Luka Modric comforted his team-mates, then fairly congratulated the Spaniards on winning the Nations League. Croatia’s soccer star has to wait for the first major title of his career. The Croatians lost 5-4 on penalties to Spain in the Nations League final in Rotterdam on Sunday.
The 37-year-old Real Madrid star has so far left open whether he will play for the Croatian national team in the future. For the Spaniards, for whom Daniel Carvajal converted the decisive penalty, it was the first Nations League win. Two years ago they lost to France in the final.
In the match for third place, Italy had previously beaten the Netherlands 3-2. After two defeats, the tournament ended with a big disappointment for the hosts. The DFB-Elf failed to qualify for the final round on the third attempt. Instead, the team of national coach Hansi Flick is testing against Colombia in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday (8.45 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for international matches and on RTL).
Croatians driven by fans
Propelled by their 35,000 or so compatriots in the stands, the Croatians started full of vigour. However, the Spaniards held back with great calm and composure and were not impressed by the Croatian home game atmosphere. Coach Luis De La Fuente’s team had their first chance through Gavi, but the FC Barcelona attacker shot wide.
Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramarić had the best chance for the 2010 World Cup bronze medalist, but he was stopped at the last moment by Spain’s defense chief Aymeric Laporte. The Croatians remained the more active team after the change of sides, but were unable to assert themselves decisively against the compact defense of the Spaniards.
Instead, Spain had the better chances in the closing stages. First, a shot by substitute Ansu Fati was cleared off the line by Croatian veteran Ivan Perišić (84′), then Marco Asensio fired just wide of the goal in the last minute. So it went into extra time, where Spain twice came close to winning through Leipzig’s Dani Olmo. But the decision was made on penalties.
