Six months after the World Cup disappointment, Spain’s national soccer team has consoled itself with the first trophy in eleven years.
The greatly rejuvenated Furia Roja prevailed in the Nations League final against World Cup third-placed Croatia 5-4 on penalties and snatched the first title from Luka Modric’s golden generation. It was 0-0 after 90 and 120 minutes.
Former Leverkusen and current Real Madrid pro Dani Carvajal secured Qatar’s first tournament victory since the European Championship in 2012 in the atmospheric “away game” in Rotterdam from the point. Croatia’s Lovro Majer and Bruno Petkovic had previously messed up their penalties. In Spain, Aymeric Laporte missed.
After winning silver and bronze at the last two World Cups, Modric is denied the crowning glory of his national team career.
Spain have more of the game – Croatia safe at the back
It got emotional after just ten minutes when the more than 30,000 Croatian fans started singing a song for Modric. They wanted to convince their star not to end his career in the national team. The 37-year-old initially only aimed for the final round of the Nations League. The game couldn’t keep up with the great atmosphere at De Kuip, however, and goalscoring was rare.
Under the eyes of Bundesliga referee Felix Zwayer, both teams neutralized each other for long stretches. The strong one-on-one Croatians, who beat the Netherlands 4-2 after extra time in the semi-finals, left Spain little room to combine. The Iberians had more of the game but didn’t score.