Spain beat Croatia to win the UEFA Nations League trophy

• Spain beat Croatia on penalties after a goalless draw on Sunday to clinch the UEFA Nations League trophy in Rotterdam
• La Roja became the third different nation to win the title, following in the footsteps of Portugal and France

Spain beat Croatia on penalties after a goalless draw on Sunday to clinch the UEFA Nations League trophy in Rotterdam.

Unai Simon’s saved twice in the shoot-out before Dani Carvajal calmly chipped home the winning effort to seal a 5-4 victory for Spain. It is La Roja’s first international trophy for eleven years, since their victory at Euro 2012.

Spain became the third different nation to win the title, following in the footsteps of Portugal and France. The victory also means Luis de la Fuente’s side become the second nation after France to win the World Cup, European Championship and UEFA Nations League.

Spain are the third nation to win the UEFA Nations League trophy. Photo/ Intel Region.

Luis de la Fuente, who replaced Luis Enrique, described Spain’s win as a big achievement while speaking after the match at De Kuip.

“We have to bear in mind the 16 best teams in Europe were involved and the best four were in the semi-finals. Getting to the final is a big achievement. We deserve credit. We were up against a top team who are experienced and finished third at the World Cup, so it’s a big deal.” UEFA.com quotes Luis de la Fuente.

How Spain Won The UEFA Nations League

Having lost the previous edition of the UEFA Nations League final to France, Spain were looking to go better this time round as they faced Croatia.

La Roja looked to have their opponents rattled early on when Pablo Gavi stole the ball in a dangerous area. However, his effort went wide. Croatia came close to taking the lead at the midway stage of the first half when Andrej Kramaric raced in behind the Spain backline. He was denied a shot to goal by Aymeric Laporte’s well-timed sliding tackle.

Just like in the two previous editions of the UEFA Nations League, the first half ended goalless. Croatia’s direct approach was causing problems for Spain who on the other hand found it difficult to break into their defence.

As you would expect, many of Croatia’s best moments came from Luka Modric, who twice crossed to Ivan Perisic, forcing saves from Simon on both occasions. Perisic then created chances for Josip Juranovic and Mario Pasalic but none bore fruits.

As the second half wore, Spain began dominating the match and were looking the more likely victors. Ansu Fati came close to scoring but his low effort was cleared off the line by Perisic. Both teams had chances in extra time but it still ended goalless, forcing a penalty shootout.

Dani Carvajal scored the winning penalty for Spain. Photo/ Independent.ie.

After 12 spot-kicks and two saves from the brilliant Unai Simon, Dani Carvajal was the hero who sparked Spanish celebrations. It ended in disappointment for Croatia, who were World Cup finalists in 2018 and placed third in last year’s World Cup in Qatar.