last-16 victory against Japan, following in the footsteps of Portugal’s Ricardo against England in 2006 and fellow Croatian Danijel Subasic against Denmark at Russia 2018 – who, like Livakovic, was born in Zadar.
“I never thought about it possibly being my last game for Croatia, because when it went to penalties I told everyone that Livakovic would save them,” Modric said after watching that victory from the bench having been substituted. Livakovic said: “My whole life in football flashed before my eyes before the first penalty, emotions that I’ll definitely never forget.”
But things would get even better for him against Brazil. Eleven saves during normal time was the most recorded by a goalkeeper since 2014, when USA’s Tim Howard made 16 saves against Belgium in the last 16. Then his stop to deny Real Madrid’s Rodrygo from the spot led to Livakovic joining Argentina’s Sergio Goycochea, Germany’s Harald Schumacher and Subasic as the only goalkeepers in World Cup history to make four shootout saves.
“He was there to do what he’s supposed to do, he saved the first penalty and gave us confidence and less confidence for Brazil because they were afraid he’d save again,” the coach Zlatko Dalic said. “He made the difference for us over the whole match.”
The softly spoken Livakovic also excelled at volleyball and basketball in his youth and briefly studied diplomacy and international relations at Zagreb university before joining Dinamo in 2015. “I’m putting it aside while I’m playing football, but I want to do it one day,” he said in an interview in 2019. “And my family is perhaps not sorry these days that I chose the ball instead of the book …”
Livakovic – the son of Zdravko Livakovic, a former state secretary of Croatia’s ministry of transport – made his debut for Dinamo’s first team in October 2017 having previously played for amateur side NK Zagreb. Two years later, he broke a record that had stood for more than 20 years for most minutes from the start of Dinamo’s season without conceding a goal.
Modric was not the only Real Madrid legend who spotted his ability at an early stage. “This year I have followed Dominik Livakovic,” tweeted Iker Casillas in April 2019. “He plays for Dinamo Zagreb. 24 years old. Interesting.”
Casillas is one of Livakovic’s idols and the former Spain goalkeeper and 2010 World Cup winner again showed his appreciation after the victory against Brazil with the tweet: “Dominik Livakovic, PORTERO [goalkeeper].”
Livakovic was Subasic’s deputy at the 2018 World Cup as Croatia made it all the way to the final in Russia before losing to France. “Everything was particularly emotional,” he said in an interview a few months later. “Apart from the result, which is the biggest in the history of Croatian football, the emotions that stuck in my memory the most during the last World Cup in Russia were the moments when our passage depended on penalties. It’s something that can hardly be described in words: I was yelling, laughing and crying at the same time.”
Now Argentina and Lionel Messi stand in the way of Croatia emulating the class of 2018 when they meet in Tuesday’s semi-final. Only this time they will have to get past Livakovic. “Honestly, I like playing big matches, that adrenaline and the atmosphere that can be felt in the air. That’s when I have the highest concentration.”
