Spain, who had not won a trophy since the 2012 Euros, triumphed against Croatia on penalties 5-4 to win the Nations League.
Substitute After extra time had passed without a goal, Dani Carvajal made the game-winning penalty kick with a Panenka to give superior coach Luis Fuente, who had only been named Luis Enrique’s replacement around December, a trophy start to his reign. Despite Luka Modric’s best efforts, Croatia, who finished third in Qatar last year and as the finalists in the World Cup of 2018, was unable to score during the 120-minute match, and replacements Bruno Petkovic and Lovro Majer also saw their shots blocked where in the shootout, Unai Simon stopped their penalties.
It had been a terrible result for serial exceptional Croatia, who, three days after their victory of extra-time over, in the semifinals, the Netherlands, once again cruelly fall short of a historic victory.
How Spain Won The Grand Final
Despite the loud cheers of the Croatian supporters, who filled the whole arena, Spain got off to a promising start. Alvaro Morata nearly capitalized on a Dominik Livakovic slip-up, and Gavi just missed the goal post.
Aymeric Laporte of Manchester City stopped Andrej Kramaric’s shot after an excellent comeback run as Croatia gained control of the match and began taking advantage of Spain’s high defensive line. Several of their greatest plays, as usual, came from the steadfast Modric, who crossed twice for the roving Ivan to head toward the goal, forcing Simon to make saves. In the end, Fuente’s team found it a lot more challenging to break down their tight and well-trained opponents as a result of Croatia’s direct style.
As they produced beautiful crosses for Morata and Marco Asensio on either side of halftime, Jordi Alba appeared to be their best chance to score, but both players headed high.
