The Croatians reeled off five points in a row after trailing 5-2 in the third set tie-break to move ahead once more, only for the Russians to storm back and take the match to a decider.
Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm's fury didn't match that of a deadly twister that struck suburban Moore last week.
But with almost all of Iraq's major cities under coalition control, it would take a major twist in the coalition's fortunes to match the toll of Desert Storm.
Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm's fury didn't match that of a top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado that struck suburban Moore, where a tornado killed 24 on May 20.
The man at the centre of the storm, former Arsenal striker Henry, released a statement two days after the infamous match in which he said a replay would have been "the fairest solution".
If Leeds manage to beat Manly in the World Club Challenge it would make them the first team in the 33-year history of the match to be crowned world champions in consecutive years after they defeated Melbourne Storm 11-4 at Elland Road last year.