⚽ UEFA Nations League final four ⚽

[slackovic]

I know that not many people like the UEFA Nations League competition as it is referred as a replacement for all the friendly games that national teams played throughout the year. However, I didn't see any topic covering the upcoming final four that is scheduled in two weeks so I started a new topic. I hope it catches up...

So, for those of you that don't know, the four finalists that qualified are Spain, Croatia, Italy and Netherlands. The first game will be between last year World Cup runner up Croatia and Netherlands as the country hosting the final four. Some say that it will be the last competition for Croatia's brightest star - Luka Modric. I'm not certain but I'd say there is more chance for him leaving the national team than for him staying. As for the odds, I would say that Croatia is maybe a slight favorite just because of their third place in the last World Cup but I wouldn't agree. Netherlands lost in the World Cup against Argentina who won the title in the end. Also, they are playing at home so I would dare to say that they are a slight favorite.

The other semi-final game is Spain vs. Italy. Spain is probably a favorite as Italy didn't even qualify for the World Cup last year. Also Italy lost to England at home in the qualification game for the EURO 2024.

All in all, I think we get to see four good football games. Maybe the title doesn't mean much, but I'm sure that all four national teams that qualified would like to win the title after coming this far.

[1715290487]

1715290487

[1715290487]

1715290487

[1715290487]

1715290487

[Lucius]

It seems that there is not too much interest in this competition, but considering that it is only about 4 countries, it seems that most of forum members do not consider it too important - although this is in a way very similar to playing the semi-finals and finals of the European football championship.

As for Croatia and the Netherlands, I can only say that I expect a very good match in which both teams will give their best, and it should be noted that this is a match between the sixth and seventh national teams in the world according to the FIFA ranking with the fact that the Netherlands is in 6th place with only one point more than Croatia.

The first match is played only 4 days after the final of the Champions League, and as far as I can see, the Netherlands has at least 3 players who should play in that final, and Croatia can only have one (Brozovic). I would say that the Netherlands has a slight advantage due to the home field, but that Croatia in its standard good form can beat any team.

I also think that Spain is the favorite in the second game, but even though Italy has been in bad shape for years, they should not be completely dismissed in advance.

[slackovic]

Yeah, not much interest. I guess people whole nations aren't competing are not interested as many fans think of think of this competition as a little harder games tha a friendly. Nevertheless, I'm sure we will watch four great games. I just hope Croatia and Netherlands won't play too defensively. I know that Croatia tends to play knockout games just like that.

[Distraction]

Yes most of top countries in this league see this as a chance to prepare for much bigger tournaments like Euro and World Cup. However actually this isn't that much of an unimportant tournament. If I'm not mistaken the winner of the Nations League will have a quota in the qualifying stage of 2026 World Cup.

My source for this information: https://en.as.com/soccer/what-does-the-winner-of-the-nations-league-final-four-get-and-what-is-the-prize-n/

If this is true then this should actually be some extra motivation for the teams in the semi finals here now. In addition to that there is some prize money for teams competing in the group stage but the biggest prize is for the winner which is around 10.5 million euros according to the source. But of course it must still not be feeling like the Champions League for example which pays a lot of money to the teams even for participating in the group stage.

[rdluffy]

I'm interested to watch all remaining matches 

These are the odds:


Croatia is not the bookmakers' favorite again, but the risk/reward ends up being very worthwhile in my opinion. The team is fully capable of beating the Netherlands.
In Spain's match I even agree that they are the favorite against Italy. From the matches I watched of both teams, Spain already has a better and well formed team, with a possession style of play.

But I want to watch these two matches, I think they will be very competitive and exciting.

My bet is on Croatia vs. Spain in the final, and I will certainly bet some money on these 2 matches. The odds of qualification of Croatia is paying 2.46 (maybe some penalties again  )

[Daniel91]

The Nations League may not be the most famous and prestigious UEFA competition, but it is still an official competition in which the winner gets a trophy and that is what is remembered in the end.
This competition is also probably the last chance for Modric to retire with a trophy for Croatia.
Croatia won the first place in a very difficult group with France and Denmark after winning against them away from home, and that is already a huge success.
Now only 2 matches separate them from the trophy and they will certainly give their all to succeed. I believe that we have at least the same chance as the other 3 national teams.

[Ulven]

The UEFA Nations League is indeed a competition that has received mixed reactions from fans and critics since its inception. some see it as a meaningful tournament that adds more competitive matches to the international calendar,While there are dissenters who disagree with the public opinion!!!!
The 4 finalists you mentioned, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands, have certainly earned their spots in the tournament and will be competing for the title. The first semifinal between Croatia and the Netherlands sounds like an intriguing matchup. Modric, who has been a key figure for Croatia, may potentially be playing his last competition for the national team. While it's uncertain whether he will retire from international football, it adds an extra layer of significance to the game. Given the Netherlands' home advantage and their strong performance in the World Cup, it's reasonable to consider them slight favorites.
We will see if these finals are worth betting on

[Lucius]

~snip~
This competition is also probably the last chance for Modric to retire with a trophy for Croatia.

The man was honest and left the door completely open on that issue, and my personal opinion is that Modric will stay for the next European Championship in Germany. I say that because I believe that he really wants the trophy from that competition, regardless of what he won with Croatia at the world championships. He is a completely different person from, say, some who left the national team, and then continued to play club football for years. In addition, he can significantly reduce the number of minutes in the game, and his presence in the team means a lot, even if he does not play.

Ivan Rakitic is an obvious example of such a player, because he can still play at a high level, but he no longer wanted to play for that national team.

[Slow death]

I didn't even know that there would still be UEFA Nations League games, this competition makes teams lose money due to their players always returning tired and injured, but talking about the games:

Netherlands - croatia

well, croatia have their good players limited by age so i doubt very much that they will still manage to be a great team in the coming months unless great new players appear to play in the national team, meanwhile netherlands is not the same team as many years ago there were great players, it was a national team made up of many stars who played in the great teams in europe, today we have a mid-level netherlands, so this is a game in which I don't see a favorite, I even think that this odd should be the same for both teams, I don't see Netherlands as superior to croatia

spain - italy

well, the same thing i said about croatia i will have to say almost the same things about italy and spain, both teams a few years ago had a national team made up of many very famous players, anyone who followed a little about soccer knew the names of all the players on these two teams, unfortunately today that doesn't happen anymore, both teams are very weak, we can see that by looking at the big teams like real madrid, manchester city, barcelona, inter, milan, juventus, roma, manchester united , liverpool, napoli, bayern, psg, chelsea, manchester united and others... if we ask how many players from spain and italy are the best strikers in these big teams that i mentioned, there aren't many, maybe even 4 aren't enough. so both teams are weak compared to the past. that's why in my opinion the doss should be more balanced

[tusandii]

I didn't even know that there would still be UEFA Nations League games, this competition makes teams lose money due to their players always returning tired and injured.

It's the same with me, who didn't know and never even thought that there would still be a UEFA Nations League match.
I haven't seen this match in a long time and maybe this will be the first time in a while not watching it.

What you say is true that a UEFA Nations League match will even risk causing make a loss for each team because a player could get injured and make him have to rest for injury Recovery.
But it will be quite an interesting match.

[slackovic]

I'm interested to watch all remaining matches 

These are the odds:


Croatia is not the bookmakers' favorite again, but the risk/reward ends up being very worthwhile in my opinion. The team is fully capable of beating the Netherlands.
In Spain's match I even agree that they are the favorite against Italy. From the matches I watched of both teams, Spain already has a better and well formed team, with a possession style of play.

But I want to watch these two matches, I think they will be very competitive and exciting.

My bet is on Croatia vs. Spain in the final, and I will certainly bet some money on these 2 matches. The odds of qualification of Croatia is paying 2.46 (maybe some penalties again  )

I'm surprised that bookies give that high odds on Croatia. I guess they see Netherlands playing in front of their fans like a really big advantage. It could be. But then again, if I would be betting, I would probably go with x2 because of the way Croatia tends to play these knockout games.

The man was honest and left the door completely open on that issue, and my personal opinion is that Modric will stay for the next European Championship in Germany. I say that because I believe that he really wants the trophy from that competition, regardless of what he won with Croatia at the world championships. He is a completely different person from, say, some who left the national team, and then continued to play club football for years. In addition, he can significantly reduce the number of minutes in the game, and his presence in the team means a lot, even if he does not play.

Ivan Rakitic is an obvious example of such a player, because he can still play at a high level, but he no longer wanted to play for that national team.

Everyone in Croatia knows how Modric feels about playing for the national team. I think that he will retire after the Nations league, but only he knows what is going on in his head. Knowing how Croatia played in the UEFA Euro in the past, I don't think that they can win the title so winning the Nations league would be a real crown of his career in the national team.

[swogerino]

I think these games do not spark that much of an interest in football fans,consequently also in the gambling zone as most gamblers are not looking that much forward to these games especially knowing a huge number of surprise results that did happen last time around when playing games from this league.

For me the teams remaining are very good and if they were playing in another competition most probably they would produce very entertaining games but I highly doubt that it will be the case in this tournament where teams do not take it that seriously and most of the times let the young players play for the team giving them minutes to evaluate them better.I am not looking forward to these games as I would not know what type of bet to play here,mostly over 2.5 should be the ideal but who knows,why risk it.

[Lucius]

I'm surprised that bookies give that high odds on Croatia. I guess they see Netherlands playing in front of their fans like a really big advantage. It could be. But then again, if I would be betting, I would probably go with x2 because of the way Croatia tends to play these knockout games.

I'm not surprised, even if the game was played in Croatia, I think the bookies will set the odds slightly in favor of the Netherlands, or in the best case, the odds of winning would be equal. Consequently, most bookmakers give Croatia the least chance to win the League of Nations.

Everyone in Croatia knows how Modric feels about playing for the national team. I think that he will retire after the Nations league, but only he knows what is going on in his head. Knowing how Croatia played in the UEFA Euro in the past, I don't think that they can win the title so winning the Nations league would be a real crown of his career in the national team.

Past tournaments have nothing to do with the next one in Germany, which will be special because there will be tens of thousands of our fans in the stadiums and even more on the streets. Our coach emphasized several times that he can't wait to feel that atmosphere, and that will only be an additional incentive for the players to make a good result. Apart from that, playing in the semi-finals would be a great success, I don't see why only the first place should be considered a success.

[slackovic]

I think these games do not spark that much of an interest in football fans,consequently also in the gambling zone as most gamblers are not looking that much forward to these games especially knowing a huge number of surprise results that did happen last time around when playing games from this league.

For me the teams remaining are very good and if they were playing in another competition most probably they would produce very entertaining games but I highly doubt that it will be the case in this tournament where teams do not take it that seriously and most of the times let the young players play for the team giving them minutes to evaluate them better.I am not looking forward to these games as I would not know what type of bet to play here,mostly over 2.5 should be the ideal but who knows,why risk it.

I don't think that the teams will take this final four so lightly that they will leave it to the young players. At least I know that Croatia will try to win the title. They have good results in the last few years, but they have never won any title so this is their chance. Maybe Dalic will use younger players, but I'm sure the backbone of the national team will play.

/snip

Past tournaments have nothing to do with the next one in Germany, which will be special because there will be tens of thousands of our fans in the stadiums and even more on the streets. Our coach emphasized several times that he can't wait to feel that atmosphere, and that will only be an additional incentive for the players to make a good result. Apart from that, playing in the semi-finals would be a great success, I don't see why only the first place should be considered a success.

Yeah, the fans will surely give some performance boost to Croatia. But I don't know if that will be enough to win a medal. I remember when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006. There was a lot of Croatian fans on the stadium, but Croatia didn't even qualify for the next round. They ended up with one loss from Brazil and two draws from Australia and Japan.
I admit that this time the Croatian national team is much better and I'm sure that failing to qualify for the next round after the group stage will be a huge disappointment.

[emrecemsan]

I tried my luck with betting on some matches in the Nations League before but my betslip lost big time.    Indeed we have witnessed so many unexpected results in especially the matches of favourite teams. But still France and Portugal are the winners of this tournament so far. We don't see any surprising team reaching the title at the end I mean. When I look at the remaining teams in the semi finals now I don't see any surprising team again. Netherlands, Croatia, Spain and Italy all are strong candidates to win the title.

Netherlands are the host country this time as you know. Hence I assume they would be even more competitive to be the champions. But Croatia is a really dangerous opponent. They have a really solid defense line so I wonder what Netherlands will do about it.

[Lucius]

Yeah, the fans will surely give some performance boost to Croatia. But I don't know if that will be enough to win a medal.

A small country like Croatia cannot expect a medal at every competition, but we definitely have the potential to go towards that goal.

I remember when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006. There was a lot of Croatian fans on the stadium, but Croatia didn't even qualify for the next round. They ended up with one loss from Brazil and two draws from Australia and Japan.
I admit that this time the Croatian national team is much better and I'm sure that failing to qualify for the next round after the group stage will be a huge disappointment.

It's not only about the players, but also the coach who has vision and continuity, which was definitely not the case in 2006 when the coach was Kranjcar, who succeeded Baric, and frankly both were bad, especially the latter who, like many others before him literally destroyed our national team. We only need to remember what Dalic did in just two games when he took over the team from the incompetent Cacic.

[slackovic]

Well... It didn't take long to get some troublesome news about Marko Livaja leaving Croatia national team after the incident at the practice on Monday. For those of you who are not that familiar with Livaja, he tends to be pretty rude to the players from the opponent team and that's the reason a lot of people in Croatia doesn't like him. I don't think that his absence will be a problem for Croatia because they still have other good attackers on the team.

[LTU_btc]

Thanks for making this topic, I forgot that we have Nations league final 4 soon. There is not much hype around this tournament and importance of this tournament is something similar like Confederations Cup was.
I think that Croatia have quite good chance to reach final, Netherlands can't be considered as heavy favorites.
Spain - Italy is difficult to predict, but I'm backing Spain here.

[Daniel91]

Well... It didn't take long to get some troublesome news about Marko Livaja leaving Croatia national team after the incident at the practice on Monday. For those of you who are not that familiar with Livaja, he tends to be pretty rude to the players from the opponent team and that's the reason a lot of people in Croatia doesn't like him. I don't think that his absence will be a problem for Croatia because they still have other good attackers on the team.

I'm more concerned about the impact of that incident on the entire Croatian team before the start of an important tournament they want to win.
The whole situation is very strange because after the unfortunate incident with the fans, Livaja received the full support of the players, coaches and the football association, and the incident was actually not too serious.
That is why it seems to me that this is not a personal decision of Livaja, but of coach Dalic, who wants to get rid of a conflicted player and additionally mobilize the team for the UEFA Nations League final four.
A similar strategy worked for him at the 2018 World Cup when he excluded Kalinic from the national team, if you remember, which was also a big shock but additionally mobilized the entire team.

[Lucius]

Livaja is to blame for the fact that some fans criticize him, because if you want to celebrate your victories in a way that insults others, then be prepared that others will return it in the same or similar way. Given that this is not his first time and that he has already been punished for the same things, I think that his club should perhaps take some steps in terms of counseling regarding self-control.

Croatia definitely has problems with attackers, but Livaja is not irreplaceable, so this should not be seen as something that should affect the players and their game. What I would personally do if I were a coach is to close all training sessions to the public, and apparently none of the staff thought about that before the incident.

[Daniel91]

Livaja is to blame for the fact that some fans criticize him, because if you want to celebrate your victories in a way that insults others, then be prepared that others will return it in the same or similar way. Given that this is not his first time and that he has already been punished for the same things, I think that his club should perhaps take some steps in terms of counseling regarding self-control.

Croatia definitely has problems with attackers, but Livaja is not irreplaceable, so this should not be seen as something that should affect the players and their game. What I would personally do if I were a coach is to close all training sessions to the public, and apparently none of the staff thought about that before the incident.

I agree, no one is irreplaceable, but Croatia is the weakest in the forward position, and since Mandjukic left, we don't have a real attacker.
The problem is that Livaja was not dropped because of an injury, but by his own decision, so the coach has no right to look for a new player for that position.
As things currently stand, Kramarić will once again be our main option for attack and we will have to hope that he does not drop out due to injury or other reasons.
In any case, unnecessary problems for Croatia before this tournament.

[BitcoinAccepted]

Next week we will continue with the Nations League, which is of course still a prestigious prize for many teams. All matches are played in the Netherlands, which gives the Netherlands a big advantage in all matches. The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar. The question is how good Modric and de Jong are, they meet each other a few times every season when Madrid and Barcelona face each other. Italy - Spain is also a coin flip with no clear favourite.

[Lucius]

The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar.

Unfortunately, Croatia will have to play without Josko Gvardiol, who failed to heal the injury despite all efforts. His place will be filled by Martin Erlic, who at this point seems to be the only logical choice.

This is definitely bad news for Croatia because the defense will lose perhaps its most important player with the absence of Gvardiol.

[rdluffy]

The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar.

Unfortunately, Croatia will have to play without Josko Gvardiol, who failed to heal the injury despite all efforts. His place will be filled by Martin Erlic, who at this point seems to be the only logical choice.

This is definitely bad news for Croatia because the defense will lose perhaps its most important player with the absence of Gvardiol.

I just heard, it's bad news for the Croatian team. Gvardiol is a great player, and even Man. City will probably sign him.
He has already played more important matches and is more used to this type of match than Erlić

On the Netherlands side, it seems that Matthijs de Ligt will not play and the reason is the same: injury. I think they called Daley Blind in his place, but I don't know if he will be the starter.

But the bookmaker odds remain the same, 2.02 for Netherlands and 3.70 for Croatia
Approximately 47% odds for Netherlands, 27% draw and 26% for Croatia

I'm still betting on Croatia anyway, and I think this match has good chances of extra time 

[Daniel91]

The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar.

Unfortunately, Croatia will have to play without Josko Gvardiol, who failed to heal the injury despite all efforts. His place will be filled by Martin Erlic, who at this point seems to be the only logical choice.

This is definitely bad news for Croatia because the defense will lose perhaps its most important player with the absence of Gvardiol.

I just heard, it's bad news for the Croatian team. Gvardiol is a great player, and even Man. City will probably sign him.
He has already played more important matches and is more used to this type of match than Erlić

On the Netherlands side, it seems that Matthijs de Ligt will not play and the reason is the same: injury. I think they called Daley Blind in his place, but I don't know if he will be the starter.

But the bookmaker odds remain the same, 2.02 for Netherlands and 3.70 for Croatia
Approximately 47% odds for Netherlands, 27% draw and 26% for Croatia

I'm still betting on Croatia anyway, and I think this match has good chances of extra time 

I agree, Croatia lost a very important player in defense, but the Netherlands also lost an important player.
At the last 2 world cups, Croatia was very good and won 2 medals, silver and bronze, and now Croatian players announce that they want to finally win a trophy and get a gold medal.
There is certainly a chance for that, but it will be very difficult. The problem is that another key player of Croatia, Brozović, will come to this tournament very tired after the Champions League final.
I think that this tournament will be very even and uncertain and that all 4 national teams have a chance to win the trophy. Croatia already traditionally wins after extra time and penalties, so I predict the same outcome after the match with the Netherlands.

[Lucius]

~snip~
I'm still betting on Croatia anyway, and I think this match has good chances of extra time 

It's hard to get away from the impression that Croatia will play again in a way that they will try to go in extra time or even take penalty kicks, but it is much safer for me to bet that both teams will score, and that there will be at least 3 goals in the game. That offer is paid around 2.55 at my local bookmaker.

According to announcements coming from the Croatian team, head coach Dalic is preparing an offensive line-up that should include Luka Ivanusec (Dinamo ZG), and it is mentioned that Domagoj Vida could play instead of Erlic, although I hope that he will not play from the beginning. Vida is a real lion, but the years have done their thing and he's not as fast as he used to be.

Possible line-up of Croatia :

Code:

Livaković - Juranović (Stanišić), Vida, Šutalo, Perišić - Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić - Pašalić, Kramarić, Ivanušec.

[Juggy777]

The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar.

Unfortunately, Croatia will have to play without Josko Gvardiol, who failed to heal the injury despite all efforts. His place will be filled by Martin Erlic, who at this point seems to be the only logical choice.

This is definitely bad news for Croatia because the defense will lose perhaps its most important player with the absence of Gvardiol.

I just heard, it's bad news for the Croatian team. Gvardiol is a great player, and even Man. City will probably sign him.
He has already played more important matches and is more used to this type of match than Erlić

On the Netherlands side, it seems that Matthijs de Ligt will not play and the reason is the same: injury. I think they called Daley Blind in his place, but I don't know if he will be the starter.

But the bookmaker odds remain the same, 2.02 for Netherlands and 3.70 for Croatia
Approximately 47% odds for Netherlands, 27% draw and 26% for Croatia

I'm still betting on Croatia anyway, and I think this match has good chances of extra time 

I agree, Croatia lost a very important player in defense, but the Netherlands also lost an important player.
At the last 2 world cups, Croatia was very good and won 2 medals, silver and bronze, and now Croatian players announce that they want to finally win a trophy and get a gold medal.
There is certainly a chance for that, but it will be very difficult. The problem is that another key player of Croatia, Brozović, will come to this tournament very tired after the Champions League final.
I think that this tournament will be very even and uncertain and that all 4 national teams have a chance to win the trophy. Croatia already traditionally wins after extra time and penalties, so I predict the same outcome after the match with the Netherlands.

@Daniel91 I too have a very strong gut feeling which says that Croatia will win because the player’s will be extra motivated to win it for Luka and bid him a proper goodbye. Furthermore Netherland is no longer coached by Van Gaal and I believe that the player’s will miss his charismatic approach plus I don’t think that Roland can inspire these player’s like Van Gaal used to do hence I’m backing Croatia for a victory.

