The victory gives new Spain coach Luis de la Fuente more self-assurance after receiving harsh criticism in March following a loss to Scotland in the Euro 2024 qualifying round. It also made up for France’s ultimate loss against them in 2021.
In a nail-biting contest that ended 0-0 after extra time, Dani Carvajal chipped in a Panenka penalty to give Spain a 5-4 shootout victory against Croatia and claim the Nations League title. Before Carvajal chipped in cheekily to give Spain their first trophy since Euro 2012 and shatter the hearts of the Croatians, Spain custodian Unai Simon had saved penalties from Lovro Mayer and Bruno Petkovic. Zlatko Dalic’s team, which finished third in 2022 and third at the World Cup in 2018, has never won a major prize. They were hoped that victory in the Nations League would bring an end to captain Luka Modric’s illustrious international career, which he began with his 166th match.
After receiving harsh criticism in March following a loss to Scotland in Euro 2024 qualification, Luis de la Fuente, the new Spain coach, needed a confidence boost. It also made up for their final loss to France in 2021.
Real Madrid defender Carvajal said Spanish television station TVE, “For us it was a unique opportunity; we went out early in another tournament (at the World Cup in Qatar) and today we had to take advantage.”
We were confident in our ability to make the penalties, and they went smoothly. I knew how I would shoot it and that I would finish sixth. I tried to do it Panenka-style, and it worked out great.
After receiving harsh criticism in March following a loss to Scotland in Euro 2024 qualification, Luis de la Fuente, the new Spain coach, needed a confidence boost. It also made up for their final loss to France in 2021.
Real Madrid defender Carvajal said Spanish television station TVE, “For us it was a unique opportunity; we went out early in another tournament (at the World Cup in Qatar) and today we had to take advantage.”
We were confident in our ability to make the penalties, and they went smoothly. I knew how I would shoot it and that I would finish sixth. I tried to do it Panenka-style, and it worked out great.
Over 25,000 Croatian supporters travelled to Rotterdam as predicted by Dalic, and they occupied the bulk of the stadium, De Kuip, a sea of red and white checkered squares, with the exception of a small section of Spanish supporters.
The Croatians begged Modric not to end his international career after the competition, as had been speculated, as they screamed his name in the 10th minute, matching his shirt number.
On the pitch, Spain made the early advances. Gavi, who had been pushing ferociously to get the ball back, fired a shot that was just wide.
Under the pink swirl of smoke from Croatian flares, just as the game appeared to be entering a short lull, Josip Juranovic’s long ball over the top for Andrej Kramaric almost caught Spain off guard.
Aymeric Laporte produced an outstanding lunging stop as the attacker was running through on Unai Simon’s goal.
The first half ended scoreless, exactly like in the previous two Nations League finals, which Portugal and France respectively won in 2019 and 2021, despite 14 goals in the three games that came before.
- Squeezed and tight
In the first 80 minutes of a tight struggle, La Roja failed to produce a shot on goal.
Mario Pasalic missed with a header before being substituted by Petkovic, who had starred for Croatia against the Netherlands in the semi-final, earning the nickname “Bruce Willis in football boots” from a Croatian publication. This time, it did not support the claim.
In response, Spain brought in their own semi-final match-winner, Joselu, who replaced Morata. Ansu Fati also entered the contest.
The youthful forward for Barcelona was the one who came closest to scoring over the whole 90 minutes for either team, but the tenacious Ivan Perisic successfully cleared his low shot off the line.
After Nacho collided with Borna Sosa, Croatia unsuccessfully protested for a penalty, and Spain’s replacement Dani Olmo, who played for Dinamo Zagreb for six years, hammered over as extra time proceeded in the same tight pattern.
The teams were unable to separate, therefore penalties were used to determine the game.
Aymeric Laporte had the chance to win after Simon denied Mayer, but he missed the target.
Stopper for Athletic Bilbao To protect himself from Petkovic, Simon threw himself to his right at full extension, setting the stage for Carvajal to start the Spanish celebrations.
After France in 2021, they became the second nation to have won the World Cup, Euros, and Nations League.
“This is so difficult to do,” said Rodri, the man of the match and goal scorer for Manchester City in the Champions League final. “We’re so happy, it was a really tough game.”
“This generation holds great promise. We had excellent mental fortitude. Even while there is room for improvement, success deserves to be celebrated.
Again, Croatia was left with a bitter taste of disappointment, but Dalic insisted that another podium place was a good omen.
“We’ve won medals, one after another, that’s great — three medals is history, a really great thing to have achieved,” remarked Dalic.
This demonstrates that there is still a plenty of room for improvement.
