UEFA Nations League Champions: Match Recap
Spain Snag First Nations League Trophy
Match Decided in Penalty Kicks
With an extra time victory over hosts Netherlands last Wednesday, Croatia advanced to the UEFA Nations League final. The next day, Joselu scored a late goal vs. Italy to power Spain to a 2-1 victory. So, the two sides met in a relatively evenly-matched final on Sunday. After 120 grueling scoreless minutes of soccer, the match went into penalties. Despite Croatia’s reputation in PK shootouts, Spain came away with a 5-4 victory. La Furia Roja became UEFA Nations League champions after a stellar campaign. Let’s take a look back at the final and the 2022-23 Nations League.
Match Recap
Heading into the match, the soccer odds priced Spain as even-money favorites. In a back-and-forth match, both Spain and Croatia struggled to find a breakthrough. That wasn’t due to a lack of chances, though. Spain’s Gavi had the first good chance of the match, but he dragged the ball past the post.
Croatia later found some success on long balls that forced Spain defenders Aymeric Laporte and Robin Le Normand to make last ditch tackles. Spain’s Unai Simon also made an impressive save on an Ivan Perisic header in the 31st minute.
In the second half, both teams had chances but Spain’s were more clear-cut. Fabian Ruiz missed a lofted shot on an empty net, Ivan Perisic cleared an Ansu Fati shot off the line and Marco Asensio couldn’t convert his chance in the 90th minute. In extra time, both teams played somewhat cautiously and the match went into penalties.
Croatia came into the shootout with a reputation for being penalty kick experts. They had won their four previous PK shootouts, while Morocco eliminated Spain in PKs in the round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Still, Spain’s PK takers were composed as they made their first four shots.
Spain GK Unai Simon saved Lovro Majer’s tame effort and Aymeric Laporte had the opportunity to win the match for Spain.
However, the Man City CB’s effort hit the crossbar to give Croatia a lifeline. Still, Croatia’s Bruno Petkovic had his PK saved by Simon. Then, Dani Carvajal scored a panenka penalty to make Spain UEFA Nations League champions with a 5-4 shootout victory. It is head coach Luis de la Fuente’s first major honor with La Furia Roja
Spain’s Run to the Final
Spain started out the UEFA Nations League last June in a difficult group. They had a double round-robin vs. Portugal, Czech Republic and Switzerland on their UEFA schedule. Spain started off rather slowly, with draws vs. both Portugal and Czech Republic. On the third matchday, Pablo Sarabia scored the game’s only goal to give Spain a win at Switzerland.
La Furia Roja made it two in a row with a 2-0 victory over Czech Republic in the reverse fixture. Spain fell 2-1 to Switzerland on Matchday 5 last September but bounced back on the final day to get a crucial 1-0 win at Portugal. Alvaro Morata’s 88th minute winner sent Spain to the UEFA Nations League finals as group winners.
In the semifinal, Spain and Italy played in a hard fought match. Both teams scored early goals in the first half but Joselu, who replaced Morata, scored an 88th minute winner of his own to send Spain to the final.
Other Key Storylines
As Spain became UEFA Nations League champions, midfielder Rodri has now lifted four trophies in the span of just three weeks. The Manchester City man has played his way into the Ballon d’Or conversation and scored the winning goal in the Champions League final.
Croatia, and Luka Modric, are still without a major international trophy. Under Zlatko Dalic, Croatia have come close on a few occasions. They were runners-up at the 2018 World Cup, came in third place at Qatar 2022 and heartbreakingly lost on Sunday. It remains to be seen whether Modric, Croatia’s best-ever player, will retire internationally.
Italy won bronze at the Nations League for a second straight time by defeating the Netherlands in the Third-Place game. Italy led 2-0 for most of the match but three goals were scored in the last 25 minutes of the game. Steven Bergwijn made it 2-1 and Federico Chiesa answered just four minutes later to put the Azzurri up 3-1. Georginio Wijnaldum got a late consolation goal for the Oranje but it wasn’t enough.
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