[Litzki1990]

Next week we will continue with the Nations League, which is of course still a prestigious prize for many teams. All matches are played in the Netherlands, which gives the Netherlands a big advantage in all matches. The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar. The question is how good Modric and de Jong are, they meet each other a few times every season when Madrid and Barcelona face each other. Italy - Spain is also a coin flip with no clear favourite.

One of the most reliable names in Croatia's defense is Josko Gvardiol. His injury absence against the Netherlands is a huge bummer as we saw him hold up Croatia's defense at the World Cup in Qatar. But we have to accept the reality that he is going to miss the match against Netherlands. 

Croatia will have to plan with whoever is selected as his replacement. It's fine to put the two teams on equal footing but Croatia may be a bit behind due to Josko Gvardiol's absence and Luka Modric's poor performances recently. But the game will be very difficult for both teams.

[slaman29]

Nice to see a thread from BSFL regular, I came here to look for insights for the Round 2 contest lol

I am backing Spain, as always, but I see sportsbook odds have them as the lowest odds to win the title, and that's probably because they must first meet Italy in the harder semifinal.

Which makes them great odds to bet on, right?

[Bitcoin_people]

Netherlands vs Croatia I think it will be a tough match between the two teams. Both the teams are strong enough but it is a pity that the Croatia defender who was in good form in the World Cup in Qatar will not be able to play in the match. There's no telling how well Luka Modric can perform. However, we have seen that Modric did not perform very well this season while playing for Real Madrid. However, the Netherlands will try to win the match. They are currently number 6th in the FIFA ranking and Croatia is number 7th. It is difficult to say for sure which team will win the UEFA Nations League final, but the team that can attack well on the field will win.

[tusandii]

Netherlands vs Croatia I think it will be a tough match between the two teams. Both the teams are strong enough but it is a pity that the Croatia defender who was in good form in the World Cup in Qatar will not be able to play in the match. There's no telling how well Luka Modric can perform. However, we have seen that Modric did not perform very well this season while playing for Real Madrid. However, the Netherlands will try to win the match. They are currently number 6th in the FIFA ranking and Croatia is number 7th. It is difficult to say for sure which team will win the UEFA Nations League final, but the team that can attack well on the field will win.

The Netherlands and Croatia are pretty good teams and at the Qatar World Cup they also performed pretty well even though they couldn't win the title.
But in their match I sided with the Netherlands to win the game this time.
For this season I don't trust Luka Modric's abilities because he can't play as well as he did a few seasons ago.
This is an opportunity for the Netherlands to get a win and proceed to the final round.

[harapan]

Personally I feel the nations league is a waste of time. It's just a way for Uefa to make more money. Time when the players should be resting, is time they spend playing lesser tournaments. Nobody takes the nations league serious. It's the clubs that suffer the most from these tournaments because it's their players that end of injured and fatigued. I also feel it will be cancelled sooner than expected. It's not the first time we've seen stuff like this happen.

Anyways, I'm going to bet on Croatia to win The Netherlands. Netherland have not been in rythem since the world cup and their new coach Koeman is not someone I trust, but they trust him so it's fine. Although Netherland have the advantage of playing on home soil, I still think Croatia will be winner of this tie.

According to the bookies, Spain are favorites to win against Italy and I agree. People believe Italy is a weak team because they couldn't qualify for the world cup, but I doubt that. Italy are very good team that even capable of winning the nations league. But I feel Spain will win it.

[rdluffy]

...but it is much safer for me to bet that both teams will score, and that there will be at least 3 goals in the game. That offer is paid around 2.55 at my local bookmaker.

I have some doubts about 3 goals. It's hard to predict because there's no sequence of matches to make a better guess about how any team is playing at the moment.
It's possible to have a 2 x 1, with 2.55 maybe it's worth the risk

According to announcements coming from the Croatian team, head coach Dalic is preparing an offensive line-up that should include Luka Ivanusec (Dinamo ZG), and it is mentioned that Domagoj Vida could play instead of Erlic, although I hope that he will not play from the beginning. Vida is a real lion, but the years have done their thing and he's not as fast as he used to be.

Possible line-up of Croatia :

Code:

Livaković - Juranović (Stanišić), Vida, Šutalo, Perišić - Modrić, Brozović, Kovačić - Pašalić, Kramarić, Ivanušec.

Which website do you check the news of the Croatian team?
In my opinion, the line-up is great, with no surprises and with players that are used to play with each other

Although the league's final round is not getting much attention in the news (and not here on the forum), I found that I will be able to watch the matches easily on my streaming service

I'm just unsure about my bet, between Croatia winning in regular time, 3.80 odds, or Croatia qualifying at 2.55 

[Distraction]

The Netherlands - Croatia match can end up really different than the bookmakers expect. Bookmakers are underestimating Croatia a little despite their look in the recent times. Croatia are a really solid defense team and they can be annoying against any kind of attacking-oriented teams. However Gvardiol's absence would weaken the defense at an important rate surely.

But still I don't think Croatia defense will be weak. They would stand tall and try their best to wear out Netherlands attackers. Netherlands are rather a much more attacking team you know so they will aim to have control of the match as much as possible. If Croatia do a good job about tightening the area their opponent play in then Netherlands can have really serious issues.

I think we will watch at least extra time and Croatia can really surprise the bookmakers.

[temple]

The Netherlands - Croatia match can end up really different than the bookmakers expect. Bookmakers are underestimating Croatia a little despite their look in the recent times. Croatia are a really solid defense team and they can be annoying against any kind of attacking-oriented teams. However Gvardiol's absence would weaken the defense at an important rate surely.

But still I don't think Croatia defense will be weak. They would stand tall and try their best to wear out Netherlands attackers. Netherlands are rather a much more attacking team you know so they will aim to have control of the match as much as possible. If Croatia do a good job about tightening the area their opponent play in then Netherlands can have really serious issues.

I think we will watch at least extra time and Croatia can really surprise the bookmakers.

I agree with this and the offense of the Netherlands doesn't look really that dangerous. They don't have one of those international top scorers in their team. That offense against Croatia's defense could end quite well for Croatia and they are definitely able to score a goal. I don't expect many goals in total for the game, but I think that Croatia will be successful at least once. They have a good chance to win that game. Though I think that it is still an even game as the Netherlands have been kicked out by Argentina at the World Cup and it was really close as well. With the home advantage this is about a 50:50 game instead of a big advantage for the Netherlands as the bookmakers believe. 

[karabiber]

The Netherlands brought in Ronald Koeman as the manager in January and lost to France with a different score in his first match with his new coach but defeated weak Gibraltar in his second match. It looks like they will need a little more time in the new period. Important names such as Vrij, Berghuis, Klaasen, Depay and Luuk de Jong, which we used to see in the squad in previous matches are not included in the squad due to injuries or leaving the national team but the Netherlands has the advantage of being the home team. I think the Netherlands will need time with Koeman in the current table.

Croatia which showed the success of being third in the World Cup, will come out of this match with morale and confidence.
Livaja left the national team in Croatia. Gvardiol, one of the most desired stopper of the last period is injured. Brozovic, who recently broke a sweat in the Champions League final is also uncertain. Although the visiting team has lost its sharpness, especially in attack it has shown in Qatar that it is still a very difficult team to be defeated with its strong team play. There are shortcomings in Croatia but i still think the squad is strong enough.

[Rruchi man]

Unfortunately, Croatia will have to play without Josko Gvardiol, who failed to heal the injury despite all efforts. His place will be filled by Martin Erlic, who at this point seems to be the only logical choice.

His absence alone gives Netherlands a big chance, but Croatia have a fantastic winning record coming to this game. Although it is another tournament, I watched very dissapointingly how Manchester city midfield dealt with Luka modric. I know this was possible because he is no longer as young as before. If Netherlands can be solid in midfield, they can have an edge to get to the finals.

I want Italy in the other game to win against Spain and get to the finals of the competition, so we can see if this year will be the year that Italian National team will loose out on a trophy as three of football clubs in the country (Italy) failed to win a trophy this season as well, despite getting to the finals.

[Lucius]

Which website do you check the news of the Croatian team?
In my opinion, the line-up is great, with no surprises and with players that are used to play with each other

I used one local source, and if you want to read today's article and you have no problem translating the article this is the source. Of course, the final line-up will be known only before the game, but in my opinion the only doubts are about the players who should replace Gvardiol, where suddenly there is talk of a veteran Vida who should get a chance instead of Erlic.

Of course, it's all part of the game before the game, so you shouldn't expect it to be just as it is presented by the media.

[Daniel91]

The Netherlands - Croatia will be a match that I think is about 50-50, but Croatia is missing a strong Croatian defender who managed to play a great World Cup in Qatar.

Unfortunately, Croatia will have to play without Josko Gvardiol, who failed to heal the injury despite all efforts. His place will be filled by Martin Erlic, who at this point seems to be the only logical choice.

This is definitely bad news for Croatia because the defense will lose perhaps its most important player with the absence of Gvardiol.

I just heard, it's bad news for the Croatian team. Gvardiol is a great player, and even Man. City will probably sign him.
He has already played more important matches and is more used to this type of match than Erlić

On the Netherlands side, it seems that Matthijs de Ligt will not play and the reason is the same: injury. I think they called Daley Blind in his place, but I don't know if he will be the starter.

But the bookmaker odds remain the same, 2.02 for Netherlands and 3.70 for Croatia
Approximately 47% odds for Netherlands, 27% draw and 26% for Croatia

I'm still betting on Croatia anyway, and I think this match has good chances of extra time 

I agree, Croatia lost a very important player in defense, but the Netherlands also lost an important player.
At the last 2 world cups, Croatia was very good and won 2 medals, silver and bronze, and now Croatian players announce that they want to finally win a trophy and get a gold medal.
There is certainly a chance for that, but it will be very difficult. The problem is that another key player of Croatia, Brozović, will come to this tournament very tired after the Champions League final.
I think that this tournament will be very even and uncertain and that all 4 national teams have a chance to win the trophy. Croatia already traditionally wins after extra time and penalties, so I predict the same outcome after the match with the Netherlands.

@Daniel91 I too have a very strong gut feeling which says that Croatia will win because the player’s will be extra motivated to win it for Luka and bid him a proper goodbye. Furthermore Netherland is no longer coached by Van Gaal and I believe that the player’s will miss his charismatic approach plus I don’t think that Roland can inspire these player’s like Van Gaal used to do hence I’m backing Croatia for a victory.

Thank you, I agree with your opinion.
In the last 5-6 years, Croatia has become a real tournament team that always plays very organized and good football in major competitions and very hard and rarely loses matches.
It's not pretty football to watch, but it's efficient football that brings results.
In all 4 of the last major competitions in which Croatia participated, Croatia reached the knockout phase of the competition and won a medal in almost all competitions, which speaks of the continuity of the game and the results.
Today, Croatia is a very difficult opponent for any team in the world, including the best teams in the world such as Brazil or France.
By winning away against France last year, Croatia qualified for the final tournament of the League of Nations and, in my opinion, has a good chance to win this tournament.

[giammangiato]

sorry if i speak my mind, with this loss croatia is much weaker than before
I agree with the others, it goes without saying that a single player does not make the team, if he is a champion it makes a lot of difference, both technically and morally

[FatFork]

It's indeed unfortunate that Guardiol will have to sit out such a significant game. His absence will definitely be felt. Hopefully, Šutalo - Erlić can step up and fill the void.

Now, speaking of the bookmakers, I noticed that they've marked the Dutch as the favorites. I wonder if it's mainly because they have home-field advantage or if they genuinely have a strong and fit squad for the game. What are your thoughts on this?

[hahay]

It's indeed unfortunate that Guardiol will have to sit out such a significant game. His absence will definitely be felt. Hopefully, Šutalo - Erlić can step up and fill the void.

Now, speaking of the bookmakers, I noticed that they've marked the Dutch as the favorites. I wonder if it's mainly because they have home-field advantage or if they genuinely have a strong and fit squad for the game. What are your thoughts on this?

But, if we don't worry about the odds available and you are sure Croatia will win, then of course the odds you will get are better odds, right? But yes, if we always consider betting on the favorite team then yes, with the Netherlands playing at home then it is likely that this will allow the Netherlands to maximize it to win. But yes, if I may predict then it looks like Netherlands still won't be easy to win but still, I also believe that these two teams have the ability to score goals so I think betting on the team that wins this match doesn't have a definite choice.

[klidex]

sorry if i speak my mind, with this loss croatia is much weaker than before
I agree with the others, it goes without saying that a single player does not make the team, if he is a champion it makes a lot of difference, both technically and morally

Croatia is lagging behind other teams so this season they seem to have an unsatisfactory game.
If you look at them from a few years ago, they actually looked a lot worse the year before.
Maybe because there is one player who is not included in the team.
But by looking at their game I don't think they can win considering that several other teams are playing very well.

[shogun47]

sorry if i speak my mind, with this loss croatia is much weaker than before
I agree with the others, it goes without saying that a single player does not make the team, if he is a champion it makes a lot of difference, both technically and morally

Croatia is lagging behind other teams so this season they seem to have an unsatisfactory game.
If you look at them from a few years ago, they actually looked a lot worse the year before.
Maybe because there is one player who is not included in the team.
But by looking at their game I don't think they can win considering that several other teams are playing very well.

There are relatively many voices saying that this game will have a better ending for the Netherlands, but I don't agree yet. It is one of those games when Croatia can turn out to be very stubborn during the game and their defense is hard to beat. This is what I expect this time as well. It is not one of those ordinary Nations League games that are quite boring even for the teams playing them. It is a semifinal and Croatia has often shown that they can switch gears in those matches.

[execijutiere]

In the semifinal match we will watch the Netherlands-Croatia fight.Of course, the Netherlands is shown as the favorite, which we can meet naturally.The Netherlands is a team that has been increasing its form in recent years, we can understand that they are the favorite against Croatia, but Croatia is a team with really experienced players.It will not be an easy match for the Netherlands and maybe it may even be a match that Croatia can win despite not being shown as the favorite.We are talking about a team that came 3rd in the World Cup after all.The Croats will not leave the match easily.

[FatFork]

As we reach the Thirty-fifth minute mark, the score remains 0-0, but there was quite a moment of excitement. The Dutch net shook as Modrić managed to score. However, just before that, Pašalić attempted a scissor move but unfortunately committed a foul on Ake. It was clear that there was no intention behind it, but the referee still brandished a yellow card. At the moment, both teams seem to be evenly matched. The possession of the ball is almost identical, and both teams have managed two shots on goal.

EDIT:

Netherlands 1-0 Croatia
Malen 34'

[Rruchi man]

At the moment, both teams seem to be evenly matched. The possession of the ball is almost identical, and both teams have managed two shots on goal.

Netherlands have a goal lead, a goal that came from an unexpected ball well worked from Gakpo to Ake who has had a great season and into the penalty of the Croatians for the Netherland player to find Donyell Malen who with a very well targeted shot put the ball at the end of the goal to beat Dominik Livakovic. Croatia will work harder to try to beat Netherlands very strong defence having Denzel Dumfries who was able to stop Grealish in the just played UCL finals, Virgil Van Dijk from Liverpool with his height, and Nathan Ake from treble winning Manchester City. It is almost Halftime and Netherlands will like it very much if they carry this their advantage into the Halftime.

[emrecemsan]

Croatia can't apply exactly what they have in their mind. They couldn't keep their opponent away from scoring a goal for a long time period. They were able to hold them off for only 34 minutes. Now Croatia will need to take bigger risks if they desire the final stage in the tournament. They can't continue to play defense-focused from now on as this wouldn't help them about a comeback clearly. Gvardiol's injury is really hitting them hard now in defense line but I'm afraid they have to deal with it.

They need to focus more on creating dangerous attacks in the second half. I don't think Netherlands would take big risks while they have the score advantage. They aren't quite the defensive team though considering what France did to them in a Euro 2024 qualification match. Croatia will need to look for mistakes to take advantage of.

[DaNNy001]

At the moment, both teams seem to be evenly matched. The possession of the ball is almost identical, and both teams have managed two shots on goal.

Netherlands have a goal lead, a goal that came from an unexpected ball well worked from Gakpo to Ake who has had a great season and into the penalty of the Croatians for the Netherland player to find Donyell Malen who with a very well targeted shot put the ball at the end of the goal to beat Dominik Livakovic. Croatia will work harder to try to beat Netherlands very strong defence having Denzel Dumfries who was able to stop Grealish in the just played UCL finals, Virgil Van Dijk from Liverpool with his height, and Nathan Ake from treble winning Manchester City. It is almost Halftime and Netherlands will like it very much if they carry this their advantage into the Halftime.

They have an impressive line up and teams but I still doubt that the score is going to end on one nil because am very certain of this Croatian team and their fighting spirit so I won't be surprise if they can manage an equaliser in the second half of play. Croatia is one of the strong and most stubborn teams to defeat so the Netherlands should know that they are in for a tough game tonight.

[rdluffy]

I used one local source, and if you want to read today's article and you have no problem translating the article this is the source. Of course, the final line-up will be known only before the game, but in my opinion the only doubts are about the players who should replace Gvardiol, where suddenly there is talk of a veteran Vida who should get a chance instead of Erlic.

Of course, it's all part of the game before the game, so you shouldn't expect it to be just as it is presented by the media.

Thanks Lucius, since the media is not giving much attention, specially outside Europe, it's not so easy to get good info about the matches, line-ups, news etc

My only bet is Croatia classification, I didn't put any money into goals under or over, I was not confident enough to guess the goals

1x1 right now 
Well balanced match so far, without many surprises, I think this match is looking like it will get exciting in the final minutes and go to extra-time hehehe
Can you imagine, again Croatia in extra-time 

[Ulven]

I used one local source, and if you want to read today's article and you have no problem translating the article this is the source. Of course, the final line-up will be known only before the game, but in my opinion the only doubts are about the players who should replace Gvardiol, where suddenly there is talk of a veteran Vida who should get a chance instead of Erlic.

Of course, it's all part of the game before the game, so you shouldn't expect it to be just as it is presented by the media.

Thanks Lucius, since the media is not giving much attention, specially outside Europe, it's not so easy to get good info about the matches, line-ups, news etc

My only bet is Croatia classification, I didn't put any money into goals under or over, I was not confident enough to guess the goals

1x1 right now  
Well balanced match so far, without many surprises, I think this match is looking like it will get exciting in the final minutes and go to extra-time hehehe
Can you imagine, again Croatia in extra-time  

It sounds like you're watching an intense match between two teams, and Croatia is currently tied with their opponent. Extra-time can certainly add an extra level of excitement to a match, especially when teams are evenly matched. Croatia has a history of performing well in extra-time, so it wouldn't be surprising if they find themselves in that situation again. Enjoy the rest of the match and may the best team win!!!
My bet is in favor of Croatia, and I'm not sure if Modrić's teammates can score the winning goal in regular time.
LOL,Croatia scores the winning goal.

[FatFork]

Darn it, I was genuinely convinced that Croatia had this one in the bag tonight. With just 30 seconds left on the clock, Lang swoops in and scores to level it at 2-2. What a disappointing turn of events...
Well, get ready for some extra time, folks. The game isn't over just yet.

[jakdanyel]

If Croatia got ahead first maybe we might not have watched this many goals in regular time. Because they are generally really good at maintaining an advantage over their opponents. Yes Gvardiol isn't in the lineup today unfortunately but they have still done a good job with balancing the weakness in defense with being more effective in scoring goals.

We watched a completely different second half for Croatia. Finding the equalizer early improved their self-confidence and in a really nice time they got even ahead by 2-1. But what a great moment for Netherlands that they extended the match to extra time by a goal in the last moments.

Now these are exactly Croatia's times in my opinion. My bet is on Croatia to win by extra time/penalty shootouts.

[harapan]

1x1 right now 
Well balanced match so far, without many surprises, I think this match is looking like it will get exciting in the final minutes and go to extra-time hehehe
Can you imagine, again Croatia in extra-time 

It went just as you predicted. I'm so angry right now. I placed my bet in favor of Croatia and they were almost there. Why couldn't they just hold on for two more minutes. They have done a good job by coming from behind to take the lead, but they let it slip 
This shit hurts.
I should have bet on who would win, including extra time and not just for the 90. Croatia is already leading in extra time. Once the match got to extra time I knew Croatia would win. They are good in extra times and penalties.

[Rruchi man]

Darn it, I was genuinely convinced that Croatia had this one in the bag tonight. With just 30 seconds left on the clock, Lang swoops in and scores to level it at 2-2. What a disappointing turn of events...
Well, get ready for some extra time, folks. The game isn't over just yet.

Croatia are showing that they want to get to the finals with how well they have played the first half of extra time and the pressure they have put The Dutch defence. The substitute Bruno Petkovic scores an important goal from a long range shot after an assist from Luka Modric. Croatia had other opportunities in the first half of the extra time to make it 2:4 in their favour, but they missed some chances. Netherlands now have a few minutes to either take this game to penalties or win it.  Nathan Ake and Cody Gakpo have been rested in this final half for Tyrell Malacia and Marten De Roon.

[temple]

Darn it, I was genuinely convinced that Croatia had this one in the bag tonight. With just 30 seconds left on the clock, Lang swoops in and scores to level it at 2-2. What a disappointing turn of events...
Well, get ready for some extra time, folks. The game isn't over just yet.

Croatia are showing that they want to get to the finals with how well they have played the first half of extra time and the pressure they have put The Dutch defence. The substitute Bruno Petkovic scores an important goal from a long range shot after an assist from Luka Modric. Croatia had other opportunities in the first half of the extra time to make it 2:4 in their favour, but they missed some chances. Netherlands now have a few minutes to either take this game to penalties or win it.  Nathan Ake and Cody Gakpo have been rested in this final half for Tyrell Malacia and Marten De Roon.

This is an interesting result but also one that it is again a bit of a statement set by the Croatian teams. Never underestimate them and even if this was a game away for them and many fans thought that the chances to win this one are not that big, they did it again. They even had a bit more ball possession than the Netherlands and were not only busy defending the attacks from the Netherlands, but had their own chances. Right now they are even checking the fifth goal. That overtime was quite wild I think but Croatia squeezed everything out of the chances they had.

