After defeating Croatia 5–4 on penalties, Spain became the second winner of the Nations League alongside 2021 champions France.
The winner of the Football Nations League was decided in Rotterdam after a scoreless 120 minutes of the game in a penalty shootout that lasted half of Monday. Spain won 5–4.
Dani Carvajal scored the decisive goal as Spain’s sixth entrepreneur. Spain goalkeeper Sleep Simon rejected Croatia Lovro Majerin and Bruno Petkovic tough guys, and was one of the heroes of his team.
Croatia was again the losing side in the international tournament. In the 2018 World Cup, it lost to France in the final match. In last year’s World Cup, Croatia lost to the future champion Argentina in the semifinals.
– We have achieved great results in five years. Second place always feels disappointing, but if someone had told us in advance that we would win three medals, we would have doubted it. We thought that 1998 would not happen again, the head coach of the team Zlatko Dalic said.
In its first World Cup in 1998, the country achieved a bronze goal stick By Davor Suker under.
The match could be the last chance for Croatia’s “golden generation” to win an international tournament. For example, the midfield Maestro Luka Modric turns 38 in September.
– This is difficult for him, just like the rest of us. He will decide on his continuation in the national team in the near future. He needs to be given time so that his feelings calm down and he has time to think about it in peace. He played a 120-minute match for the second time in four days and played very well. Of course, everyone would like him to continue, Dalic said.
Croatia also had to go to a penalty shootout in Wednesday’s semi-final against the Netherlands.
Modric won the Ballon d’Or award for the best football player in 2018.
Carvajal trusted Panenka
The championship trophy was the first international tournament victory for “La Roja” since the 2012 EC gold. The team became the second winner of the Nations League in addition to 2021 champions France.
– This was a unique opportunity for us. We were knocked out early in the World Cup and today we had to take our chance, Carvajal sinking the decisive penalty atmosphere after the match.
Spain lost last December in the World Cup to the sensational team Morocco in the quarterfinals.
According to Carvajal, the team went into the tough competition with confidence.
– I knew I was sixth in line. I wanted to shoot a Panenka style kick and it worked.
Spain won the scoring attempts in the final 21–12. As the winner of the final match, it cleared around 10.5 million euros for first place. Nine million of silver crashed into Croatia’s money chest.
The previous Nations League was won by France. Italy beat Holland in the Nations League bronze medal match with 3–2 goals.