West Ham United forward Nikola Vlasic, currently on loan at Serie A side Torino, has become the third Hammers player to book their place in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Vlasic, who has been representing Croatia at the tournament, saw his country exit on Monday afternoon following a shock 1-0 defeat to Japan in Al Wakrah. Vlasic did not start the game but did play for the final 21 minutes of extra-time as a replacement for Chelsea's Mateo Kovacic.
Japan, who have been one of the dark horses in the tournament so far after finishing above Spain and Germany in Group E, got the opening goal of the game on the stroke of half-time when Celtic forward Daizen Maeda netted at the end of a well-worked set-piece routine.
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