[Unknown01]

 That overtime was quite wild I think but Croatia squeezed everything out of the chances they had.

They played and fought very hard throughout the game. Even Modric has shown that at that age he can still compete with the best. At the age of 37, he shows not a single sign of exhaustion, even in overtime. The Croatians deserved to win and I can very well imagine that they will win the title and they deserve it!

[CLS63]

What was passing through Koeman's mind? I still couldn't understand. In extra time De Jong played as a centre-back and Virgil van Dijk played as a centre-forward. While Netherlands got this much close to winning a trophy home after long years it was a fiasco for them to concede 4 goals from Croatia.

When it comes to Croatia they are maintaining their amazing performance. One should raise their hat to 37-year-old Modric for staying on the field for 120 minutes and shining like a star.

[Mr.suevie]

1x1 right now 
Well balanced match so far, without many surprises, I think this match is looking like it will get exciting in the final minutes and go to extra-time hehehe
Can you imagine, again Croatia in extra-time 

It went just as you predicted. I'm so angry right now. I placed my bet in favor of Croatia and they were almost there. Why couldn't they just hold on for two more minutes. They have done a good job by coming from behind to take the lead, but they let it slip 
This shit hurts.
I should have bet on who would win, including extra time and not just for the 90. Croatia is already leading in extra time. Once the match got to extra time I knew Croatia would win. They are good in extra times and penalties.

Thats sports betting for you, we always nearly get it right till the last minutes but nevertheless Croatia played very well seeing to the fact that the bookies gave them the bigger odds to win this game. But at the end of everything Croatia actually did secured the victory that was needed so sorry about your ticket lost.

[rdluffy]

It went just as you predicted. I'm so angry right now. I placed my bet in favor of Croatia and they were almost there. Why couldn't they just hold on for two more minutes. They have done a good job by coming from behind to take the lead, but they let it slip 
This shit hurts.
I should have bet on who would win, including extra time and not just for the 90. Croatia is already leading in extra time. Once the match got to extra time I knew Croatia would win. They are good in extra times and penalties.

Hehehe, this time I got it right
But the bet I placed was only on Croatia's classification

I had said and thought that the game was going to be balanced and could go to extra time, and it was.

My view of the game was that in regular time, the match was very even, yes, with a bit of an advantage for Croatia. But in extra time it seems that the Netherlands came in with defeat on their mind, even though they had tied the game at the end of regular time, usually the team who score the last goal, is the one who is more motivated.

And again, extra time for Croatia, but this time it looks like they are totally used to, and score 2 more goals (almost 3), and not only that, they dominated the game in extra-time
The experience of Croatia is incredible.

A funny thing that I'll "predict": the final will be the same thing, nobody will say Croatia is favorite, the odds will be against, against Italy or Spain hahaha  

[KTChampions]

What was passing through Koeman's mind? I still couldn't understand. In extra time De Jong played as a centre-back and Virgil van Dijk played as a centre-forward. While Netherlands got this much close to winning a trophy home after long years it was a fiasco for them to concede 4 goals from Croatia.

When it comes to Croatia they are maintaining their amazing performance. One should raise their hat to 37-year-old Modric for staying on the field for 120 minutes and shining like a star.

Modric is in great shape even after such a tough season. How much strength does he have 
By the way, as I understand it, if Croatia lost today, then we would know Modric's decision regarding the national team - he said that he had already made a decision, but would publish it after the League of Nations. I hope he doesn't retire from the national team this summer.

[Slow death]

Now, speaking of the bookmakers, I noticed that they've marked the Dutch as the favorites. I wonder if it's mainly because they have home-field advantage or if they genuinely have a strong and fit squad for the game. What are your thoughts on this?

honestly when i saw these odds i thought it was very absurd to consider holland as a favorite especially when you saw the performance of holland in the world cup and croatia in the world cup, for me i will repeat what i said weeks ago:

I don't see Holland as superior to Croatia

which has a good team and much better organization in defense, and it's true that many good teams haven't played well in these UEFA Nations League games, maybe because it's a competition in which it doesn't have much importance and how teams need their players so national team coaches spare players in that competition and that's why I haven't been watching these UEFA Nations League games, the last time I watched a UEFA Nations League game it was a French game they were playing very bad

So that's when I realized that Franca who was on the field even with her good players weren't making an effort because they were saving up for the world cup and local league games, that's why I don't bet on those UEFA Nations League games, but even so holland has problems, they are not that good team of years ago, they have serious problems in the defense, and now with Koeman as coach, I just hope that he doesn't transform the netherlands too much and fall like he did in barcelona, because he has problems with players old ones, has the thought of rejuvenating the team but does it in a radical and harmful way

[Stepstowealth]

Modric is in great shape even after such a tough season. How much strength does he have 

He played long into the second half of the Extra time when the Croatian manager already knew they had the better chance of winning the game. No need to risk him further since he is old, they are heading to a final and will need him to win the UEFA Nation's league cup. He had an assist and a goal from a penalty. He loves playing in the National team, he will not decide to retire now. Croatia will be preparing to face either Italy or Spain, and with how well they played today, any team that is going to play them in the final need to take this game as a warning.

[rendravolt]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time. Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game. Victory 2-4 in extra time was very important for croatia to get them into the nations league final this year and now they just have to wait to see who their next opponent will be in the final whether it be italy or spain, let's see.

[Popkon6]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time. Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game. Victory 2-4 in extra time was very important for croatia to get them into the nations league final this year and now they just have to wait to see who their next opponent will be in the final whether it be italy or spain, let's see.

Croatia won because of a very good performance towards the end. But I noticed during the full time game that the two teams were often evenly matched but the Dutch attack was a bit more. Croatia attack more quickly than the Netherlands which is mostly counter attack. Meanwhile, Croatia showed a very good performance in extra time and the result was Croatia victory. In particular, Luka Modric scored a last-gasp goal to finish the match and he has tried in the past without success. Croatia performed very well throughout the game and at the end their pace was one of the best.

[Harkorede]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time. Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game. Victory 2-4 in extra time was very important for croatia to get them into the nations league final this year and now they just have to wait to see who their next opponent will be in the final whether it be italy or spain, let's see.

I was absolutely stunned by the Croatian team performance, it was very ruthless especially during the final 30 minutes of extra time, because I couldn't follow the game from the regular time, but when I got back from my daily routine and I saw the score line was even with 2 goals apiece, I suspected we could be in some drama down the stretch of the extra 30 minutes, and it turned out that I was not wrong after all, the Netherlands got totally exposed at the back and there could have easily been as many as 4-5 goal within those 30 minutes, Just when I thought Luka Modric have had his last dance in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, it seems he's just not done yet, well deserved recognition he got from the fans and even Ronald Koeman the Dutch coach also showed him a great gesture too.

[3meek]

Yesterday I bet on both teams to score and total >2.5... I managed to win and for that reason I shut the game down in the final minutes... Now I found out that the Netherlands were able to score the second return goal just in that time... I really wish I had watched the match till the end... The pensioners were able to prove that they are still in the fight...

[JooBra]

Yesterday I bet on both teams to score and total >2.5... I managed to win and for that reason I shut the game down in the final minutes... Now I found out that the Netherlands were able to score the second return goal just in that time... I really wish I had watched the match till the end... The pensioners were able to prove that they are still in the fight...

That was a smart bet since game could have gone in both direction in early stages. Croatia once again proved that they can keep focus and discipline for 120min and that's what is important in those kind of games. I think they have a good chance to win this on Sunday.

[shogun47]

What was passing through Koeman's mind? I still couldn't understand. In extra time De Jong played as a centre-back and Virgil van Dijk played as a centre-forward. While Netherlands got this much close to winning a trophy home after long years it was a fiasco for them to concede 4 goals from Croatia.

When it comes to Croatia they are maintaining their amazing performance. One should raise their hat to 37-year-old Modric for staying on the field for 120 minutes and shining like a star.

Modric is in great shape even after such a tough season. How much strength does he have 
By the way, as I understand it, if Croatia lost today, then we would know Modric's decision regarding the national team - he said that he had already made a decision, but would publish it after the League of Nations. I hope he doesn't retire from the national team this summer.

He is obviously top fit and at an impressive level physically. Going almost 120 minutes and then also get the trust of his players to safely score that penalty is a serious statement about him. If he stays an integral part of that team and is even entrusted with deciding crucial moments like that penalty, there isn't much speaking against Modric going for another three years and perhaps even play another World Cup. First of all he will play the upcoming EURO for sure and then they will go from there and see, but it would be no shocker if he is still around in three years from now.

[Litzki1990]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time. Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game. Victory 2-4 in extra time was very important for croatia to get them into the nations league final this year and now they just have to wait to see who their next opponent will be in the final whether it be italy or spain, let's see.

Croatia beat Netherlands 4-2 at De Kuip Stadium. 4-2 defeat does not mean that the match was not good. Both teams performed well. Towards the end of the game it looked like Croatia might win as the Netherlands trailed by one goal until the 96th minute. But at the very end of extra time Lang scored the second goal for the Netherlands to bring the team back on level terms. As the result of the match was not decided at full time, the match referee decided to extend some more time and Croatia managed to score two more goals in the second extra time. And Croatia scored two goals in the extra time to secure a 4-0 win for the team.  

Luka Modrić's game looked like he could have played another 90 minutes. Luka Modrić might forget he's 38 when he plays.  However, we saw a great match from Croatia.

[Docnaster]

Oh! Nice... I was talking with my bro about the UEFA nations league. I remembered that it wasn't finished then. They were pausing and restarting the league.  I cannot even remember many things bout the league. The most thing I can remember is France was not taking the league seriously then
 They will bench all their star players including Kylian Mbappe and after they start loosing they will be introducing them. I am sure France was eliminated then. Good that I have seen football to watch for the mean time before seasons starts.
Please who has the remaining fixtures so that I will know how to watch.

[Lucius]

Thanks Lucius, since the media is not giving much attention, specially outside Europe, it's not so easy to get good info about the matches, line-ups, news etc

You're welcome, I hope you find useful information, and it turned out that this time the media was right about line-ups.

My only bet is Croatia classification, I didn't put any money into goals under or over, I was not confident enough to guess the goals

My bet went through, both teams scoring a goal and 3+ goals in the game seemed like a gift.

1x1 right now 
Well balanced match so far, without many surprises, I think this match is looking like it will get exciting in the final minutes and go to extra-time hehehe
Can you imagine, again Croatia in extra-time 

I honestly thought that this time it would not be extra time and in fact it should not have happened that the football referee extended the match max 4 minutes and not even 6. Of course, this is not an excuse for the complete confusion that prevailed in those minutes when it came to Croatia, but they obviously cannot do without real drama.

However, the redemption came in extra time when Croatia played great and when head coach Dalic introduced Bruno Petkovic who scored a great goal, and for those who do not remember something similar he did in the match against Brazil in Qatar.


No matter how the game ends tonight, we're expecting a great game of the finals on Sunday. I'm hoping that Croatia will come out of this game as a winner, because these guys definitely deserve it. And as for the bookmakers, let them just underestimate Croatia again, I don't mind the high odds

[MAAManda]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time.

How can you not be so surprised to see the results in this match, apart from Croatia which has had good performances in recent years, but the Netherlands is a very strong team, they should not have lost this match.

Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game.

This surprised me, how can Luka Modric who is already 37 years old, still play full time . In addition, he also became a hero for Croatia in this match with a penalty he scored in the 116th minute. Well, hopefully they can get at least 1 trophy this year, moreover it is estimated that Modric will not be able to take part in the next WC.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

This surprised me, how can Luka Modric who is already 37 years old, still play full time . In addition, he also became a hero for Croatia in this match with a penalty he scored in the 116th minute. Well, hopefully they can get at least 1 trophy this year, moreover it is estimated that Modric will not be able to take part in the next WC.

He’s not just still playing, he’s starring in games. People talk about Xavi and Iniesta but Modric has 5 x Champions League winners medals, 3 x La Liga winners medals, he won Ballon D’or. He’s one of the greatest midfield players of the last 30 years. I don’t think he gets enough credit.

[ILuckyGuyI]

You just shouldn't let the game end beyond regular time if you are playing against Croatia. Otherwise this happens.    But I must add a fact that Croatia played the second half much stronger than the first one. That comeback was really lovely. They could have even finished the game right there but Lang gained another chance for his team by a last-minute goal.

But the situation was still under control for Croatia. They really like these times when we look at their history also. Modric was like the star of extra time by a goal and an assist.    Petkovic was nearly scoring even their 5th goal if there wasn't offside. Really solid effort by Croatia. I never expected such result honestly.

[onecall123]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time. Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game. Victory 2-4 in extra time was very important for croatia to get them into the nations league final this year and now they just have to wait to see who their next opponent will be in the final whether it be italy or spain, let's see.

Croatia has managed to surprise the world with their performances. In the first half, the Dutch showcased their dominance, but Croatia proved their worth and confirmed their place in the final. The match itself was interesting, as the Dutch underestimated the strength of the Croatian team and ultimately suffered a defeat. Throughout the game, Modric consistently displayed his leadership qualities. Modric still rocking at this stage of his career, and continues to shine for his national team. No doubt, Modric era will be remembered as the greatest team of Croatian football. Anyway, following today's win Croatia make entry into the UEFA Nations League final, and it would be exciting to witness a thrilling face-off between Spain and Croatia in the finals.

[rendravolt]

The results were not too surprising, however, Croatia has been better than the Netherlands in recent years and even though the match was tied at 2-2 in 90 minutes, Croatia managed to get rid of the Netherlands in extra time.

How can you not be so surprised to see the results in this match, apart from Croatia which has had good performances in recent years, but the Netherlands is a very strong team, they should not have lost this match.

Luka Modric was so outstanding that he even played the full 120 minutes at the age of almost 38 and it was evident that his stamina was endless in such a fierce game.

This surprised me, how can Luka Modric who is already 37 years old, still play full time . In addition, he also became a hero for Croatia in this match with a penalty he scored in the 116th minute. Well, hopefully they can get at least 1 trophy this year, moreover it is estimated that Modric will not be able to take part in the next WC.

The reason I wasn't surprised was because even though the Netherlands managed to hold Croatia to a draw in normal time, they still lost in overtime in the end. There wasn't much that the Dutch could do, even to score 1 additional goal they struggled. On the other hand, Croatia appeared full of energy even though the score was still the same and they managed to finish the game with a two goal difference.

Modric is like a wonderkid at his current age and no one would have thought that for just one of the semifinal matches he would still have quite a lot of stamina until the game was over. He managed to widen the gap with the closing goal in the match and that made him add to his collection of goals for Croatia. I also hope the same thing that Modric will win the Nations League this season with Croatia and at the age when it is time to retire from the Croatian national team he should at least get this title.

[KTChampions]

What do you think about today's game Spain - Italy? To me, it looks completely random. The bookies rank Spain as a slight favourite, but Spain's overall chance of winning in regular time is well below 50%. I'm not even sure about BTTS, it's possible that the game will end 0-0 in regular time.
Whoever wins today I hope Croatia wins the final - Spain and Italy already have enough titles and Croatia has stopped too often on the verge of victory. This would be fair in my opinion.

[CLS63]

What was passing through Koeman's mind? I still couldn't understand. In extra time De Jong played as a centre-back and Virgil van Dijk played as a centre-forward. While Netherlands got this much close to winning a trophy home after long years it was a fiasco for them to concede 4 goals from Croatia.

When it comes to Croatia they are maintaining their amazing performance. One should raise their hat to 37-year-old Modric for staying on the field for 120 minutes and shining like a star.

Modric is in great shape even after such a tough season. How much strength does he have 
By the way, as I understand it, if Croatia lost today, then we would know Modric's decision regarding the national team - he said that he had already made a decision, but would publish it after the League of Nations. I hope he doesn't retire from the national team this summer.

I hope so as well. If they win the Nations League trophy at the end then I would have more faith in Modric to continue with the national team. I would really like to see him in Euro 2024 if they get past the qualifiers without problem. Because Modric is still the backbone of Croatia midfield. It wouldn't be easy to find an alternative to him who can play as good as him. There aren't so many alternatives to him in the current squad now.

Modric is actually keen on continuing his career for at least one more year with Real Madrid. Maybe he can think the same for the national team as well.

[Alpha Marine]

Oh! Nice... I was talking with my bro about the UEFA nations league. I remembered that it wasn't finished then. They were pausing and restarting the league.  I cannot even remember many things bout the league. The most thing I can remember is France was not taking the league seriously then
 They will bench all their star players including Kylian Mbappe and after they start loosing they will be introducing them. I am sure France was eliminated then. Good that I have seen football to watch for the mean time before seasons starts.
Please who has the remaining fixtures so that I will know how to watch.

There were just four teams left. Netherland and Croatia played yesterday. It was a very thrilling game. The Netherlands took the leads first but Croatia equalized and took the lead later own. It stayed that way till the last minute of normal time before Netherland equalized.
The game pretty much belonged to Croatia in extra time where they scored 2 more goals and the game ended  4-2 in favor of Croatia.
That means, Croatia are waiting for whoever qualifies between Spain and Italy (the other two teams left in the competition).
.I'm tipping Spain to win this game. Spain play with more rhythm. Their only problem is that they lack goal scorers. 

[Bitcoin_people]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

[borovichok]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

I'm waiting patiently to watch the game, looking at their statistics, they both have what it takes to be in the final but only one club will qualify to face Croatia. The national league game is becoming more fascinating as top countries fight, and we all know that the best team wins at the end of the day.The major game tonight is Spain vs. Italy in the Nations League semi-finals. Both countries match their balance strength, spain manager, Luis de la Fuente will do his best to eliminate Italy coach, Roberto Mancini, which will be a difficult task. It's difficult to predict the outcome, but I've placed my wager on the match, a GG, and Spain earning the three points to claim the championship.

[dwminer1]

It's hard to pick a clear favorite for the match between Spain and Italy. Bookmakers give more chances to Spain and I also bet on the team of coach Luis de la Fuente to win. In the last head-to-head competition, the Spanish national team ended a glorious 37-match unbeaten Italies streak. It is also worth noting that in 10 of Spain's last 12 matches, the half-time score (win/draw/loss) was also the final score. Odd @4.0 for the halftime lead and the Spaniards win seems very attractive to me.

[Joca97]

It's hard to pick a clear favorite for the match between Spain and Italy. Bookmakers give more chances to Spain and I also bet on the team of coach Luis de la Fuente to win. In the last head-to-head competition, the Spanish national team ended a glorious 37-match unbeaten Italies streak. It is also worth noting that in 10 of Spain's last 12 matches, the half-time score (win/draw/loss) was also the final score. Odd @4.0 for the halftime lead and the Spaniards win seems very attractive to me.

For me the favorite is Spain,i dont like how Italy plays lately and i think they will lose this match. Still anything could happen because the club season has ended and a lot of the players are really tired so because of this i think we might have a lot of goals like in the match between Netherlands and Croatia.

[aylabadia05]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

The players of both teams are equally good with pretty good flying hours so I can't say for sure who will win this match.
Judging from the FIFA rankings, Italy is ranked #8 while Spain is ranked #10, but that is not a reference to say Spain is an easy team to beat Italy.

Referring to the last match of these two teams on October 7 2021, Spain was able to win 1-2 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The statistics at that time Spain were far superior, starting from the percentage of ball possession to the total shots.
As usual, Italy must be able to keep Spain from dominating the game with longer ball possession if they want to win.
Conversely, Spain also should not follow the playing style of Italy.
For me, both teams will need to anticipate to avoid quick goals.

[FatFork]

Good that I have seen football to watch for the mean time before seasons starts.
Please who has the remaining fixtures so that I will know how to watch.

Croatia has already secured a spot in the final by defeating the Netherlands last night. The second semi-final match between Spain and Italy is scheduled to take place tonight at the FC Twente Stadion in Enschede (20:45 CET), and will determine the other finalist. The winner of that match will face Croatia in the final on Sunday, June 18 in Rotterdam, with a kickoff also at 20:45 CET.

Additionally, the match for third place will also be held on Sunday, June 18, in Enschede at 15:00 CET.
I hope you enjoy watching the remaining matches of the UEFA Nations League!

[slapper]

What was passing through Koeman's mind? I still couldn't understand. In extra time De Jong played as a centre-back and Virgil van Dijk played as a centre-forward. While Netherlands got this much close to winning a trophy home after long years it was a fiasco for them to concede 4 goals from Croatia.

When it comes to Croatia they are maintaining their amazing performance. One should raise their hat to 37-year-old Modric for staying on the field for 120 minutes and shining like a star.

Modric is in great shape even after such a tough season. How much strength does he have 
By the way, as I understand it, if Croatia lost today, then we would know Modric's decision regarding the national team - he said that he had already made a decision, but would publish it after the League of Nations. I hope he doesn't retire from the national team this summer.

Modric has undoubtedly shown exceptional prowess and stamina, which has propelled him through the demanding season. I am waiting in anticipation for his decision about his national team career, hoping he doesn't hang up his boots just yet. Given Croatia's stellar performance and Modric's crucial role in it, I feel optimistic about their prospects in the final against Italy or Spain. The display they put up should indeed serve as a wake-up call to the opposition.

[hahay]

It's hard to pick a clear favorite for the match between Spain and Italy. Bookmakers give more chances to Spain and I also bet on the team of coach Luis de la Fuente to win. In the last head-to-head competition, the Spanish national team ended a glorious 37-match unbeaten Italies streak. It is also worth noting that in 10 of Spain's last 12 matches, the half-time score (win/draw/loss) was also the final score. Odd @4.0 for the halftime lead and the Spaniards win seems very attractive to me.

For me the favorite is Spain,i dont like how Italy plays lately and i think they will lose this match. Still anything could happen because the club season has ended and a lot of the players are really tired so because of this i think we might have a lot of goals like in the match between Netherlands and Croatia.

