After losing to Spain in the Nations League final on penalties, Croatia was unable to win its first international championship.
After Unai Simon had stopped Bruno Petkovic’s shot, Dani Carvajal calmly chipped in the winning attempt to secure a 5-4 triumph on penalties.
After extra time, the game in Rotterdam had ended scoreless.
After winning the Euro 2012, Spain has waited 11 years for their first international trophy.
“We’re so happy, it was a really tough game and this is so difficult to do,” said Spain midfielder Rodri, who was voted man of the match and who also won the Treble with Manchester City and scored the winning goal in the Champions League final.
Considering that the team includes a number of promising young players like Gavi, Ansu Fati, and Yeremy Pino, Rodri believes that this may be the beginning of yet another string of Spanish championships.
“This generation holds great promise. We had excellent mental fortitude. Although there is room for improvement, success is always nice, so let’s rejoice, he remarked.
By winning, Spain will join France, which defeated the Spanish in the 2021 Nations League final, as the only countries to have won the World Cup, European Championship, and Nations League.
After Simon blocked a shot from Lovro Majer, they had a chance to win the shootout right away, but Aymeric Laporte smacked Spain’s fifth penalty off the crossbar.
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However, it made no difference when Simon stopped Petkovic’s subsequent attempt, allowing Carvajal to emerge as the victor.
Real Madrid defender Carvajal said Spanish network TVE, “For us it was a unique opportunity; we went out early in another tournament and today we had to take advantage.”
He was referring to the 2022 World Cup, where Spain was eliminated in the last 16 by Morocco after a shootout in which they failed to convert any of their penalties.
“We had confidence with the penalties, and it went well,” continued Carvajal. “I knew exactly how I was going to shoot it, and I knew I would finish sixth. It went fine when I tried to take it “Panenka” style.
The winning penalty is scored by Dani Carvajal.
After losing in the World Cup shootout, Dani Carvajal scored the game-winning penalty for Spain.
Sadness for Modric
Croatia was eager to win their first championship after finishing third at Qatar 2022 and reaching the World Cup final in 2018.
With a sea of Croatian flags and red and white shirts in the De Kuip stands, they had solid support in Rotterdam.
In addition, Luka Modric, who was playing in his 166th international match, had the opportunity to cap off an outstanding career with his first international trophy.
The stress of this may have helped to Croatia’s sluggish start; Gavi nearly capitalized on Spain’s intense pressure only to drag a shot wide from an advantageous position.
With Spain’s high defensive line, Croatia quickly found their footing, and Andrej Kramaric was only saved by a superb tackle from Laporte after a ball over the top appeared to have put the striker free.
Croatia kept up the pressure as the game moved near extra time. However, Spain had the better opportunities, with Marco Asensio just missing with a header, Fabian Ruiz chipping just over, and Ansu Fati in the second half being stopped on the line by Ivan Perisic.
Because there was no winner after extra time, the match was decided by penalties, which gave Spain victory and Croatia defeat.
It is unclear if this was Modric’s last opportunity to win a trophy for his nation because the 37-year-old former Ballon d’Or winner is expected to make a decision this week over his future in international competition.
If he loses, he might still be allowed to participate in the European Championship in Germany the following summer.
