Nations League, Holland-Croatia 2-4, Croatia in the final

Rotterdam’s endless night rewards Croatia. Inexhaustible, the national team of Zlatko Dalic, who goes under at the end of the first half, the limelight in the second half and is caught up at the end. In extra time Petkovic takes the chair, scores and wins the penalty kick scored by Modric which sanctions the end of the match a few minutes early. The Croatians will be in the final on Sunday, who will face the winner of Spain-Italy. The Koeman-bis doesn’t take off, the choice of a fake center forward doesn’t reward, and Holland has to deal with a new disappointment because the possibility of winning the Nations League in front of their own people vanishes. The visiting fans, who came in over ten thousand, color De Kuip and in the end they can rejoice.

The match

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Lots of Serie A on the field: from the Dutch Dumfries and Koopmeiners to the Croatians Perisic, Brozovic and Pasalic. Both teams line up with a 4-3-3 formation, with tricks in defense. In fact, Perisic is in the role of low winger, while on the other side Geertruida joins Van Dijk in the center of the department. The first half hour doesn’t reserve flashes, Holland has the inertia of the maneuver with Croatia who play more by waiting. Koeman’s national team does not disdain long balls, trying to surprise the opposing centre-backs. The attempts to feed Gakpo and Simons in this way confirmed that it was an interesting situation, in the 31st minute it was Koopmeiners who benefited from Aké’s solution on the ball, but he shot high from a good position. Three minutes later, the Oranje unlock the match: excellent phrasing on the trocar, Wieffer in the area clearly gives way to Malen, who controls and kicks diagonally for the advantage.

The recovery

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Dalic’s formation shakes up and the second half begins with a completely different attitude. Kramaric scares Bijlow with an insidious right-footed shot, then Gakpo’s sensational ingenuity gets the visitors a penalty. A showy hold on Modric, even if not very intense, was enough for referee Kovacs to indicate the penalty spot. Kramaric is cold from eleven meters and displaces the goalkeeper with a central solution (55′). Koeman decides to change something, he removes Xavi Simons to insert a pure center forward like Weghorst, but he doesn’t get the desired result, quite the contrary. In the 72nd minute Ivanusec found a flicker on the left and crossed for Pasalic, who in the midst of four lazy marking opponents volleyed past Bijlow for Croatia’s comeback. The Netherlands increases the push, Gakpo has an excellent chance in recovery, a penalty on the move that extinguishes a weak and imprecise shot, Aké’s header instead is central. The third attempt, however, was the right one: practically at the end, on the umpteenth loose ball in the box, substitute Lang hit a slice of empty goal with his right foot in the 96th minute and sent the game into extra time.

Additional

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Given the particularly offensive set-up, Holland prefers not to overreach in order not to run into danger. Croatia seems more tired but has the experience of its players on its side. Thus, in the 98th minute, Petkovic let an apparently harmless ball pass, then let go of a shot from distance on the near post that bounced in front of Bijlow and put it in for the third time. The match runs the risk of ending shortly after, when De Jong’s early attempt fails to deceive his own goalkeeper by a matter of centimetres. Anything goes in the second extra time. In the 110th minute there was a sensational opportunity for an equalizer: Livakovic was good at repelling Bergwijn’s flat blow, the same cannot be said of Lang who missed the goal and missed a comfortable tap-in. Four minutes later Perisic’s incredible tear on the left, the ball reaches Pasalic after Brozovic’s countered shot: the Atalanta midfielder seats the goalkeeper and then hits the crossbar. Not bad, in any case, because he recovers after a turn of the clock. Petkovic repeats a delightful control to follow which sends Malacia’s tackle out of time, the foul is clear and is in the area, Modric writes the final word from the penalty spot.