I personally don't really consider their head to head result because I think, it's a record that happened in the past because I believe the past and this moment seem to have a difference. Thus, I personally predict that this match will run tough which means, I'm sure there won't be many goals scored in this match. Because in my view, these two teams have been playing more defensively lately and thus, when they get a goal they will quickly change their playing style to be more defensive. So yes, that way it will be difficult for the team that is left behind to score a goal back and even though they can score a goal and so on, they will only play more carefully so that no more goals are scored.

[Stepstowealth]

I'm waiting patiently to watch the game, looking at their statistics, they both have what it takes to be in the final but only one club will qualify to face Croatia. The national league game is becoming more fascinating as top countries fight, and we all know that the best team wins at the end of the day.The major game tonight is Spain vs. Italy in the Nations League semi-finals. Both countries match their balance strength, spain manager, Luis de la Fuente will do his best to eliminate Italy coach, Roberto Mancini, which will be a difficult task. It's difficult to predict the outcome, but I've placed my wager on the match, a GG, and Spain earning the three points to claim the championship.

Just like yesterday's game, Spain and Italy game will be a strong game. Croatia yesterday were very patient passing the ball around, Spain have a habit of passing the ball around and they can be patient until they worked the ball to find the goal. The Italians on their own side post their own threats, if the Spanish players make a mistakes there are many Italian players that are available to punish them for it. There are a lot of experienced players in both teams from defence to midfield to the attack. It is difficult to pick a winner, but Spain will win it from what I think.

[Unsoldier]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

This match will be played between two equal teams. Spain and Italy want to win, they need the trophy to justify their recent World Cup failures. But I cannot name a favourite for the match. Besides, the season is over - the players will be tired. And the Italians have participated in all European cup finals. So I choose here a bet - draw.

[emrecemsan]

It is halftime and there is a 1-1 tie in the Spain v Italy match now. Spain have been statistically the better side to tell the truth. They have had more dangerous attacks, had many more passes and many goal attempts whose half was shots on target. It is of course normal to see Spain having the most ball possession and control like this as we are used to seeing it in majority of their matches. But things are still going on nice for Italy side. They were able to answer Spain's early goal in a really short time.

If this match goes to extra time who knows maybe Italy can also do what Croatia did last night.  

[FatFork]

The first half of the game has come to an end, and the score is tied. Each team had their fair share of dominance during different parts of the half. At the beginning, the Italians were in control, while the Spaniards posed a greater threat in the second half. With both teams finding the back of the net early on, I anticipated a much more thrilling continuation. However, things didn't pan out that way. It started off with promise, but later became rather dull. Both teams have been a bit disappointing thus far, and unless there are some changes in their performance, Croatia will enter the final as the favorites.

[Ulven]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

This match will be played between two equal teams. Spain and Italy want to win, they need the trophy to justify their recent World Cup failures. But I cannot name a favourite for the match. Besides, the season is over - the players will be tired. And the Italians have participated in all European cup finals. So I choose here a bet - draw.

The result of the draw is very close, but the Italians need to win this match, and they have only 45 minutes left to do something that helps them reach the Spanish goal. I checked the live betting agents and found that they offer good odds at 4.5. Last night, I lost a ticket that was in favor of Croatia, so I believe that betting in favor of Italy might be beneficial.

[Joca97]

The first half of the game has come to an end, and the score is tied. Each team had their fair share of dominance during different parts of the half. At the beginning, the Italians were in control, while the Spaniards posed a greater threat in the second half. With both teams finding the back of the net early on, I anticipated a much more thrilling continuation. However, things didn't pan out that way. It started off with promise, but later became rather dull. Both teams have been a bit disappointing thus far, and unless there are some changes in their performance, Croatia will enter the final as the favorites.

Really good match so far in the first half. We have seen a lot of good chances and shots on both sides. Small offside also costed Italy the lead in the first half. Spain is really weak in defence in first half all balls coming through the middle and if it wasnt for Var Italy would have leaded the match

[Altryist]

Modric has undoubtedly shown exceptional prowess and stamina, which has propelled him through the demanding season. I am waiting in anticipation for his decision about his national team career, hoping he doesn't hang up his boots just yet. Given Croatia's stellar performance and Modric's crucial role in it, I feel optimistic about their prospects in the final against Italy or Spain. The display they put up should indeed serve as a wake-up call to the opposition.

Croatia is a very strong team, they have consistently achieved good results over the years, at the World Cup they reached the semi-finals and lost to Argentina, and now in the League of Nations they reach the final.

In the second semi-final, so far the score is a draw, but Spain looks more confident, the second half has begun and the most interesting is yet to come. I would probably like to see Italy in the final, but something tells me that Spain will reach the final.

[Mr.suevie]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

This game no doubt will be very interesting and when its comes to games like this ,FIFA ranking doesn't really matter because both teams might be in different forms and the ranking won't really matter. The game is currently on a 1-1 draw and I believed its going end so because the both are currently playing  well and since it the final stages we will likely be seeing more of draw at the find whistle of the 90mins of play.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Spain 1-1 Italy

56 minutes gone, it’s going exactly as I thought it would. Two good teams, very closely matched. A bit like Netherlands vs Croatia last night, I think this one is going to extra time.

[KTChampions]

Spain 1-1 Italy

56 minutes gone, it’s going exactly as I thought it would. Two good teams, very closely matched. A bit like Netherlands vs Croatia last night, I think this one is going to extra time.

Spain has the advantage, but the odds of the bookmakers at the moment seem strange to me:

2.68 - 1.98 - 6.20

There are at least 30 minutes ahead and I see no reason that someone will not be able to win, and the result is with 50/50 chances. Maybe betting on Italy at the moment makes sense.
But I also want extra time - so that the winner of this pair is tired and Croatia has an advantage in the final (one day more rest).

[un_rank]

72' minutes on the clock and it is still a draw between both European Giants. The game is very tight at the moment and both teams have made some changes to try and tip the game in their favor and claim the winner before the end of regular time.

We could very well be in for a much longer night if the game remains as balanced as it is now.

- Jay -

[LGD2Business]

I don't remember watching such a boring international match recently. Nothing really happened in the second half of the game. The worst part is, if the game ends like this, we'll have to watch 30 minutes of extra time and maybe it will go to penalties. The players of Spain and Italy seem to be able to get over the tiredness of the season.
I don't understand why they do this tournament anyway. Just when the leagues are over, all the players are jamming the national matches while planning their vacations.

[Rruchi man]

Spain has the advantage, but the odds of the bookmakers at the moment seem strange to me:

Spain has had most of the opportunity in this second half, controlling the ball well and winning more than 60% of the possession, what has just been lacking in their game is the goal scoring touch which their striker Morata has not been able to provide. Morata to be was holding on the ball too much when he would have either passed or shoot. Joselu replaces Morata and he scores a very important goal from Rodri's shot that got deflected to him in a few minutes of getting in.

Spain has very good control of this game since the second half, Rodri has been excellent! it will not be a difficult work for them to control the game to the end and secure their lead.

Italy looked like they would have won, had one beautiful goal ruled out for offside, but Italy have been off in this second half and have just been struggling to hang on.

Croatia will face Spain in the finals.

[RaltcoinsB]

UEFA National League 2nd semi-final match is about to start between Spain vs Italy at De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Netherlands. Both teams are strong enough to put up a great fight and it's hard to say which team will win. But Spain is stronger than Italy and Spain has many good stars who can perform well. But I noticed Italy is ahead of Spain in FIFA ranking. So it cannot be said for sure which team will perform well in the field. Croatia and Netherlands played yesterday, Croatia won brilliantly. so today's match cannot be confirmed whether Spain will win or Italy will certainly try to perform well enough to win the two teams.

As expected, Spain was the better side throughout the match and Italy did not show up fully. They were behind Spain in the match and did not have much opportunity to meet the ball. Spain scored in 88 and won 2-1 to face Croatia in the final. I'm sure it will be a good final, I think Croatia will beat Spain in the final and reach the cup.

[emrecemsan]

Spain has had most of the opportunity in this second half, controlling the ball well and winning more than 60% of the possession, what has just been lacking in their game is the goal scoring touch which their striker Morata has not been able to provide. Morata to be was holding on the ball too much when he would have either passed or shoot. Joselu replaces Morata and he scores a very important goal from Rodri's shot that got deflected to him in a few minutes of getting in.

Spain has very good control of this game since the second half, Rodri has been excellent! it will not be a difficult work for them to control the game to the end and secure their lead.

Italy looked like they would have won, had one beautiful goal ruled out for offside, but Italy have been off in this second half and have just been struggling to hang on.

Croatia will face Spain in the finals.

Yes this was the case in the second half but I was actually waiting for this to happen. Because there was a clear superiority by Spain over Italy so it was the best for Italy to be just patient and focus on their defending. It is inevitable that your opponent starts creating even more dangerous attacks in this case. Italy still did a really good work by keeping the score at 1-1 until the last minutes. But that upsetting goal by Joselu came in these minutes and it was devastating for Italy.

There wasn't much time left for an answer and Spain managed to secure the win. It is good for them because if we we watched extra time then it might have been for the benefit of Italy. Joselu was like a savior of his team because he scored only 4 minutes after Morata was replaced by him. 

[casperBGD]

Spain was a better side, and deserved to win this one, and set final with Croatia
that one will be interesting feat, and could go on any side

overall, Spain played offensive, clearly wanted to win this, and scored really early in the match, which gave them advantage, especially in first half

Joselu scoring just after he was entering the pitch was a really good substitution

[MinoRaiola]

Spain was a better side, and deserved to win this one, and set final with Croatia
that one will be interesting feat, and could go on any side

overall, Spain played offensive, clearly wanted to win this, and scored really early in the match, which gave them advantage, especially in first half

Joselu scoring just after he was entering the pitch was a really good substitution

Italy given Spain a gift in the 8 minute, the pass from Donnarumma should not go to Bonucci, that was the mistake and the lucky 1:0 for Spain. In the next 20 minutes was Italy with 2 goals the better team, but one goal was not given because of offside. Then Spain was over a long time the better team, they have shot very often on the goal of the Italians, a total of 19 times. Shortly before the end then the 2:1, I would have liked to see the two play another halftime. was a good game.

[rdluffy]

My bet went through, both teams scoring a goal and 3+ goals in the game seemed like a gift.

Congratulations, we both won our bets.
I wasn't so confident about the match having 3 goals or more, and if I had to bet, I would put a maximum of 2 goals, I'm glad I didn't place that bet.

I honestly thought that this time it would not be extra time and in fact it should not have happened that the football referee extended the match max 4 minutes and not even 6. Of course, this is not an excuse for the complete confusion that prevailed in those minutes when it came to Croatia, but they obviously cannot do without real drama.

Hehehe, it was just as I thought it would be, with exciting final minutes and extra time. It seems that Croatia is already going to be known for extra time matches.
And Croatia's superiority was very noticeable after regular time, it feels like it was another match, Netherlands couldn't play like they did in regular time
The experience of the Croatia team was a very important detail.
Modrić played an essential role in the victory, conceded the penalty kick, gave assist, scored a goal and still played 119 minutes, all this at the age of 37, it's impressive 


Just to remind you guys, the final match may have extra time, but the 3rd and 4th place match do not. In case it ends in a tie, it goes straight to penalties.
The rules:

18.01
If there is no winner at the end of normal time in a semi-final match or the final, two 15-minute periods of extra time are played. If there is still no winner after extra time, kicks from the penalty mark are required.

18.02
If there is no winner at the end of normal time in the third-place match, the winner is determined by kicks from the penalty mark.

Source

[Joca97]

Spain was a better side, and deserved to win this one, and set final with Croatia
that one will be interesting feat, and could go on any side

overall, Spain played offensive, clearly wanted to win this, and scored really early in the match, which gave them advantage, especially in first half

Joselu scoring just after he was entering the pitch was a really good substitution

Well it could have gone the other way if Var approved the Italy goal in the first half. But for me this was a couple of easy bets on this match especially on goals. Also i think that Spain will struggle a lot with this Croatian team that plays really good togheter. Will be an intresting final.

[coinlocket$]

Italy hahaha.

Calcio is back said 3 weeks ago the CEO of the Italian right television.

Since then Italy lost

Final Conference League
Final Europa League
Final Champions League
Final UEFA EURO Under 20
Semifinal Nation League.

[rojan]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Spain did very well if I must say but the problem is that number 9, they don't have a better 9 to lead them to a comfortable win, 2-1 is not a comfortable win. I see no reason why Morata would be the number 9 of Spain and still act like he's still on the training ground, for what reason would an attacker who has many chances but could not convert like 2 or even all. I'd prefer having someone like Diego Costa than Morata, the man Morata is like a mistake to the Spanish national side and if they get to meet a team like England it won't be in the favor of the Spanish side.
Spain need to get a better striker and not Alvaro Morata, how I wish Immobile was a Spanish player, that's the kind Spain needs to get more goals, a sharp striker.

[Bitcoin_people]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

Spain had a great victory against a strong team Italy. They won the match 2-1 to win the 2nd semi-final match in the UEFA National League and confirmed Spain in the final. Spain is confirmed for the final match against Croatia. Croatia is leading in terms of FIFA ranking but Spain is also in good form. It is very difficult to say which team will win the final match. We know that the final matches are the most exciting and hard fought. So how well the two teams will perform in the final match will be seen on the field of play.

[borovichok]

Spain did very well if I must say but the problem is that number 9, they don't have a better 9 to lead them to a comfortable win, 2-1 is not a comfortable win. I see no reason why Morata would be the number 9 of Spain and still act like he's still on the training ground, for what reason would an attacker who has many chances but could not convert like 2 or even all. I'd prefer having someone like Diego Costa than Morata, the man Morata is like a mistake to the Spanish national side and if they get to meet a team like England it won't be in the favor of the Spanish side.
Spain need to get a better striker and not Alvaro Morata, how I wish Immobile was a Spanish player, that's the kind Spain needs to get more goals, a sharp striker.

Spain qualified for the UEFA Nations League final with an intriguing victory over Italy. The score was 2-1, with both teams performing admirably. All of Spain's domination and pressure were absorbed by Italy, who remained defensive throughout the game. Spain had 62% of the ball and 19 shots, while Italy had 38% of the ball and record only 8 shots. With these statistics, the best team wins; Mateo scores late to put Spain ahead; their victory may not be convenient for such a top club, but they have what it takes to reach the final; and as for Alvaro Morata, I believe he was unlucky throughout the game and was not in his best form, so his actions and missed goal opportunities are quite disappointing but understandable.

[Harkorede]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

I would not say it was an easy win for the Spaniards due to the score line being marginal and it was close to heading into extra time just like the game between Croatia and Netherlands. However, Spain were undeniably the better side to be honest, they created more chances and it was quite different accustomed style of dominating the ball possession with any distinct objective for it than just the pass accuracy that are always well above good percentage, they had more attempts on goal and the victory was well deserved.

Although, I really can't judge the new system just by one game against a team with a substandard midfielders, I guess there should be more insight into what to expect of them along the line when they play against Croatia, which I believe have more quality midfielders than the Italian counterpart, that would be a better and tougher test for Spain.

[rendravolt]

Spain was a better side, and deserved to win this one, and set final with Croatia
that one will be interesting feat, and could go on any side

overall, Spain played offensive, clearly wanted to win this, and scored really early in the match, which gave them advantage, especially in first half

Joselu scoring just after he was entering the pitch was a really good substitution

I think this time Italy will be different and will surprise Spain but it seems that even Italy can only score goals from the penalty spot. Unsatisfactory results achieved by Italy and I do not know when they will be like this in international competition. Spain did a good job to beat Italy in the semifinals and thanks to a goal scored by Joselu in stoppage time, Spain stepped into the final round of the nations league against Croatia. I can't wait to see who will be the champion this time, considering that both teams are equally strong and it will probably be much more fun to see a team that has the same attacking style of play.

[bering]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

Spain had a great victory against a strong team Italy. They won the match 2-1 to win the 2nd semi-final match in the UEFA National League and confirmed Spain in the final. Spain is confirmed for the final match against Croatia. Croatia is leading in terms of FIFA ranking but Spain is also in good form. It is very difficult to say which team will win the final match. We know that the final matches are the most exciting and hard fought. So how well the two teams will perform in the final match will be seen on the field of play.

It was difficult match for Spain but they can through this match with very well and during the match i can see although Spain is good from ball possessions but Italy has got more opportunities to scores goals compared to Spain but i have to says Spain were playing more effective and congratulations for Spain who able reach to final match and they will met another strong team too Croatia and i think this is good time for Spain to gets the trophy again because the last time they got the trophy was back in 2012 at Euro Cup and bad luck for Italy that this year apparently isn't their best year because their national team and clubs both were failed to gets the trophies

[Lordhermes]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

Spain had a great victory against a strong team Italy. They won the match 2-1 to win the 2nd semi-final match in the UEFA National League and confirmed Spain in the final. Spain is confirmed for the final match against Croatia. Croatia is leading in terms of FIFA ranking but Spain is also in good form. It is very difficult to say which team will win the final match. We know that the final matches are the most exciting and hard fought. So how well the two teams will perform in the final match will be seen on the field of play.

It was difficult match for Spain but they can through this match with very well and during the match i can see although Spain is good from ball possessions but Italy has got more opportunities to scores goals compared to Spain but i have to says Spain were playing more effective and congratulations for Spain who able reach to final match and they will met another strong team too Croatia and i think this is good time for Spain to gets the trophy again because the last time they got the trophy was back in 2012 at Euro Cup and bad luck for Italy that this year apparently isn't their best year because their national team and clubs both were failed to gets the trophies

Italy was just unlucky last night, Var cancelled their second goals, after that they lost possession of the ball and Spain took control  the ball possession and won the game.
Croatia will give Spain a tough fight in the finals, and mighty win it, they have been best team in Europe for years. this is one team that are determined to win. i believe they will defeat Spain to  clinch the title.

[Blitzboy]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

Spain did pull off a win against Italy, thats for sure. 2-1 is a respectable scoreline, kudos to Pino and Joselu. But come on! "Won very easily"? Thats not how I saw it. If scoring in the dying minutes is an easy win, then I need to relearn my football understanding.

They're through to the finals against Croatia, but man, their form is a total wild card. We all know how crazy final matches can get. They arent going to walk in the park, trust me. Croatia has a killer FIFA ranking for a reason. So, lets cool our jets before we start celebrating

[Popkon6]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

Spain had a great victory against a strong team Italy. They won the match 2-1 to win the 2nd semi-final match in the UEFA National League and confirmed Spain in the final. Spain is confirmed for the final match against Croatia. Croatia is leading in terms of FIFA ranking but Spain is also in good form. It is very difficult to say which team will win the final match. We know that the final matches are the most exciting and hard fought. So how well the two teams will perform in the final match will be seen on the field of play.

It was difficult match for Spain but they can through this match with very well and during the match i can see although Spain is good from ball possessions but Italy has got more opportunities to scores goals compared to Spain but i have to says Spain were playing more effective and congratulations for Spain who able reach to final match and they will met another strong team too Croatia and i think this is good time for Spain to gets the trophy again because the last time they got the trophy was back in 2012 at Euro Cup and bad luck for Italy that this year apparently isn't their best year because their national team and clubs both were failed to gets the trophies

Italy was just unlucky last night, Var cancelled their second goals, after that they lost possession of the ball and Spain took control  the ball possession and won the game.
Croatia will give Spain a tough fight in the finals, and mighty win it, they have been best team in Europe for years. this is one team that are determined to win. i believe they will defeat Spain to  clinch the title.

I believe Croatia is a very strong team as they are considered third place team in 2022 World Cup. And Spain has been eliminated in the past so Croatia is more powerful than Spain. Croatia is much ahead of Spain in terms of stars and defenders, so this time Croatia vs Spain will be a very tough fight where everyone will be desperate to beat each other and win the title. Meanwhile, Spain beat a team like Italy to reach the final, which is a very big competition. So we have to wait till the final match where two teams will compete in a tough fight.

[FatFork]

I believe Croatia is a very strong team as they are considered third place team in 2022 World Cup. And Spain has been eliminated in the past so Croatia is more powerful than Spain. Croatia is much ahead of Spain in terms of stars and defenders, so this time Croatia vs Spain will be a very tough fight where everyone will be desperate to beat each other and win the title. Meanwhile, Spain beat a team like Italy to reach the final, which is a very big competition. So we have to wait till the final match where two teams will compete in a tough fight.

The Spanish team rightfully defeated the Italians, but Croatia didn't reach the final by mere chance either. It's a recurring pattern that bookmakers tend to underestimate the strength and quality of the Croatian national team. We saw a similar situation during the last World Cup. Thus, according to bookmakers, the odds for Spain's victory in the regular time of the match are even below 2.00, while for Croatia, it's 4.00! Also, the odds for Spain's eventual triumph are at 1.55.

Nonetheless, this situation could potentially be good for punters. Croatia does have a chance against Spain, but only if they play with the same determination they displayed in the second half and extra time against the Dutch.

[CLS63]

Spain were actually not in a very comfortable position during the match. Therefore it wouldn't be fair to say that they won without problems. Because Italy couldn't take advantage of really critical goal chances. Frattesi could have scored a goal with an amazing assist if he wasn't offside. Frattesi had another big opportunity in the second half but he targeted Simon with his shot. I can also say that Morata was really disappointing. He wasted big opportunities and in one of them the goal was like nearly empty.

Le Normand played his first official national match in his career but it started like a nightmare. Because he caused a penalty on Zaniolo's shot. This match could have gone to extra time though if the ball didn't hit two Italian players and found Joselu in a wonderful position to score.

[dwminer1]

The Spaniards deservedly won the match against Italy and eventually advanced to the final, where they will play Croatia. When it seemed that extra time would be needed in this match as well, the Spaniards dealt the decisive blow. Rodri (chosen player of the match) hit from outside the penalty area, the ball bounced off two Italian players, then put it into the goal by Joselu. I believe that also in Sunday's match Spain will be the favorites and will beat Croatia.

