Spain wins Nations League after penalties against Croatia in De Kuip | Dutch football

Virgil van Dijk already said this week that the semi-final of the Orange in the Kuip against Croatia felt like an away game and this Sunday evening the Rotterdam stands were also packed with Croatian fans. They created a magnificent atmosphere in the Feyenoord stadium for more than 2.5 hours. After all, just like Wednesday, an extension had to be used in the Kuip. Then Croatia won 2-4 against the Netherlands after a 2-2 final score, now no goals were scored in extra time and it was penalties that made the decision.

In the penalty shootout, the first six penalties were taken perfectly and both goalkeepers had no chance. However, the seventh penalty went wrong. It was the Croatian Lovro Majer who shot the ball against Unai Simón’s legs. Because Marco Asensio and Ivan Perisic then hit, it came down to the tenth penalty of the penalty shootout. That was up to Aymeric Laporte, but the Manchester City defender shot the ball hard against the crossbar. Because Bruno Petkovic also saw his attempt turned over by Simón, Dani Carvajal got another chance for Spain. The defender of Real Madrid hit very subtly and so Spain won the Nations League.

Although the atmosphere, thanks to the Croatian fans, was phenomenal in Rotterdam, that was not necessarily due to the entertaining game of both countries. In fact, the biggest chance came in the very last five minutes of the game. Substitute Ansu Fati then saw his attempt taken off the line by Ivan Perisic. Previously, FC Barcelona midfielder Gavi pushed the ball just wide in the first half and Champions League match winner Rodri shot the ball hard past the wrong side of the post. Marco Asensio also had two good chances with a header on the roof of the goal and a shot in front of the goal, but he too could not break through the glasses.

On the Croatian side, there were some chances, mainly before the break. Andrej Kramaric and Mario Pasalic were hindered just in time by Laporte and Robin Le Normand respectively. Pasalic also had a header chance after the break, but otherwise the Spanish goalkeeper Simón hardly got into trouble.

The extension was therefore not an illogical continuation of the game image. Unlike on Wednesday against the Orange, Croatia was unable to avoid penalties this time. In fact, Spain came closest to a liberating decision goal in extra time. Dani Olmo, who had been active for the Croatian Dinamo Zagreb for a long time, had two good shooting opportunities, but both missed the target. In the penalty shootout, however, it still turned out well for the Spain of national coach Luis de la Fuente, who immediately won a prize in his first six months as national coach of Spain.