Croatia's goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic produced another penalty shoot-out masterclass and this time rolled out his country's path to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The 2018 World Cup runners-up knocked five-time champions Brazil out of the tournament after securing a 4-2 win in the penalty shootout on December 09 (Friday) in the quarterfinals. Livakovic saved a penalty attempt by Rodrygo to give Croatia the best possible start to the shootout. Later Marquinhos hit the post and his miss sparked a jubilant celebration in the Croatian camp.
Apart from saving Rodrygo's penalty, Livakovic, the Croatia goalkeeper made a mind-boggling eight saves in the first 90 minutes of the game, before he was finally beaten by Neymar in the dying stages of the first half of extra time.
Livakovic's latest shot-stopping masterclass came after he had produced a sensational performance in the penalty shootout in Round of 16 clash against Japan. Livakovic saved three penalties as Croatia triumphed 3-1 on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw against Japan at Al Janoub Stadium to progress to a quarter-final against either Brazil or South Korea.
And once again against Brazil, Livakovic was a rock when Croatia needed him most.
Who is Dominik Livakovic?
Livakovic honed the art of goalkeeping in NK Zagreb's youth academy and slowly rose up the ranks. In 2016, he made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb, and since then, the 27-year-old has grown in stature. It was in 2017 that he made his first appearance for the Croatian national side and was part of the 2018 World Cup team that came second best to France. Overall in his career so far, Livakovic has played 38 matches for Croatia while having made 185 appearances for his club.
A construction engineer
Livakovic comes from a highly educated background. His father Zdravko Livakovic is a construction engineer and a former State Secretary in the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure. His parental grandfather was a radiologist while his grandmother was an English teacher. Livakovic himself is a qualified construction engineer by training.
Net worth
The Croatian goalkeeper has a net worth of $5 million (Rs 41.20 crore). He earns a weekly salary of £15,000 (Rs 15.16 lakh) from his club Dinamo Zagreb which translates into a yearly salary of £780,000 (Rs 7.18 crore).