[slaman29]

Spain did pull off a win against Italy, thats for sure. 2-1 is a respectable scoreline, kudos to Pino and Joselu. But come on! "Won very easily"? Thats not how I saw it. If scoring in the dying minutes is an easy win, then I need to relearn my football understanding.

They're through to the finals against Croatia, but man, their form is a total wild card. We all know how crazy final matches can get. They arent going to walk in the park, trust me. Croatia has a killer FIFA ranking for a reason. So, lets cool our jets before we start celebrating

Posters like rojan are like posers, they're just posting after seeing what others say, and looking up the scores. They probably don't even gamble, as you don't see them talking about bets or odds. Ignore

Regarding Spain, I always back them, as a supporter mainly of Barca it's nice to see my players also do well internationally but their World Cup performance is a big reminder of what you just said about their form. They can score 7 goals in one game, and score nothing the next if all they do is pass.

I would say they deserved the win against Italy but Croatia is a different beast and you never know, they bring it to penalties or ET and Spain is probably no longer the favorite.

[3meek]

The Spaniards deservedly won the match against Italy and eventually advanced to the final, where they will play Croatia. When it seemed that extra time would be needed in this match as well, the Spaniards dealt the decisive blow. Rodri (chosen player of the match) hit from outside the penalty area, the ball bounced off two Italian players, then put it into the goal by Joselu. I believe that also in Sunday's match Spain will be the favorites and will beat Croatia.

Many thought that the Netherlands would beat Croatia... But it was the other way round and even a second goal in the last minute did not help the Netherlands... Croatia is a very experienced team, they regularly play well in international competitions... Spain also play well, but I think that in this final it is hard to guess who will win...

[Litzki1990]

In UEFA Nations League Spain vs Italy two team match Spain played very well. Spain won the match by scoring 2 goals. Spain team player Y. Pino scored the first goal in the first 3 minutes of the game. But Italy scored a goal in 11 minutes to draw the match.  Left until halftime. After halftime, Spain team player Joselu scored the 2nd goal in the 88th minute to confirm the victory in the match. As the players of the two teams could not score any more goals, Spain won very easily.

Spain had a great victory against a strong team Italy. They won the match 2-1 to win the 2nd semi-final match in the UEFA National League and confirmed Spain in the final. Spain is confirmed for the final match against Croatia. Croatia is leading in terms of FIFA ranking but Spain is also in good form. It is very difficult to say which team will win the final match. We know that the final matches are the most exciting and hard fought. So how well the two teams will perform in the final match will be seen on the field of play.

It was difficult match for Spain but they can through this match with very well and during the match i can see although Spain is good from ball possessions but Italy has got more opportunities to scores goals compared to Spain but i have to says Spain were playing more effective and congratulations for Spain who able reach to final match and they will met another strong team too Croatia and i think this is good time for Spain to gets the trophy again because the last time they got the trophy was back in 2012 at Euro Cup and bad luck for Italy that this year apparently isn't their best year because their national team and clubs both were failed to gets the trophies

Spain beat Italy 2-1 in the semi-finals of the UEFA National League to secure the final of the UEFA National League . 

Croatia beat the Netherlands 4-2 in the first semi-final to become the first team to reach the final and Spain became the second team to reach the final today. Spain will face Croatia in the final match at the De Kuip Stadium in the Netherlands on June 19.

It will be very difficult for both the teams to win the final match as we have seen the performances of both the teams in the semi finals. But if we consider only the semi-final performance then Spain will be slightly ahead of Croatia in the final because Spain's performance was better than Croatia in the semi-final match.

[MinoRaiola]

I believe Croatia is a very strong team as they are considered third place team in 2022 World Cup. And Spain has been eliminated in the past so Croatia is more powerful than Spain. Croatia is much ahead of Spain in terms of stars and defenders, so this time Croatia vs Spain will be a very tough fight where everyone will be desperate to beat each other and win the title. Meanwhile, Spain beat a team like Italy to reach the final, which is a very big competition. So we have to wait till the final match where two teams will compete in a tough fight.

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

[Rruchi man]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

The finals between Croatia and Spain will be the main game for me. I may not bother about seeing the game for the third place, but the finals is a must watch game. The two teams had a very tight and serious competition for the final place, for them to be the teams in the finals, they really earned it.

Croatia is more like the team that be will win it, they have a way they play that has every player working hard to ensure the team's victory. They can be the small team but are very much capable of bruising any team that comes their way, and unlike Spain that showed poor goal scoring ability with Morata in the semi finals, Croatia are a dangerous team even from a goal down.

[emrecemsan]

I agree about Morata. 2 goals in 6 matches is not good statistics at all. This was the semi finals so I would have expected him to be more concentrated on his finishing. Especially the one time he missed the target by a slight margin must be really sad for him. Morata is just an unpredictable player in his whole career actually. Sometimes he has a really solid tournament with national team or in a domestic league but sometimes he is just becoming not useful in the attacking area at all. For example I liked his effort in the last World Cup - 3 goals in 4 matches.

He should find a way to improve his concentration level until the finale. Because all Spain players will need to do that as their opponent is Croatia. Spain should do everything they can to finish the job in regular time otherwise Croatia might end them as well in extra time or by penalty shootouts.

[execijutiere]

We can say that they were more dominant throughout the match and managed to get into more goal positions.It was a good match where the side that deserved the match won.In the match where goals were scored from the first minutes, Spain, which took the lead with Pino's goal in minute 3, could not stop Immobile's penalty in minute 11.While the first half ended 1-1 with mutual goals, the goal that determined the score of the match came from Joselu in the last minutes.

[rendravolt]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

This week at least we won't feel bored because we can still enjoy watching football in the nations league competition and everything will be determined through this week's matches to determine the champions of the nations league this season. For the match for 3rd place, it seems that I am also sure that Italy will beat the Netherlands and hope that Italy will give such a maximum performance. As for the final round, even though Spain is quite favored to win, I want to see the opposite result and hope that Croatia will bring home the Nations League trophy and at the same time be a good closing achievement for Luka Modric with Croatia.

[3meek]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

The finals between Croatia and Spain will be the main game for me. I may not bother about seeing the game for the third place, but the finals is a must watch game. The two teams had a very tight and serious competition for the final place, for them to be the teams in the finals, they really earned it.

Croatia is more like the team that be will win it, they have a way they play that has every player working hard to ensure the team's victory. They can be the small team but are very much capable of bruising any team that comes their way, and unlike Spain that showed poor goal scoring ability with Morata in the semi finals, Croatia are a dangerous team even from a goal down.

Croatia vs Spain will be a showdown between older and younger players... Croatia is of course the more experienced team, which has been achieving good results in world competitions for at least the last 10 years... But I'm not sure that they are favourites in this match... By the way the match for the third place will be no less interesting...

[hahay]

Because Italy lost by Spain, and so Italy will return to play against the Netherlands in the next few hours to fight for third place. Of course, with such a close schedule it is difficult for Italy to be able to maximize the potential of its players. So yes, playing against the Netherlands is a difficult job for Italy, after previously under pressure from Spain and then Italy under pressure that was equally difficult against Netherlands and made me doubt Italy at this moment.

[onecall123]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

The finals between Croatia and Spain will be the main game for me. I may not bother about seeing the game for the third place, but the finals is a must watch game. The two teams had a very tight and serious competition for the final place, for them to be the teams in the finals, they really earned it.

Croatia is more like the team that be will win it, they have a way they play that has every player working hard to ensure the team's victory. They can be the small team but are very much capable of bruising any team that comes their way, and unlike Spain that showed poor goal scoring ability with Morata in the semi finals, Croatia are a dangerous team even from a goal down.

Croatia vs Spain will be a showdown between older and younger players... Croatia is of course the more experienced team, which has been achieving good results in world competitions for at least the last 10 years... But I'm not sure that they are favourites in this match... By the way the match for the third place will be no less interesting...

We all know that Spain is a good team, but I truly believe that Croatian team would be a champions for sure! They are considered more experienced team in the UEFA Nations League competition and they are the most deserving team. It's time we need to see Luka Modric lift a trophy with his country before he says his final good bye to his country.

[Cryptmuster]

We all know that Spain is a good team, but I truly believe that Croatian team would be a champions for sure! They are considered more experienced team in the UEFA Nations League competition and they are the most deserving team. It's time we need to see Luka Modric lift a trophy with his country before he says his final good bye to his country.

In fact, yes, Croatia is a great team and it would be great if they finally won the trophy. Perhaps the League of Nations is not considered the most prestigious trophy, but the victory of Croatia in this tournament would not become less significant because of this. Spain is also a very strong team and they have even more experience in the finals of the most prestigious tournaments, so it's safe to say that they won't give away the victory to Croatia so easily.

[Joca97]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

The finals between Croatia and Spain will be the main game for me. I may not bother about seeing the game for the third place, but the finals is a must watch game. The two teams had a very tight and serious competition for the final place, for them to be the teams in the finals, they really earned it.

Croatia is more like the team that be will win it, they have a way they play that has every player working hard to ensure the team's victory. They can be the small team but are very much capable of bruising any team that comes their way, and unlike Spain that showed poor goal scoring ability with Morata in the semi finals, Croatia are a dangerous team even from a goal down.

Croatia vs Spain will be a showdown between older and younger players... Croatia is of course the more experienced team, which has been achieving good results in world competitions for at least the last 10 years... But I'm not sure that they are favourites in this match... By the way the match for the third place will be no less interesting...

Croatia looks really good and really plays like a team plus that experience will give them the edge in this final and i think they finally deserve to win a trophy after second and third place on the world cup. Also Spains young team can only outrun them and try and win the game on their youth and talent.

[Lordhermes]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

The finals between Croatia and Spain will be the main game for me. I may not bother about seeing the game for the third place, but the finals is a must watch game. The two teams had a very tight and serious competition for the final place, for them to be the teams in the finals, they really earned it.

Croatia is more like the team that be will win it, they have a way they play that has every player working hard to ensure the team's victory. They can be the small team but are very much capable of bruising any team that comes their way, and unlike Spain that showed poor goal scoring ability with Morata in the semi finals, Croatia are a dangerous team even from a goal down.

Croatia vs Spain will be a showdown between older and younger players... Croatia is of course the more experienced team, which has been achieving good results in world competitions for at least the last 10 years... But I'm not sure that they are favourites in this match... By the way the match for the third place will be no less interesting...

Croatia looks really good and really plays like a team plus that experience will give them the edge in this final and i think they finally deserve to win a trophy after second and third place on the world cup. Also Spains young team can only outrun them and try and win the game on their youth and talent.

Croatia are my favourite for the title tomorrow, they have team that has been together for so long, not like Spain that changes players in every tournament, the Croatia team will defeat spain tomorrow, but Spain will give everything to win too, it will be tough,but Croatia has all the odds to win this title for their country,they have played finals and haven't won any. They have to start winning trophy by lifting this one tomorrow.
I think this is and the Europe cup is the only trophy Modric will play before his retirement, they have to win a trophy for him, before he leaves the National team as a way to honour him.

[Daniel91]

We all know that Spain is a good team, but I truly believe that Croatian team would be a champions for sure! They are considered more experienced team in the UEFA Nations League competition and they are the most deserving team. It's time we need to see Luka Modric lift a trophy with his country before he says his final good bye to his country.

In fact, yes, Croatia is a great team and it would be great if they finally won the trophy. Perhaps the League of Nations is not considered the most prestigious trophy, but the victory of Croatia in this tournament would not become less significant because of this. Spain is also a very strong team and they have even more experience in the finals of the most prestigious tournaments, so it's safe to say that they won't give away the victory to Croatia so easily.

Spain has historically played in more finals of major competitions than Croatia, but the players who now play for Spain have never played in the finals of a major competition and do not have that important experience, unlike the players of Croatia.
In the last few years, Croatian players have had much more success than Spain and regularly win medals at major competitions, unlike Spain.
That's why I think that the Croatian players will have an advantage tomorrow, but we are expecting an uncertain and completely open game. I predict overtime and possibly penalties.
I sincerely hope that Modric will retire from the national team with a gold medal.
I know that all Croatian players will play with that desire tomorrow, for their captain and leader.

[decodx]

Because Italy lost by Spain, and so Italy will return to play against the Netherlands in the next few hours to fight for third place. Of course, with such a close schedule it is difficult for Italy to be able to maximize the potential of its players. So yes, playing against the Netherlands is a difficult job for Italy, after previously under pressure from Spain and then Italy under pressure that was equally difficult against Netherlands and made me doubt Italy at this moment.

Yeah. While many are focused on the outcome of the final match, we should also pay attention to the match for third place between Italy and the Netherlands. Both teams have a rich history in football and have been struggling in recent years. Italy, once one of the most feared teams in international football, has failed to qualify for the World Cup 2018, and again in 2022. A four-time winner of the tournament and Euro 2020 champions! The Netherlands has been on a gradual decline in their performance ever since clinching the bronze medal at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, although they did manage to make it to the final of the Nations League in 2019, only to be defeated by the host country, Portugal.

What are your predictions, folks? Which of these two teams do you think will secure the third-place spot?

By the way, unless I'm mistaken, the match is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 15:00 CET, not in a few hours as you mentioned.

[Oluwa-btc]

This Sunday there are two very nice football matches. It starts with italy vs. holland and right after that croatia against spain, that will be a very good day. This are two so nice games, both games in the semifinals were very close. So you can almost say there will be two finals this sunday. I like to watch Kramaric and his goals on Sunday ... maybe... I think he will make one. In the match for place 3 I would see Italy as the favorite. Chiesa will hopefully play from the beginning.

Croatia vs Spain will be a showdown between older and younger players... Croatia is of course the more experienced team, which has been achieving good results in world competitions for at least the last 10 years... But I'm not sure that they are favourites in this match... By the way the match for the third place will be no less interesting...

Spanish Player Rodri has had a great season already, winning all three major trophies this season, as he helped Manchester City secure the Champions League with that beautiful volley.
I'll want to see him winning this one again to make it four. Crotia might have so much experience but they always come up as second runners up or do not get to win the actual price. I'm still certain of spain winning this one.

[KTChampions]

At the moment, the quotes for the final are as follows:

3.85 - 3.50 - 2.04

Spain are the favorites as expected, but their chances of winning in regular time are less than 50% which I think is fair. But I like a simple bet on Croatia to win in regular time - odds are too good. If today's results don't finish my multibet, then I'll bet on Croatia.

[tusandii]

Netherlands vs Italy and Croatia vs Spain.
These are the two matches that will be played today and tomorrow.
Here the Netherlands vs Italy is in a very advantageous position for the Netherlands because they will be playing at home.
Although Italy is also a strong team, it looks like the Netherlands can take advantage of playing at home to beat Italy.

I put a little money aside to bet on this match.

[KTChampions]

Netherlands vs Italy and Croatia vs Spain.
These are the two matches that will be played today and tomorrow.
Here the Netherlands vs Italy is in a very advantageous position for the Netherlands because they will be playing at home.
Although Italy is also a strong team, it looks like the Netherlands can take advantage of playing at home to beat Italy.

I put a little money aside to bet on this match.

I don't agree about Spain, but the choice of the Netherlands looks very attractive - Italy was aimed at gold, now they have lost motivation + they have one day less rest. In turn, the Netherlands is a young hungry team and they will fight 100% even for third place. If I take risks tomorrow by betting on Croatia, I will probably add the Netherlands as well.

[Doell]

Because Italy lost by Spain, and so Italy will return to play against the Netherlands in the next few hours to fight for third place. Of course, with such a close schedule it is difficult for Italy to be able to maximize the potential of its players. So yes, playing against the Netherlands is a difficult job for Italy, after previously under pressure from Spain and then Italy under pressure that was equally difficult against Netherlands and made me doubt Italy at this moment.

Yeah. While many are focused on the outcome of the final match, we should also pay attention to the match for third place between Italy and the Netherlands. Both teams have a rich history in football and have been struggling in recent years. Italy, once one of the most feared teams in international football, has failed to qualify for the World Cup 2018, and again in 2022. A four-time winner of the tournament and Euro 2020 champions! The Netherlands has been on a gradual decline in their performance ever since clinching the bronze medal at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, although they did manage to make it to the final of the Nations League in 2019, only to be defeated by the host country, Portugal.

What are your predictions, folks? Which of these two teams do you think will secure the third-place spot?

By the way, unless I'm mistaken, the match is scheduled to take place tomorrow at 15:00 CET, not in a few hours as you mentioned.

Let me guess which club will win between the Netherlands vs Italy, to be honest my guess is Netherlands will secure the third-place spot rather than Italy, although on paper Italy is ahead when against Netherlands. I mean the Netherlands is winless in their last 7 matches against Italy, it's proven that Italy is ahead at there, but this match will be played at De Grolsch Veste, so at home there is still a chance for the Netherlands to win this match. But somehow I'm doubt to bet on Netherlands, I personally would probably choose both teams to score, because the odds are not too bad currently @1.62.

[decodx]

<...>
But somehow I'm doubt to bet on Netherlands, I personally would probably choose both teams to score, because the odds are not too bad currently @1.62.

I have a hunch that the Netherlands might secure the third-place spot, despite Italy having the upper hand on paper and I agree the home advantage might give the Netherlands a chance to come out on top. Although, Italy put up a strong performance against Spain, it's worth considering their recent form and how well they performed. I agree with your prediction of both teams scoring, and I might even consider placing that bet myself. Good luck if you decide to go ahead with it!

[CLS63]

First of all none of the finalists has won the Nations League title yet. So it must be another factor that makes both teams hungry for the title now. The odd gap for the win isn't very close actually but I'm not surprised with seeing Spain having an odd like 2.04. Because Croatia are still not an easy opponent for them at all. We have already seen how capable they are from their match against Netherlands.

Spain had better focus on finishing the match without extra time or penalty shoot-outs. Because Croatia are really great in those times. However there is an interesting information about a head-to-head between these teams in Euro 2020. Spain defeated them 5-3 by scoring 2 goals in extra time. Would we have a similar scenario here maybe? We will see.

[Popkon6]

First of all none of the finalists has won the Nations League title yet. So it must be another factor that makes both teams hungry for the title now. The odd gap for the win isn't very close actually but I'm not surprised with seeing Spain having an odd like 2.04. Because Croatia are still not an easy opponent for them at all. We have already seen how capable they are from their match against Netherlands.

Spain had better focus on finishing the match without extra time or penalty shoot-outs. Because Croatia are really great in those times. However there is an interesting information about a head-to-head between these teams in Euro 2020. Spain defeated them 5-3 by scoring 2 goals in extra time. Would we have a similar scenario here maybe? We will see.

The final between Spain and Croatia is about to start but I have managed to collect some history of these two teams. I have seen Croatia and Spain face each other (H2H) since 2016 (Euro Cup - UEFA Cup) between these two games (Korea won twice, Spain won once and drew once). This final game will be a tough battle between the two teams as the two teams are the stronger from here with Spain winning once but winning by a wide margin. So assuming I want to back the draw, everyone is hungry and desperate to win this cup. So we will definitely watch this game and understand the situation.

[Harkorede]

Spain had better focus on finishing the match without extra time or penalty shoot-outs. Because Croatia are really great in those times. However there is an interesting information about a head-to-head between these teams in Euro 2020. Spain defeated them 5-3 by scoring 2 goals in extra time. Would we have a similar scenario here maybe? We will see.

I think it' not going to be an easy game for Spain by any means because aside from being a team going through a new transition phase, the Croatia squad in my opinion on an average are more experienced than the Spanish, while the Spanish team might have more talents overall, but this a kind of match were experience might be of significant importance.

There are no penalties specialist and regardless of the odds, penalties is a game of luck and it's always 50/50 game imo, and it doesn't matter if world all stars is playing against a 2nd tier team of a league in Gibraltar, it's going to be anybody's games.

[rendravolt]

Let me guess which club will win between the Netherlands vs Italy, to be honest my guess is Netherlands will secure the third-place spot rather than Italy, although on paper Italy is ahead when against Netherlands. I mean the Netherlands is winless in their last 7 matches against Italy, it's proven that Italy is ahead at there, but this match will be played at De Grolsch Veste, so at home there is still a chance for the Netherlands to win this match. But somehow I'm doubt to bet on Netherlands, I personally would probably choose both teams to score, because the odds are not too bad currently @1.62.

It's true that Italy is quite ahead of the Netherlands and I think Italy can still achieve the expectation of reaching that third place. Regarding the predictions for the match between these two countries, I think it is quite difficult to determine the result, but what is clear is that the two of them will not remain silent and will definitely score goals with each other. Your bet choice is very correct and there is no doubt that later it is possible that the match will end 2-1 regardless of who will win it. I think it's time for the Netherlands or Italy to prove that in next year's competition both of them will become one of the next nations league champions.

[execijutiere]

On paper Spain seems to be the favorite, but Croatia is just as much a favorite in my eyes.Croatia defeated the Netherlands 4-2 and we are talking about a team that came 3rd in the world cup.Croatia will at least want to succeed here and lift the trophy and I think they are ready to give their all as a team.They will play their hearts out for the sake of injury.Spain is of course a strong team, but I think Croatia will push them very hard.

[LGD2Business]

In today's final match, my favorite is Spain by a small margin. Looking at the semi-finals of the Nations League, I saw Croatia better, but the opponents they played were different. Croatia played with a relatively easy team like the Netherlands. But Spain played with a strong giant like Italy. Therefore, semi-finals cannot be a measure by itself.

Portugal and France were previously champions in the Nations League. Now it's Spain's turn. Europe's biggest winners take turns. I'm sure Germany and Italy will also be champions in the coming years.

Croatia is always at the top places in tournaments like this, but they can't win. I think they will suffer a similar fate again. They are losing their golden generation. I'm not sure if they can achieve similar success with new players.

[swogerino]

In today's final match, my favorite is Spain by a small margin. Looking at the semi-finals of the Nations League, I saw Croatia better, but the opponents they played were different. Croatia played with a relatively easy team like the Netherlands. But Spain played with a strong giant like Italy. Therefore, semi-finals cannot be a measure by itself.

Portugal and France were previously champions in the Nations League. Now it's Spain's turn. Europe's biggest winners take turns. I'm sure Germany and Italy will also be champions in the coming years.

Croatia is always at the top places in tournaments like this, but they can't win. I think they will suffer a similar fate again. They are losing their golden generation. I'm not sure if they can achieve similar success with new players.

It is going to be an interesting final Croatia vs Spain,Spain did not do well in the last World Cup but they got and beat Italy and are coming to the final tonight to me as slight favorites.I say slight favorites because Croatia has been so many times in a final recently and they have never managed to win any of it so for them tonight it is going to be a special game,it would be even more special if we take into consideration the age of the senior players which most likely won't be able to play in any major tournament again and as such they will try as hard as they can to win this Nations League this season.

[Lucius]

The match between Croatia and Spain will certainly be special for Croatia for several reasons. The first is, of course, the great desire to win gold after success at the last two world championships, and the second is that this may be Luka Modric's last game for the national team.

In this regard, it should be mentioned that there will be around 25 000 Croatian fans in the stadium and that they will create a great atmosphere, and that a special moment will be in the 10th minute of the match when all the Croatian fans will sing a verse of a popular Croatian song that will be dedicated to Luka Modric. The goal, of course, is to try to convince Luka to stay playing for the Croatian national team even after the League of Nations final.

As for betting, I will again recommend the option of both teams scoring a goal with three or more goals in a match that has odds of around 2,4. For those who don't remember the last European Championship, these two teams played a great game that ended 3-3 in regular time, and there is no reason why it shouldn't be a game with a lot of goals today.

[rdluffy]

The match between Croatia and Spain will certainly be special for Croatia for several reasons. The first is, of course, the great desire to win gold after success at the last two world championships, and the second is that this may be Luka Modric's last game for the national team.

I think this is the perfect time to win and celebrate the Modric's generation, they deserve this championship, not only this time, but like you said, after a 2nd and a 3rd place in World Cup, it's time to become a champion

In this regard, it should be mentioned that there will be around 25 000 Croatian fans in the stadium and that they will create a great atmosphere, and that a special moment will be in the 10th minute of the match when all the Croatian fans will sing a verse of a popular Croatian song that will be dedicated to Luka Modric. The goal, of course, is to try to convince Luka to stay playing for the Croatian national team even after the League of Nations final.

I didn't know that, I hope they can convince him to stay until Euro 2024

As for betting, I will again recommend the option of both teams scoring a goal with three or more goals in a match that has odds of around 2,4. For those who don't remember the last European Championship, these two teams played a great game that ended 3-3 in regular time, and there is no reason why it shouldn't be a game with a lot of goals today.

I think I'll do this one:


2.49 to Croatia winning the championship
I hope you're right, a match with lots of goals is always nice to watch 

Talking a bit about the game, I am sure it will be an even more difficult match than against Netherlands.
According to the odds, Croatia has a 26% chance of winning, 28% of a draw, and Spain has a 46% chance.
My sincere opinion is that each team has equal chances to be champion, without favorites, for me it would be 33% chances for each result.

Talking about the match between Netherlands and Italy, I'm going against the odds as well, I think Italy has a good chance to take 3rd place.

Both matches are super balanced, it will be great to watch.

[Daniel91]

On paper Spain seems to be the favorite, but Croatia is just as much a favorite in my eyes.Croatia defeated the Netherlands 4-2 and we are talking about a team that came 3rd in the world cup.Croatia will at least want to succeed here and lift the trophy and I think they are ready to give their all as a team.They will play their hearts out for the sake of injury.Spain is of course a strong team, but I think Croatia will push them very hard.

Croatia has never been among the favorites at any major competition, and in recent years it has won a medal almost every time.
At the last 2 world championships and in this edition of the League of Nations, we beat well-known and strong national teams such as England, Brazil, Argentina or France, for example.
It can be said that Croatia does not care who they play against and who is the favorite in the bookmakers, Croatia always plays at the highest level and loses important matches very hard.
Spain has changed the team and currently has a lot of young players without experience playing in major competitions. Croatia is a more experienced team and I think this is a detail that could decide the winner.
In any case, we are expecting an uncertain and exciting match with probable extra time and maybe we will see penalties.

[3meek]

I knew Italy would want to work on their mistakes after losing to Spain and show some real Italian football against the Netherlands... They scored 2 goals in the first 20 minutes... Of course this is not the end of the game and anything can happen, but my bet on Italy scoring and not losing is likely to win... I wonder if the Netherlands will be able to get back into the game after missing two early in the match...

[hahay]

I knew Italy would want to work on their mistakes after losing to Spain and show some real Italian football against the Netherlands... They scored 2 goals in the first 20 minutes... Of course this is not the end of the game and anything can happen, but my bet on Italy scoring and not losing is likely to win... I wonder if the Netherlands will be able to get back into the game after missing two early in the match...

2-0 down since the 20th minute, I think it will be a tough task for the Netherlands to be able to turn things around. Even though the Netherlands can master ball possession but still, this cannot be a guarantee for the Netherlands to be able to score lots of goals. Because after all, if Italy has a good and disciplined defense then of course, Italy will be able to maintain the victory that has been obtained at this time. Therefore, I personally am very confident that Italy will manage to win this match, and become the third winner in this tournament.

[Sexylizzy2813]

The Italian national team are just making sure they don't make any mistake they did against Spain. I'm not surprised at what I'm seeing with the way Netherland are playing poorly in today's game, going by 2 goals down in the first half and I don't see the Italian team backing down on their lead. If they {Italy} create more chances I think they can extend their lead, with Immobile on the bench I feel it will be very hard for Netherland when he {immobile} is been introduced.
Where did the Netherland go wrong? They're the favorite in this game, judging by the odds, is in their favor but football these days can't be predicted by the odds we see, the form of a team can even play a better roll in selecting the winner of a game. With how poorly the Netherland have been I think this game is going to be another loss for them, Italy are going to hold on to their lead till FT.

[execijutiere]

On paper Spain seems to be the favorite, but Croatia is just as much a favorite in my eyes.Croatia defeated the Netherlands 4-2 and we are talking about a team that came 3rd in the world cup.Croatia will at least want to succeed here and lift the trophy and I think they are ready to give their all as a team.They will play their hearts out for the sake of injury.Spain is of course a strong team, but I think Croatia will push them very hard.

Croatia has never been among the favorites at any major competition, and in recent years it has won a medal almost every time.
At the last 2 world championships and in this edition of the League of Nations, we beat well-known and strong national teams such as England, Brazil, Argentina or France, for example.
It can be said that Croatia does not care who they play against and who is the favorite in the bookmakers, Croatia always plays at the highest level and loses important matches very hard.
Spain has changed the team and currently has a lot of young players without experience playing in major competitions. Croatia is a more experienced team and I think this is a detail that could decide the winner.
In any case, we are expecting an uncertain and exciting match with probable extra time and maybe we will see penalties.

Even though they are not the favorite, we can say that they have achieved good things.They have defeated really strong teams in the world cup and they have very successful and experienced players.Since they managed to beat the Netherlands, which was shown as a heavy favorite in the Netherlands match, I can say that it doesn't matter for me who is shown as the favorite anymore.
As you said, Spain consists of a young squad, so they have a high margin for error.In terms of experience, we can say that they are a team with less experience than Croatia.We can see that Croatia is one step ahead in this aspect because they tend to make mistakes in such final matches.I would love to see possible extra time and penalties, let's see, I will be curiously waiting for the match time.

[tbct_mt2]

The Italian national team are just making sure they don't make any mistake they did against Spain. I'm not surprised at what I'm seeing with the way Netherland are playing poorly in today's game, going by 2 goals down in the first half and I don't see the Italian team backing down on their lead. If they {Italy} create more chances I think they can extend their lead, with Immobile on the bench I feel it will be very hard for Netherland when he {immobile} is been introduced.

Netherlands will face with a concrete defense from Italy in the second half and I really don't think they will be able to break Italy defense. In the second half, Italy can send some main players in and even can make the goal difference bigger. They have many star players on bench, Pellegrini, Zaniolo, Immobile, Barella.

2-0 down since the 20th minute, I think it will be a tough task for the Netherlands to be able to turn things around. Even though the Netherlands can master ball possession but still, this cannot be a guarantee for the Netherlands to be able to score lots of goals. Because after all, if Italy has a good and disciplined defense then of course, Italy will be able to maintain the victory that has been obtained at this time. Therefore, I personally am very confident that Italy will manage to win this match, and become the third winner in this tournament.

Netherlands played like Barcelona with too many slow speed passes and they played like they have 2 or 3 leading goals ahead Italy. In reality they got two conceded goals but did not try to increase their intensity.

Italy with their traditional defense and with many players from Inter Milan, will be able to block such attacks from Netherlands. Except if Netherlands increases their intensity in the second half, they will not have chance to equalize the match and beat Italy. It is shameful for Netherlands as Italy debut this match with their second squad, not with their best squad.

[bering]

Everything looks under control for Italy because they can lead 2-0 in the first half but Netherlands hasn't give up yet and they were attempts to equalized and Bergwijn has been scored goal but apparantly Chiesa has make Italy leading again with current scores 3-1 and he was came as substitution player but it took only 9 minutes for Chiesa to scored goal and i think this goal has killing the game and most likely Italy will be the winner of this match and gets 3rd place

Other match will be interesting because if we see from head to head statistics between Croatia vs Spain there always be a lot of goals happened and Croatia is slightly better from recent performance but probably both teams will displayed attacking style this time although i have seen Spain is the favourite but i don't think Croatia will be easily to beat and for betting option i would like to thinking bet for over 2.5 goals because just like i said before both teams will playing with attacking style

[tusandii]

Netherlands vs Italy and Croatia vs Spain.
These are the two matches that will be played today and tomorrow.
Here the Netherlands vs Italy is in a very advantageous position for the Netherlands because they will be playing at home.
Although Italy is also a strong team, it looks like the Netherlands can take advantage of playing at home to beat Italy.

I put a little money aside to bet on this match.

I don't agree about Spain, but the choice of the Netherlands looks very attractive - Italy was aimed at gold, now they have lost motivation + they have one day less rest. In turn, the Netherlands is a young hungry team and they will fight 100% even for third place. If I take risks tomorrow by betting on Croatia, I will probably add the Netherlands as well.

What makes you disagree with Spain?
I see that Spain is actually a team that is quite strong and good and they cannot even be underestimated so that when compared to Croasia I still have hope for Spain to win.
Spain and the Netherlands are my favorite clup in this bet and for Italy they will have difficulties if they want to win the match against the Netherlands later.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Really entertaining game, Italy take the 3rd place spot but all eyes are on the final tonight, Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

[dwminer1]

Congratulations to Italy for finishing 3rd in this edition of the UEFA Nations League. The match could really be enjoyed, the Dutch fought to make up for the losses until the last minutes. In the final match, Croatia - Spain, I bet on the victory of Spain. I absolutely do not underestimate Croatia, because they have many excellent players, but it seems to me that Spain is a better team.

[tbct_mt2]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Really entertaining game, Italy take the 3rd place spot but all eyes are on the final tonight, Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

Italy won a second medal with Roberto Mancini but they wasted some great opportunities from counter attacking to finalize the match sooner. Netherlands tried a lot and they came closely to an equalizer but eventually the winner is Italy. Winning this match but Italy still have many things to do if they don't want to miss Euro 2024.

Croatia with Modric, Perisic, Kovacic, Brozovic, Vida will have a last chance to win a title. Many of those players are playing very last seasons of their career. Spain has a younger squad which will have more chance in future. Two teams in the final are balancing with each other but I hope Croatia and Modric will win the final.

[Bananington]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Congratulations to Italy! After failing to make the finals, which day wanted to be a redemption for them after missing out on qualifications for the last concluded world Cup. Did it take their chances well in this game for the third place and even from the very first 10 minutes you can see that your intentions were pretty clear that they did not want to leave this competition without any medals. The Italians play good soccer, and between them and Netherlands, the most deserving team has won the third place.

Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

Tough game, the winner is difficult to guess.

[Bobrox]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Really entertaining game, Italy take the 3rd place spot but all eyes are on the final tonight, Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

Unbelievable with Italy performance on second half seems very poor, success leaded early 2-0 trough goals scoring by Dimarco on 6th minutes then second goals scored by Frattesi on 20th minutes. But second half Italy have conceded two goals and third goals from Chiesa on 72th made Italy success lock third placed on UEFA Nation League final four. First half and second half, Netherland has many great attempt but several time Gianluigi Donnarumma save made Italy success won as third position.

Few hours later has final match between Croatia vs Spain, I think Spain is favorite for winning UEFA Nation in this time because they has more experienced squad than Croatia and Spain lead head to head from Croatia.

[Strongkored]

I knew Italy would want to work on their mistakes after losing to Spain and show some real Italian football against the Netherlands... They scored 2 goals in the first 20 minutes... Of course this is not the end of the game and anything can happen, but my bet on Italy scoring and not losing is likely to win... I wonder if the Netherlands will be able to get back into the game after missing two early in the match...

The final score 3-2 to Italy, I thought it would go to extra time, saw the Netherlands continue to attack the Italian defense, unfortunately, there were many chances but the finishing was not good enough so their attack became useless in the second half. Italy's third goal from Chiesa took the Netherlands by surprise enough to make it difficult for them to go from behind, Wijnaldum reduced it but after that, there were no good chances to score.
The final round is a few hours away, and my prediction is for Croatia to win this final, they deserve it after a hard struggle to get rid of the Netherlands.

[Doell]

-snip-

It's true that Italy is quite ahead of the Netherlands and I think Italy can still achieve the expectation of reaching that third place. Regarding the predictions for the match between these two countries, I think it is quite difficult to determine the result, but what is clear is that the two of them will not remain silent and will definitely score goals with each other. Your bet choice is very correct and there is no doubt that later it is possible that the match will end 2-1 regardless of who will win it. I think it's time for the Netherlands or Italy to prove that in next year's competition both of them will become one of the next nations league champions.

This match ended with Italy winning, they took the lead in the first half. If not, maybe the Netherlands has a chance. This is what I doubt about bet on Netherlands. Anyway, also Italy has the quality to beat Netherlands, because on paper they are quite ahead Sir. Fortunately I didn't bet on them, the Netherlands team although they had a slight advantage in ball possession but they have a difficulty. But this match was amazing, there were 5 goals scored in this match, both teams can make a good game.

[Sim_card]

-snip-

It's true that Italy is quite ahead of the Netherlands and I think Italy can still achieve the expectation of reaching that third place. Regarding the predictions for the match between these two countries, I think it is quite difficult to determine the result, but what is clear is that the two of them will not remain silent and will definitely score goals with each other. Your bet choice is very correct and there is no doubt that later it is possible that the match will end 2-1 regardless of who will win it. I think it's time for the Netherlands or Italy to prove that in next year's competition both of them will become one of the next nations league champions.

This match ended with Italy winning, they took the lead in the first half. If not, maybe the Netherlands has a chance. This is what I doubt about bet on Netherlands. Anyway, also Italy has the quality to beat Netherlands, because on paper they are quite ahead Sir. Fortunately I didn't bet on them, the Netherlands team although they had a slight advantage in ball possession but they have a difficulty. But this match was amazing, there were 5 goals scored in this match, both teams can make a good game.

Italy took advantage of the first half and won the game but they performed poorly in the second half which made Netherland almost equalize the goal. It was a wonderful match and both countries tried their best. I am not surprised with Italy winning the game because they are strong and took advantage of their opportunities in the first half. Netherland lost so many opportunities and Italy last goal sealed up their victory in the game.

[ILuckyGuyI]

Netherlands played far worse than I expected. They were even the favourite to win this 3rd place game according to bookmakers by a decent odd margin. But Italy showed a really solid performance here. They did what they couldn't against Spain. Dimarco was quite effective today. But Frattesi was even more beneficial for his team by a goal and an assist.

Frattesi's goal was really lucky though because Geertruida was breaking the offside trap and helped Frattesi score an easy goal after that. I don't know whether Netherlands would be able to find the equalizer also if Weghorst's goal wasn't cancelled due to offside. But I don't feel so considering their general effort.

Italy definitely deserved the 3rd place by a decent effort.

[JooBra]

I think its time for Croatia to win one tournament. They had couple of high finishes but I think this generation with Modric deserves one first place

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

Congratulations to Italy for finishing 3rd in this edition of the UEFA Nations League. The match could really be enjoyed, the Dutch fought to make up for the losses until the last minutes. In the final match, Croatia - Spain, I bet on the victory of Spain. I absolutely do not underestimate Croatia, because they have many excellent players, but it seems to me that Spain is a better team.

Italy showed class in this match and although they were very uncontrolled in the second half which saw Spain equalize, it was fortunate that a third goal from Chiesa meant that Italy finished third. Spain had many chances in the second half and Italy was getting pressured but the problem was that Spain couldn't get the perfect finish to score so in the end they had to acknowledge the defensive prowess of Italy.

Waiting for the final between Croatia vs Spain and I will support Croatia even though the quality of their players is not very promising and even though many people favor Spain. I'm sure Luka Modric will give an extraordinary performance in this match and hopefully Luka Modric can lead Croatia to finish in the first place in the UEFA Nations League.

[Sexylizzy2813]

I think its time for Croatia to win one tournament. They had couple of high finishes but I think this generation with Modric deserves one first place

I agree with you on this for the Croatia side to get hold of a 1st place trophy, they have worked tirelessly and they have been consistent in all competition if I'm not mistaken.
Modric being an incredible leader needs at least one 1st place title to get hold on to, to support his Ballon dor achievement. The only way the Croatian side would win this is only if Spain continue in having their sluggish attacker who's ready to miss all chances to start and play till full time, talking about Morata. The man {Morata} have not been impressive as far as I know, he's not that sharp to at least do something to get his teammates a goal. I believe if Croatia get a goal, they're ready to seal it till the end of the game so I'd tip Croatia to win this one tonight.

[LTU_btc]

I think its time for Croatia to win one tournament. They had couple of high finishes but I think this generation with Modric deserves one first place

I wouldn't be against it. Modric & co generation deserved to win trophy, though Nations League isn't something prestigous. But that's reality of smaller countries, even if they have amazing generation, winning international trophies is very difficult task.
I'll try to go with BTTS today, don't believe that it will be boring goaless game.

[bangjoe]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Really entertaining game, Italy take the 3rd place spot but all eyes are on the final tonight, Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

Worthy of congratulations to Italy because it occupies the third position in the UEFA Nation League, the match went fiercely, although the shot was fairly more against Italian goal, but the 2-0 advantage in the first round made Italy play more comfortably and had more confidence.
Goal from Georginio in the 89th minute became the closing goal for the Netherlands which reduced the lag to 2-3, I thought if the Dutch played in the first round like in the second half, maybe their winning percentage would be higher.

I'm is also waiting for the Croatia vs Spain match tonight, this will be a match that is quite interesting, I am waiting for who the players will be sent down by Luis de La Fuente for the first round of Spain to conquer the squad led by Zlatko Dalić from Croatia.

Let's bet to give more sensation to the match tonight.

[emrecemsan]

Netherlands were really a hopeless case today. One shouldn't be misled by the score's being 3-2 at the end. Italy totally deserved to win by even a bigger goal gap. They were nearly scoring their 4th goal in the stoppage time. Netherlands had better learn their lesson from this year's Nations League. Because they couldn't even reach the finale although the tournament is held in their own country.

There is a huge problem on defending before anything else. I don't know how this can still happen while they have great defenders especially like van Dijk, Ake and Dumfries. Apart from that I don't like the relationship going on with Koeman either. I feel like he isn't the right one for this team. I started to think like this especially after his hard-to-understand choices against Croatia in extra time.

[Bobrox]

UEFA Nations League Final Match: Croatia vs Spain

Both national teams has announced with starting line up and match will start in one hour later,  looks excited with left defender for Spain national team because Luis De La Fuente choose Jesus Navas than Carvajal has good performance with Real Madrid in La Liga. In midfielder, Rodri as Manchester City hero winning Champion League this season has partner with PSG's former Fabian Ruiz.

Alvaro Morata filled as target man with Spain formation seems 4-2-3-1 and trio attacking midfielder filled by Yeremi Pino on left then Gavi on center than has Asensio on right side.



source

[W Jr.]

Croatia and Spain. Two very good teams. We can say that they played a successful game for both teams in the World Cup. Croatia has already proven itself more than enough there. Tonight, they want to beat Spain in the final and win the cup and gain some more prestige. There is a possibility that they will succeed. Of course, it will be a very difficult match as the opponent is Spain. Spain is a team that will push them very hard.

[Raflesia]

Croatia and Spain. Two very good teams. We can say that they played a successful game for both teams in the World Cup. Croatia has already proven itself more than enough there. Tonight, they want to beat Spain in the final and win the cup and gain some more prestige. There is a possibility that they will succeed. Of course, it will be a very difficult match as the opponent is Spain. Spain is a team that will push them very hard.

The final which is actually quite ideal with Croatia, even though sometimes they are not the favorite but in several big competitions they always get pretty good results like in the previous world cup where they reached the semi-finals and now in the Nations League they got to the final with a great win. quite absolute over the Netherlands.



the odds are quite interesting in this regard but even though this is promising but to be honest I'm quite doubtful about placing in one of these teams considering that sometimes the Nations League also has more or less surprises in it even though for now Spain is the favorite but still I'm still not sure about it where to bet

[KTChampions]

Netherlands were really a hopeless case today. One shouldn't be misled by the score's being 3-2 at the end. Italy totally deserved to win by even a bigger goal gap. They were nearly scoring their 4th goal in the stoppage time. Netherlands had better learn their lesson from this year's Nations League. Because they couldn't even reach the finale although the tournament is held in their own country.

There is a huge problem on defending before anything else. I don't know how this can still happen while they have great defenders especially like van Dijk, Ake and Dumfries. Apart from that I don't like the relationship going on with Koeman either. I feel like he isn't the right one for this team. I started to think like this especially after his hard-to-understand choices against Croatia in extra time.

I didn't see the game, but looking at the statistics I would say that Italy were lucky to be able to win in regular time even though they were leading 2-0 during the game. Shots on target 6-3, corners 9-3 in favor of the Netherlands (by the way, it turns out that Italy scored every goal on shot on target) - in terms of numbers, this is more like the dominance of the Netherlands. But apparently the experience takes its toll and Italy gets a consolation prize (although we all understand that this is just a warm-up before the main course of the evening).

[MinoRaiola]

This week at least we won't feel bored because we can still enjoy watching football in the nations league competition and everything will be determined through this week's matches to determine the champions of the nations league this season. For the match for 3rd place, it seems that I am also sure that Italy will beat the Netherlands and hope that Italy will give such a maximum performance.

You were right, but that was also a victory with only a one goal lead. A 3:2 for Italy is a nice game for third place with 5 goals. In the minute 82 there was another goal for Holland, which was not given because of offside, so here also very close. Italy played very well in the first 25 minutes and used the few chances directly for 2 goals. Holland also had a few shots on the goal, but they were not so dangerous. After Chiesa came into the game for Italy, he has scored a goal after 10 minutes, he should play more, I do not understand it. A 3rd place for Italy is good, they have do a lot this year in the european Leagues.

[hahay]

Congratulations to Italy for finishing 3rd in this edition of the UEFA Nations League. The match could really be enjoyed, the Dutch fought to make up for the losses until the last minutes. In the final match, Croatia - Spain, I bet on the victory of Spain. I absolutely do not underestimate Croatia, because they have many excellent players, but it seems to me that Spain is a better team.

However, if we consider the available odds, at least Spain is still the favorite to win compared to Croatia. But even so, I personally believe Croatia has the ability to be able to hold off Spain throughout the match. That way, maybe the winner will come until extra time or maybe also through penalties but yes, even so I believe both teams to score goals in 2x45 minutes. Because to be honest, for me personally Croatia at this moment is also very good but indeed, these two teams do not have a defense that cannot keep clean sheets and thus, both of them do have a great chance to return goals to each other.

[aylabadia05]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Really entertaining game, Italy take the 3rd place spot but all eyes are on the final tonight, Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

The determination of the winner until extra time is very likely to occur in the Croatia vs Spain final which will soon kick off at the Feijenoord stadium, Rotterdam.
Looking at the confirmed Spanish line-up, Rodrigo and Merino were not played by Fuente from the start like when Spain beat Italy. Their position was replaced by Asensio and Ruiz.

Even though this match tends to be difficult to predict, Croatia seems to be able to beat Spain in this final match.
I've bet with my friend live while watching together and I choose Croatia.

[püsür]

Full Time - Netherlands 2-3 Italy

Really entertaining game, Italy take the 3rd place spot but all eyes are on the final tonight, Croatia vs Spain. It’s such a tough game to call, wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a long night and it’s not decided in regular time.

Unbelievable with Italy performance on second half seems very poor, success leaded early 2-0 trough goals scoring by Dimarco on 6th minutes then second goals scored by Frattesi on 20th minutes. But second half Italy have conceded two goals and third goals from Chiesa on 72th made Italy success lock third placed on UEFA Nation League final four. First half and second half, Netherland has many great attempt but several time Gianluigi Donnarumma save made Italy success won as third position.

Few hours later has final match between Croatia vs Spain, I think Spain is favorite for winning UEFA Nation in this time because they has more experienced squad than Croatia and Spain lead head to head from Croatia.

The way this Italian plays football is very different, it doesn't change at also. I feel like every time I watch a match, the guys always take the lead, then they suddenly turn to the defense, they always press again after conceding a goal, it's really interesting. It is another matter that Chiesa threw the ball out when there was space in front of him, instead of hitting it and giving it to pellegrini and then giving it to zaniolo, who was empty in the next position. In Italy's 2nd and 3rd goals, the mistakes of the Dutch defense were so simple that in one of them van dijk, who was called the "best defender in the world", made the mistake. The Netherlands will be doomed to lose tournaments as long as it continues.

[Soonandwaite]

wow ... 35k fans from croatia are in the stadium of rotterdam today. the team from croatia will get a great support from the fans.
but is that an advantage? in any case it will be very loud in the stadium and i hope we see 3 or 4 goals.
i am neutral. so i just wish for a great match and many goals.


source:google

[3meek]

Everything looks under control for Italy because they can lead 2-0 in the first half but Netherlands hasn't give up yet and they were attempts to equalized and Bergwijn has been scored goal but apparantly Chiesa has make Italy leading again with current scores 3-1 and he was came as substitution player but it took only 9 minutes for Chiesa to scored goal and i think this goal has killing the game and most likely Italy will be the winner of this match and gets 3rd place

Other match will be interesting because if we see from head to head statistics between Croatia vs Spain there always be a lot of goals happened and Croatia is slightly better from recent performance but probably both teams will displayed attacking style this time although i have seen Spain is the favourite but i don't think Croatia will be easily to beat and for betting option i would like to thinking bet for over 2.5 goals because just like i said before both teams will playing with attacking style

The Netherlands vs Italy was a crazy match... I haven't seen such good football in a long time, probably since the last World Cup... The Netherlands were a bit unlucky, but Italy was probably better... I don't expect many attacks in the final from Croatia... I think it will be Spain, and Croatia will catch them at mistakes and create dangerous counterattacks...

[slapper]

In today's final match, my favorite is Spain by a small margin. Looking at the semi-finals of the Nations League, I saw Croatia better, but the opponents they played were different. Croatia played with a relatively easy team like the Netherlands. But Spain played with a strong giant like Italy. Therefore, semi-finals cannot be a measure by itself.

Portugal and France were previously champions in the Nations League. Now it's Spain's turn. Europe's biggest winners take turns. I'm sure Germany and Italy will also be champions in the coming years.

Croatia is always at the top places in tournaments like this, but they can't win. I think they will suffer a similar fate again. They are losing their golden generation. I'm not sure if they can achieve similar success with new players.

My bet's on Spain for today's final, thanks to their stellar semi-finals performance in the Nations League. Even though Croatia did well, they were up against the Netherlands, not a powerhouse like Italy, who Spain outplayed. Champions like Portugal and France set a high bar, but Spain's ready to meet it. Croatia, often near the top but never quite there, might face another near-miss with their aging stars and untested rookies.

[BitcoinAccepted]

The Netherlands was clearly the weakest team of the 4 teams present. Croatia made a big impression in the match against the Netherlands, especially in midfield. But what would Croatia be without Modric? then the world would look a lot different for Croatia. I think the final is now 50-50, but the bookmakers have a preference for Spain. Individually not surprising, it would be nice for Croatia if they finally win a big prize. That would be an excellent opportunity against Spain tonight.

[Docnaster]

Everything looks under control for Italy because they can lead 2-0 in the first half but Netherlands hasn't give up yet and they were attempts to equalized and Bergwijn has been scored goal but apparantly Chiesa has make Italy leading again with current scores 3-1 and he was came as substitution player but it took only 9 minutes for Chiesa to scored goal and i think this goal has killing the game and most likely Italy will be the winner of this match and gets 3rd place

Other match will be interesting because if we see from head to head statistics between Croatia vs Spain there always be a lot of goals happened and Croatia is slightly better from recent performance but probably both teams will displayed attacking style this time although i have seen Spain is the favourite but i don't think Croatia will be easily to beat and for betting option i would like to thinking bet for over 2.5 goals because just like i said before both teams will playing with attacking style

The Netherlands vs Italy was a crazy match... I haven't seen such good football in a long time, probably since the last World Cup... The Netherlands were a bit unlucky, but Italy was probably better... I don't expect many attacks in the final from Croatia... I think it will be Spain, and Croatia will catch them at mistakes and create dangerous counterattacks...

In the first half of the Eufa nations league finals 3rd place, I feel that the Netherlands were somehow lazy. I mean they had a better squad but yet they conceived 2 goals which made it difficult for them to win. Assuming they started the lead, the Italians couldn't have come back to win.
There was no attacking pressure as I expected. At least I know the attacking pressure of the likes of RVP and even Memphis. I feel Gakpo didn't put the necessary pressure needed in the first half.
Let me see what Modric and Co have for me tonight

[BitcoinAccepted]

Little spectacle at the moment at the match between Spain and Croatia. But it was also very hot today. How long will Modric maintain this high level? in the semi-finals he even got a hand from the opponent's trainer and people clapped for the supporters of the Netherlands. Then you have done very well as a player. But Croatia has had a strong team for a long time, often reached the semi-finals and even the final, but it just went wrong. Today they have a golden opportunity to finally win an international prize. It would be a nice crown on Modric's career.

[Zackgeno96]

No goals at the moment, but they could easily come. Croatia and Spain are teams that can find the goal relatively easily. It is actually strange that a big team like Croatia has never won a prize. Only about 7 million people live in this country, all the more clever that they can assemble such a strong team. Taking Modric out of the team is like taking a card out of a house of cards, then the whole thing comes crashing down. But we shouldn't shortchange the rest of the team, they are all still very good players divided between strong teams in Europe and especially in Italy. Spain seems to be my favorite tonight.

[Docnaster]

No goals at the moment, but they could easily come. Croatia and Spain are teams that can find the goal relatively easily. It is actually strange that a big team like Croatia has never won a prize. Only about 7 million people live in this country, all the more clever that they can assemble such a strong team. Taking Modric out of the team is like taking a card out of a house of cards, then the whole thing comes crashing down. But we shouldn't shortchange the rest of the team, they are all still very good players divided between strong teams in Europe and especially in Italy. Spain seems to be my favorite tonight.

But since this first half, it has all been Crotia attacking and shooting at the Spain box.
The Crotias are more aggressive in attack than the Spaniards.
If they maintain their momentum, they will be the champions tonight.
The match is already 45mins and that is to say that the first half is ending on goalless draw which is a true sign of a strong finals between two good teams. Croatia has proven to be consistent in European football.

[Rruchi man]

Let me see what Modric and Co have for me tonight

Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic have been too much for Spain to control because of how they have been rotating positions. Croatia started slow, but slowly were able to create even better decent chances than what Spain have to me. Spain is playing a really high line, but they need to be careful because one well time run from Croatia, and they will be through.

It has been a fair contest with good performance from both team final worthy. I know that there will be goals in the second half and for any team that scores first, it could just be that one goal.

Dani Carvajal should start the second half for Spain with players like Ansu Fati be given enough time to play.

[Rikafip]

But since this first half, it has all been Crotia attacking and shooting at the Spain box.
The Crotias are more aggressive in attack than the Spaniards.

I don't know if you are actually watching the game or just writing based on the game stats, but we (Croatia) didn't dominate the first half. Sure, we had some so-so chances but Spain had some too so I would say that draw at the halftime is realistic.

Its gonna be a tough game until the end and one thing I don't like is that everyone in Croatia was so confident that we are beating Spain (relatively) easy tonight, forgetting how good they actually are.

[shogun47]

Let me see what Modric and Co have for me tonight

Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic have been too much for Spain to control because of how they have been rotating positions. Croatia started slow, but slowly were able to create even better decent chances than what Spain have to me. Spain is playing a really high line, but they need to be careful because one well time run from Croatia, and they will be through.

It has been a fair contest with good performance from both team final worthy. I know that there will be goals in the second half and for any team that scores first, it could just be that one goal.

Dani Carvajal should start the second half for Spain with players like Ansu Fati be given enough time to play.

It is a fairly even game so far but it's once again a hard fighting Croatia that causes a team like Spain to have problems. But I don't like Spain's offensive line that much these days and I am not a big Ansu Fati fan either. I know he is still very young, but Spain usually always had some of the best strikers in the world and now it is not quite like that. It is not that they are bad, but Morata also has good and bad times quite often.

[decodx]

But since this first half, it has all been Crotia attacking and shooting at the Spain box.
The Crotias are more aggressive in attack than the Spaniards.

I don't know if you are actually watching the game or just writing based on the game stats, but we (Croatia) didn't dominate the first half. Sure, we had some so-so chances but Spain had some too so I would say that draw at the halftime is realistic.

Its gonna be a tough game until the end and one thing I don't like is that everyone in Croatia was so confident that we are beating Spain (relatively) easy tonight, forgetting how good they actually are.

Croats dominate the stands! The atmosphere is truly impressive. It appears that the Croats have a considerably larger presence than the Spaniards, and they are certainly making more noise. 

However, both teams have yet to score any goals. They are putting up a strong fight and seem evenly matched. Each side has had a few attempts, but the Spaniards have failed to hit the target so far, while the Croatians have managed three shots on goal.

[3meek]

The first half was not very interesting... One thing I can say is that Croatia play the same way as Spain... There is no favourite in this final... I don't know what should happen for the game to break for one of the teams... Hopefully Spain can score a goal so that Croatia have no choice and we could see a real battle... But so far it looks like we could be looking at a penalty shootout...

[Furious 7]

Let me see what Modric and Co have for me tonight

Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic have been too much for Spain to control because of how they have been rotating positions. Croatia started slow, but slowly were able to create even better decent chances than what Spain have to me. Spain is playing a really high line, but they need to be careful because one well time run from Croatia, and they will be through.

It has been a fair contest with good performance from both team final worthy. I know that there will be goals in the second half and for any team that scores first, it could just be that one goal.

Dani Carvajal should start the second half for Spain with players like Ansu Fati be given enough time to play.

It is a fairly even game so far but it's once again a hard fighting Croatia that causes a team like Spain to have problems. But I don't like Spain's offensive line that much these days and I am not a big Ansu Fati fan either. I know he is still very young, but Spain usually always had some of the best strikers in the world and now it is not quite like that. It is not that they are bad, but Morata also has good and bad times quite often.

Spain with possession of the ball as usual was matched by a quick counter attack by Croatia this was really quite good to watch.
During the ongoing first and second rounds I still haven't found anything interesting from Spain because they seemed a little troubled when they wanted to create opportunities, on the other hand Croatia was a little better at utilizing momentum although they still couldn't change the score.
52 minutes the score is still a draw but indeed I'm not too strange to see this, this is a final even though sometimes for a big team sometimes it's just like a trial of players but still the final must be more careful and I'm still waiting for what will happen in the end of this match considering there is still quite a lot of time and the second half I think will be better than the first half.

[Frankolala]

Let me see what Modric and Co have for me tonight

Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic have been too much for Spain to control because of how they have been rotating positions. Croatia started slow, but slowly were able to create even better decent chances than what Spain have to me. Spain is playing a really high line, but they need to be careful because one well time run from Croatia, and they will be through.

It has been a fair contest with good performance from both team final worthy. I know that there will be goals in the second half and for any team that scores first, it could just be that one goal.

Dani Carvajal should start the second half for Spain with players like Ansu Fati be given enough time to play.

It is a fairly even game so far but it's once again a hard fighting Croatia that causes a team like Spain to have problems. But I don't like Spain's offensive line that much these days and I am not a big Ansu Fati fan either. I know he is still very young, but Spain usually always had some of the best strikers in the world and now it is not quite like that. It is not that they are bad, but Morata also has good and bad times quite often.

Spain with possession of the ball as usual was matched by a quick counter attack by Croatia this was really quite good to watch.
During the ongoing first and second rounds I still haven't found anything interesting from Spain because they seemed a little troubled when they wanted to create opportunities, on the other hand Croatia was a little better at utilizing momentum although they still couldn't change the score.
52 minutes the score is still a draw but indeed I'm not too strange to see this, this is a final even though sometimes for a big team sometimes it's just like a trial of players but still the final must be more careful and I'm still waiting for what will happen in the end of this match considering there is still quite a lot of time and the second half I think will be better than the first half.

The game is balanced and it is worth the final. Both countries are struggling to score and playing tirelessly but it seems that none of the two country want to make any mistake that will allow the opponent take advantage of the game.

The deadlock hasn't been broken yet as the two clubs are fit for one another. The way I am seeing it match,it might end up in   120mins and from there they will play penalty shoot out. Modric is really trying to get on top of the game. Ansesio missed a good header that would have made a difference in the game but the ball went up above the goal post. Any team that scores first will win the match.

[Docnaster]

But since this first half, it has all been Crotia attacking and shooting at the Spain box.
The Crotias are more aggressive in attack than the Spaniards.

I don't know if you are actually watching the game or just writing based on the game stats, but we (Croatia) didn't dominate the first half. Sure, we had some so-so chances but Spain had some too so I would say that draw at the halftime is realistic.

Its gonna be a tough game until the end and one thing I don't like is that everyone in Croatia was so confident that we are beating Spain (relatively) easy tonight, forgetting how good they actually are.

Did I sound like someone who wrote through livescore game statistics?
I am being realistic here. In possession the game seems balanced and it could be more in the side of the Spanish side but in terms of attack on Kramaric has been a night mare to the Spanish defence.
Even because of your comment I have to open livescore to check what is there and the result is that the Croatia side has 3 shots on goal while the Spanish side has 0 shots on goal.
What then are we saying?

[Altryist]

The game is balanced and it is worth the final. Both countries are struggling to score and playing tirelessly but it seems that none of the two country want to make any mistake that will allow the opponent take advantage of the game.

The deadlock hasn't been broken yet as the two clubs are fit for one another. The way I am seeing it match,it might end up in   120mins and from there they will play penalty shoot out. Modric is really trying to get on top of the game. Ansesio missed a good header that would have made a difference in the game but the ball went up above the goal post. Any team that scores first will win the match.

It's a very difficult match for both teams, I really like that Croatia plays very carefully in defense, and in general I'm inclined to believe that Croatia deserves to be champions. But Spain is not a team to give up so easily and as the match comes to the end of regular time we may see extra time and penalties. It is very difficult to determine the winner,  both teams deserve to be winners.

[Zackgeno96]

Can we say that we have had a disappointing final so far? At a final in the nations league between Croatia and Spain we expected at least a par of goals. Both teams don't want to lose. The chance is quite significant that it will come to penalties. But at the World Cup we also thought that a few times, and then it still went wrong for some teams. I dare not say who is the favorite when it comes to penalties. Spain has also been dry for a while since the last title at the European and World Cup.

[KTChampions]

Can we say that we have had a disappointing final so far? At a final in the nations league between Croatia and Spain we expected at least a par of goals. Both teams don't want to lose. The chance is quite significant that it will come to penalties. But at the World Cup we also thought that a few times, and then it still went wrong for some teams. I dare not say who is the favorite when it comes to penalties. Spain has also been dry for a while since the last title at the European and World Cup.

I didn't initially expect many goals in this game (because of Spain's way of playing and because Croatia will play cautiously), so I can't say I'm disappointed - this is a serious title fight and no one wants to concede. Ten minutes left and it looks like we're going to see a penalty shootout... I guess I won't watch it - too much adrenaline and I want to fall asleep on time. I'd rather take a break and find out the result in 20-25 minutes.

[Furious 7]

Spain with possession of the ball as usual was matched by a quick counter attack by Croatia this was really quite good to watch.
During the ongoing first and second rounds I still haven't found anything interesting from Spain because they seemed a little troubled when they wanted to create opportunities, on the other hand Croatia was a little better at utilizing momentum although they still couldn't change the score.
52 minutes the score is still a draw but indeed I'm not too strange to see this, this is a final even though sometimes for a big team sometimes it's just like a trial of players but still the final must be more careful and I'm still waiting for what will happen in the end of this match considering there is still quite a lot of time and the second half I think will be better than the first half.

The game is balanced and it is worth the final. Both countries are struggling to score and playing tirelessly but it seems that none of the two country want to make any mistake that will allow the opponent take advantage of the game.

The deadlock hasn't been broken yet as the two clubs are fit for one another. The way I am seeing it match,it might end up in   120mins and from there they will play penalty shoot out. Modric is really trying to get on top of the game. Ansesio missed a good header that would have made a difference in the game but the ball went up above the goal post. Any team that scores first will win the match.

Now it has entered Extra Time. The second half Spain chose to allout and they strengthened their attacks in normal time but still could not break the deadlock and we are in extra time the first time this time.

It looks like Croatia really want to hold on until the end but Spain doesn't want to do this because they know that if it goes to penalties it will be a little complicated because of course apart from the mentality there are several conditions where this makes it 50/50 in terms of champions.
There is still time for the second extra time and I think with the current conditions, Spain will still try to get at least one goal to kill the game.

[CLS63]

Spain had better focus on finishing the match without extra time or penalty shoot-outs. Because Croatia are really great in those times. However there is an interesting information about a head-to-head between these teams in Euro 2020. Spain defeated them 5-3 by scoring 2 goals in extra time. Would we have a similar scenario here maybe? We will see.

I think it' not going to be an easy game for Spain by any means because aside from being a team going through a new transition phase, the Croatia squad in my opinion on an average are more experienced than the Spanish, while the Spanish team might have more talents overall, but this a kind of match were experience might be of significant importance.

There are no penalties specialist and regardless of the odds, penalties is a game of luck and it's always 50/50 game imo, and it doesn't matter if world all stars is playing against a 2nd tier team of a league in Gibraltar, it's going to be anybody's games.

We are really having a similar scenario so far. The only difference is that there is still no goal in a match like this. The statistics regarding shots on target is just horrible so far. I thought we would see at least a couple of goals in regular + extra time. Both teams don't want to take big risks currently as it is getting more difficult make up for it. As Croatia's extra time performance recently is really good Spain had better be aware against a surprise goal in these minutes.

Modric is again about to play for 120 minutes. He really doesn't know anything about getting tired.    If he makes another big contribution in extra time or maybe an important penalty in penalty shoot-outs it would be really amazing for the fans. I assume Modrid would like to say goodbye to the national team by winning a title.

[Rruchi man]

The statistics regarding shots on target is just horrible so far. I thought we would see at least a couple of goals in regular + extra time. Both teams don't want to take big risks currently as it is getting more difficult make up for it. As Croatia's extra time performance recently is really good Spain had better be aware against a surprise goal in these minutes.

Few minutes to go with both teams tired, and Spain is the team putting all the pressure, Croatia just waiting for a moment to take their chances. Shots of target has been plenty especially for Spain who have just had it difficult getting their shots on target. Ansu Fati has been a very effective for Spain since he came on, but this game is going to penalties from what I see and the Croatian coach is already getting set for it, that is why Luka Modric is still on.

Croatia have a good record of winning on penalties, they will be the more confident of the two sides if it gets to that.

[BitcoinAccepted]

Croatia and Spain both want to, but it doesn't work. We do have the players in the final who are responsible for the winning goals in the CL and EL. So far, it really looks like both teams are pretty much through it. FIFA has already indicated that they will consider ending the battle for 3rd and 4th place, as no one is waiting to play another consolation final. Coach Koemand was very angry today after his team's failure. but maybe he should also take a look in the mirror, because things are just really bad under his leadership at the moment.


We have started with the penalties at the moment and still clear at the moment. But as I'm writing this, anything can go wrong. Modric has now just shot his penalty. This could go on for a while but within 5 minutes the winner will probably be known. What a very long football banner this was.

[KTChampions]

Damn. The victory for Croatia was so close, but they were unsuccessful in the lottery. But as they say, the strongest is lucky, so I congratulate the Spanish team on the trophy.
By the way, I hope that another silver will be a hint to Modric not to end his career in the national team, but to continue trying 

[Zackgeno96]

And Spain has become the winner of the tournament. Regular time had no goals, and neither did extra time. In the penalties, both teams were evenly matched for a long time, with a miss from Croatia in the end and then Spain could decide. However, that paw went on the crossbar. The penalty afterwards missed Croatia again, and then Spain managed to finish it. It looked like the home team had lost, as it was almost completely packed with spectators from Croatia. Spain will be happy with this title, because they had not won a title for a few years.

[Docnaster]

Congratulations to Spain

It was very tough from beginning to the end and Spain have to win the day. There must be a winning in every finals. I really wished Modric would have lifted this cup but he tried his best but it didn't work for him
The hero of tonight was the Spanish keeper - Simon who saved 2 goals in the penalty shoot out.
I really love this season end. It is not boring, there are alot of matches to watch and to bet.

[LDL]

We have started with the penalties at the moment and still clear at the moment. But as I'm writing this, anything can go wrong. Modric has now just shot his penalty. This could go on for a while but within 5 minutes the winner will probably be known. What a very long football banner this was.

Penalties are a sadly uncertain result, even if the winning team is decided by penalties, it will depend solely on the goalkeeper.
Unai Simon just saved two Penalties shot..
But Livacovic don't saved nothing but Laporte Shot saved by Goal Bar .
Finally, Unai Simon saved Petkovic Shot and confirmed result.

Spain won the UEFA Nations League 2023...

[decodx]

Croatia 4-5 Spain

Indeed, it was an incredibly challenging game, Both teams gave it their all, and there were some real nail-biting moments. Spain win on penalties! Congrats!

[JeromeTash]

Such a heartbreak for Modric and the Croatian national team yet again. So close yet so far away!
I really wanted this one for him as he is edging towards retirement, but they ran short in penalties. The Spanish keeper did very well to keep Spain on their way to winning the trophy.

[Strongkored]

Congratulations to Spain

It was very tough from beginning to the end and Spain have to win the day. There must be a winning in every finals. I really wished Modric would have lifted this cup but he tried his best but it didn't work for him
The hero of tonight was the Spanish keeper - Simon who saved 2 goals in the penalty shoot out.
I really love this season end. It is not boring, there are alot of matches to watch and to bet.

And again Modric failed in the final when he was in the national team, which is quite disappointing because it looks like it will be a trophy for Croatia, and their goalkeeper this time did not perform like in a good World Cup on penalties. Congratulations to Spain who finally became champions not as the favorite team to win but were able to overcome their opponents well, including in penalty shootouts,

[snipie]

And again Modric failed in the final when he was in the national team, which is quite disappointing because it looks like it will be a trophy for Croatia, and their goalkeeper this time did not perform like in a good World Cup on penalties. Congratulations to Spain who finally became champions not as the favorite team to win but were able to overcome their opponents well, including in penalty shootouts,

We cannot blame any team when it comes to penalties since it is a mixture of pure luck and some skills. Croatia missed the title and Spain were able to reach that match after eliminating big teams like Portugal and Italy. They deserve that title so congratulations for them and good luck for Croatia next time.

[LTU_btc]

Damn. The victory for Croatia was so close, but they were unsuccessful in the lottery. But as they say, the strongest is lucky, so I congratulate the Spanish team on the trophy.
By the way, I hope that another silver will be a hint to Modric not to end his career in the national team, but to continue trying 

I wouldn't call penalty shootout as lottery, now gaolkeepers and their coaches are really doing lot of preparation for penalties, they analyze all penalties made by their opponents before. My prediction about game didn't turned to be true, it was very typical final and it was equal game. Croatia lost penalty shootout after long break, they always been winning it in recent competitions.
I also thought about Modric. Gold today would be nice way to retire from nantional team, now he has reason to continue.

[Velvet78]

Penalty shootouts was a way better stage of the game. There was a high adrenaline and the goalkeepers also had a really big responsibility. However Simon dealt with this pressure very well and saved 2 penalties. He suddenly became the hero of the game for his team. I wouldn't have been surprised if Croatia won this as well by the way.

I just wished we were able to watch some goals in regular time or extra time. It wasn't an exciting finale considering the general look of it. Both sides like to play a controlled game in such times of course but this was still not an hindrance to watch some goals before penalty shootouts. Congrats to Spain! Modric must have been really devastated with this result while getting close to the end of his national team career.

[Popkon6]

Both Spain and Croatia were very hungry to win this cup. But Spain have enough hard-working players here to prove they are the best players of the season. Meanwhile, Croatia, although their fate forced them to lose, but if the last penalty had not been missed, then Croatia had the possibility of winning the penalty later on. But I think Croatia had a good enough performance although attacking the field was not successful so I don't blame Croatia. The consequences of their fate have forced them to lower levels. Because even in the World Cup they worked harder and were placed third and they had this result in the past World Cups. So, I would say that the final match was so close to victory that Croatia ended up losing.

[rendravolt]

Congratulations to Italy who managed to get third place and congratulations also to Spain who finally won the nation league this season through a very exciting match. It must be admitted that this time Italy is still slightly above the Netherlands in terms of winning mentality and I think Italy really deserved this victory. In the final place we know that both Spain and Croatia only drew 0-0 until 90 minutes and in extra time the result did not change which meant that it had to be decided on penalties.

Unfortunately Croatia failed to win the title this season after two of their players missed the penalty and Carvajal who was the decisive kicker from Spain did his job well with a panenka shot. I'm actually quite sad to see that Luka Modric still can't win the international competition title for Croatia, but I hope he won't be sad for a long time.

[W Jr.]

Can we say that we have had a disappointing final so far? At a final in the nations league between Croatia and Spain we expected at least a par of goals. Both teams don't want to lose. The chance is quite significant that it will come to penalties. But at the World Cup we also thought that a few times, and then it still went wrong for some teams. I dare not say who is the favorite when it comes to penalties. Spain has also been dry for a while since the last title at the European and World Cup.

I didn't initially expect many goals in this game (because of Spain's way of playing and because Croatia will play cautiously), so I can't say I'm disappointed - this is a serious title fight and no one wants to concede. Ten minutes left and it looks like we're going to see a penalty shootout... I guess I won't watch it - too much adrenaline and I want to fall asleep on time. I'd rather take a break and find out the result in 20-25 minutes.

The match ended in a draw and both teams failed to score after 90 minutes and extra time. Spain won the match, which went to penalties. In the penalty shootout, Livakovic was far from his performance in the world cup. Spain goalkeeper Simon was really good.

[BlackBoss_]

Damn. The victory for Croatia was so close, but they were unsuccessful in the lottery. But as they say, the strongest is lucky, so I congratulate the Spanish team on the trophy.
By the way, I hope that another silver will be a hint to Modric not to end his career in the national team, but to continue trying 

The match is open with many opportunities but it's strange to see it ended 120 minutes without a goal even the match itself is not boring. Modric rejected offers from Saudi Arabia to continue his career in Bernabeu. I believe he will continue playing for Croatia whenever his body allows him to play.

I wouldn't call penalty shootout as lottery, now gaolkeepers and their coaches are really doing lot of preparation for penalties, they analyze all penalties made by their opponents before.

In big match like this, teams will prepare a lot for penalties because they can not be sure that they will win the match without penalties. However, Croatia were known as very strong at penalties from World Cup 2018 to World Cup 2022. Spain looks to learn something from their failures in latest big tournaments in penalty shootouts. They won this time and nearly put the end for this golden generation of Croatia.

My prediction about game didn't turned to be true, it was very typical final and it was equal game. Croatia lost penalty shootout after long break, they always been winning it in recent competitions.

Croatia tried to beat Spain in two extra halfs and created some opportunities but could not have any goal. I guess they did not want to have a penalty shootouts because Spain have Unai Simon who performs well in such shootouts.

I also thought about Modric. Gold today would be nice way to retire from nantional team, now he has reason to continue.

Maybe he will have a last chance with Croatia in Euro 2024 but he has won many big titles and lack of a title with his national team does not make his career looks bad.

[Bitcoin_people]

It was truly unusual to win a place against Croatia, where penalties are always a matter of luck. The match was played from start to finish by both teams with enough Amounts to score despite a tough attack. In the end no goals were scored and the game progressed to penalties. Both teams scored brilliantly in the penalty shootout, but Croatia lost to Spain after conceding a goal. Spain's goalkeeper brilliantly saved two goals in six penalties and they won. In the match most people expected Croatia to win but unfortunately they lost.  Spain completed the penalty shootout brilliantly to win the Nations League title.

[onecall123]

It was truly unusual to win a place against Croatia, where penalties are always a matter of luck. The match was played from start to finish by both teams with enough Amounts to score despite a tough attack. In the end no goals were scored and the game progressed to penalties. Both teams scored brilliantly in the penalty shootout, but Croatia lost to Spain after conceding a goal. Spain's goalkeeper brilliantly saved two goals in six penalties and they won. In the match most people expected Croatia to win but unfortunately they lost.  Spain completed the penalty shootout brilliantly to win the Nations League title.

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

[Sexylizzy2813]

Congrats to Spain for their Victory last night but is it always going to be like this for the Croatian national team, to always be at the finals and lose at the end after putting a wonderful performance? Well, like they say, the better side won. But come to think of it, If I should be honest in that encounter between Croatia vs Spain, I never saw Spain playing anything compared to what Croatia played, only that the Croatian side didn't convert most of their chances, they {Croatia} had opportunities to seal the game but it didn't work out for them.
Is so sad to see Modric still going back once again without a first place trophy and I feel this might be his last for the national team side.

[bering]

Congrats to Spain for their Victory last night but is it always going to be like this for the Croatian national team, to always be at the finals and lose at the end after putting a wonderful performance? Well, like they say, the better side won. But come to think of it, If I should be honest in that encounter between Croatia vs Spain, I never saw Spain playing anything compared to what Croatia played, only that the Croatian side didn't convert most of their chances, they {Croatia} had opportunities to seal the game but it didn't work out for them.
Is so sad to see Modric still going back once again without a first place trophy and I feel this might be his last for the national team side.

As a manager Zlatko Dalic has been bringing Croatia reach to final matches twice that is world cup final and now UEFA Nation league but seems Croatia is very unlucky under him because they were failed to gets the trophies from those final matches and this is really painful because Croatia has good chances to win the match because they got several opportunities to scores goals and indeed the match have to ended with penalty shootout and if we see from both teams apparently Spain players is more ready to facing this situations

I thought this match will ended will plenty of goals but apparently i was wrong because both teams were playing with cautiously and for Spain this is very fantastic moment for them because finally after 11 years they got the trophy again and it will very special for their captain Jordy Alba because at the end of his career he can bringing Spain to gets more trophy and since 2011 joining at Spain national team he has got 2 trophies and that is Euro Cup 2012 and the latest UEFA Nation League trophy

[Litzki1990]

Spain beat Croatia 5-4 in Tribeca to win the UEFA Nations League trophy. Spain beat Croatia to win the Nations League trophy for the first time. It is a great achievement for Spain. Both the teams tried to score a lot of goals throughout the game but neither team managed to score at full time. Both teams were almost equal when it came to targeting the opponent's goal post with the ball in their own possession. But despite doing so well, in the end, when the result of the game was decided on penalties, Croatia lost there.  

Congratulations to Spain for winning the UEFA Nations League trophy for the first time.

[3meek]

Congrats to Spain for their Victory last night but is it always going to be like this for the Croatian national team, to always be at the finals and lose at the end after putting a wonderful performance? Well, like they say, the better side won. But come to think of it, If I should be honest in that encounter between Croatia vs Spain, I never saw Spain playing anything compared to what Croatia played, only that the Croatian side didn't convert most of their chances, they {Croatia} had opportunities to seal the game but it didn't work out for them.
Is so sad to see Modric still going back once again without a first place trophy and I feel this might be his last for the national team side.

As a manager Zlatko Dalic has been bringing Croatia reach to final matches twice that is world cup final and now UEFA Nation league but seems Croatia is very unlucky under him because they were failed to gets the trophies from those final matches and this is really painful because Croatia has good chances to win the match because they got several opportunities to scores goals and indeed the match have to ended with penalty shootout and if we see from both teams apparently Spain players is more ready to facing this situations

I thought this match will ended will plenty of goals but apparently i was wrong because both teams were playing with cautiously and for Spain this is very fantastic moment for them because finally after 11 years they got the trophy again and it will very special for their captain Jordy Alba because at the end of his career he can bringing Spain to gets more trophy and since 2011 joining at Spain national team he has got 2 trophies and that is Euro Cup 2012 and the latest UEFA Nation League trophy

I don't think it's the coach's fault that Croatia made a mistake in the penalty shootout... Yes, luck was not on their side, but in recent years Croatia have consistently achieved good results... All match and the extra two halves Croatia played as well as Spain... They also had some good chances, but Spain is a very strong team, so no one could score... The penalty shootout was just luck...

[gabbie2010]

Spain beat Croatia 5-4 in Tribeca to win the UEFA Nations League trophy. Spain beat Croatia to win the Nations League trophy for the first time. It is a great achievement for Spain. Both the teams tried to score a lot of goals throughout the game but neither team managed to score at full time. Both teams were almost equal when it came to targeting the opponent's goal post with the ball in their own possession. But despite doing so well, in the end, when the result of the game was decided on penalties, Croatia lost there.  

Congratulations to Spain for winning the UEFA Nations League trophy for the first time.

The last penalty kick Panenka scored by Carvahal was absolutely fantastic, kudos to the Spanish goalkeeper Unai simmon who also made a brilliant save while the Spanish players kicks were well taken also Modric who never miss a kick in his entire career scored his own kick brilliantly unfortunately this trophy should have been a parting gift for him if won, it was a keenly contested and competitive match throughout the duration of the time, congratulations to Rodri for winning another trophy in addition to his treble won at the club level and congratulations to the Spanish National team for a well deserved Victory.

[Litzki1990]

Spain beat Croatia 5-4 in Tribeca to win the UEFA Nations League trophy. Spain beat Croatia to win the Nations League trophy for the first time. It is a great achievement for Spain. Both the teams tried to score a lot of goals throughout the game but neither team managed to score at full time. Both teams were almost equal when it came to targeting the opponent's goal post with the ball in their own possession. But despite doing so well, in the end, when the result of the game was decided on penalties, Croatia lost there.  

Congratulations to Spain for winning the UEFA Nations League trophy for the first time.

The last penalty kick Panenka scored by Carvahal was absolutely fantastic, kudos to the Spanish goalkeeper Unai simmon who also made a brilliant save while the Spanish players kicks were well taken also Modric who never miss a kick in his entire career scored his own kick brilliantly unfortunately this trophy should have been a parting gift for him if won, it was a keenly contested and competitive match throughout the duration of the time,

The last penalty was excellent for the Spanish goalkeeper.  To catch up, Spain came back into this match with that penalty kick save. Luka Modrić deserved the Nations League trophy as a farewell gift but came so close to victory in the end against Croatia. Croatia reached the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup I think it's a great achievement for Croatia but for several years Spain have not performed well in any major tournament but they finally won a trophy after a long time.

congratulations to Rodri for winning another trophy in addition to his treble won at the club level and congratulations to the Spanish National team for a well deserved Victory.

Rodri has had a great season this season. A few days ago, this Spanish star won the Champions League trophy by scoring a single goal against Inter Milan for Manchester City.  A few days later, Rodri won another big trophy for his country.  2023 will undoubtedly be a year Rodri remembers.

[jakdanyel]

Congratulations to Spain! That was a really hard-fought win for them by penalty shootouts. However I appreciate the performance of each team here. Croatia also put a really big effort into the match to win the title. Above all else none of these sides won the Nations League before so I was expecting a really competitive match in the finale.

It would have been better if we saw some goals before penalty shootouts as well but anyway.    Simon really deserves to be called as the man of the match I think. Because if it weren't for his amazing saves on 2 penalties Spain might not have been the champions maybe. Laporta's targeting the crossbar must have made the fans really nervous but Simon was there again to relieve them.

[Docnaster]

Congratulations to Spain

It was very tough from beginning to the end and Spain have to win the day. There must be a winning in every finals. I really wished Modric would have lifted this cup but he tried his best but it didn't work for him
The hero of tonight was the Spanish keeper - Simon who saved 2 goals in the penalty shoot out.
I really love this season end. It is not boring, there are alot of matches to watch and to bet.

And again Modric failed in the final when he was in the national team, which is quite disappointing because it looks like it will be a trophy for Croatia, and their goalkeeper this time did not perform like in a good World Cup on penalties. Congratulations to Spain who finally became champions not as the favorite team to win but were able to overcome their opponents well, including in penalty shootouts,

I will not blame the Crotia goalkeeper for not saving penalty. When it comes to Penalty kicks,  there is not guarantee that any goalkeeper will save the shoots. That is why we blame the players for missing Pk and praise the goalkeeper for saving PK.
Having said the above, I will rather blame two Croatia players for missing Pk, unlike the Crotia I know too well in the world for being able to take excellent penalty kicks.
Sometimes too you drop your goalkeeper and take the second choice. Spain dropped Kepa for Simon and the result was great

[Oluwa-btc]

Let me see what Modric and Co have for me tonight

Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic have been too much for Spain to control because of how they have been rotating positions. Croatia started slow, but slowly were able to create even better decent chances than what Spain have to me. Spain is playing a really high line, but they need to be careful because one well time run from Croatia, and they will be through.

It has been a fair contest with good performance from both team final worthy. I know that there will be goals in the second half and for any team that scores first, it could just be that one goal.

Dani Carvajal should start the second half for Spain with players like Ansu Fati be given enough time to play.

Dani Carvajal? Jesus Navas has a great game, the spanish coach had a great lineup against Croatian side yesterday night, he's in a much better form than Cavarjal. He also made things difficult for Ivan Perisic to operate on that left wing.

Unfortunately, there wasn't any. The trio of Modric, Brozovic and Kovacic made things hell difficult for Spain, especially breaking through the midfied. They couldn't make use of the midfied, rather they used to wings. Meanwhile, Croatian side operated through the midfied but lacked a good nine, not just that they didn't create chances that'll lead to goal. Props to the Spardinad defense also, they did real well.

Lastly, shout-out goes to Rodri, he's had such a marvelous season, four trophies in a season, damnit! ( Smiles ) Sure he'll win the FIFA World Club Cup and also the Super Cup against Sevilla at the start of the new season.

[Cryptmuster]

I don't think it's the coach's fault that Croatia made a mistake in the penalty shootout... Yes, luck was not on their side, but in recent years Croatia have consistently achieved good results... All match and the extra two halves Croatia played as well as Spain... They also had some good chances, but Spain is a very strong team, so no one could score... The penalty shootout was just luck...

There can be no coach's mistake here, the penalty shoot-out is the moment where luck and the individual skill of the players decide a lot. Both Spain and Croatia deserved to be winners, but Spain got more lucky, and Croatia stops again one step before victory.

Congratulations to Spain! That was a really hard-fought win for them by penalty shootouts. However I appreciate the performance of each team here. Croatia also put a really big effort into the match to win the title. Above all else none of these sides won the Nations League before so I was expecting a really competitive match in the finale.

It would have been better if we saw some goals before penalty shootouts as well but anyway.    Simon really deserves to be called as the man of the match I think. Because if it weren't for his amazing saves on 2 penalties Spain might not have been the champions maybe. Laporta's targeting the crossbar must have made the fans really nervous but Simon was there again to relieve them.

Yes, it was a very competitive match, until the last it was not clear who would be the winner, it turned out to be a very good final. Perhaps Spain attacked more, but Croatia shot more on target, Croatia should have won this match in regular time, but against Spain it is not so easy. Spain is a very strong team and with this victory they prove it once again.

[casperBGD]

~snip
Lastly, shout-out goes to Rodri, he's had such a marvelous season, four trophies in a season, damnit! ( Smiles ) Sure he'll win the FIFA World Club Cup and also the Super Cup against Sevilla at the start of the new season.

yeah, kudos to Rodri, he had a great season, and contributed a lot to all trophies, still remember goal against Bayern that was an opener for City to demolish them in the end
although, not sure they will win against Sevilla

Croatia had their chance, and if they won it, it would be deserved, but Spain secured it through penalties, would not say any was calmer, seems only luck decided
nevertheless, congrats to Spain

Netherlands ended up being last is a surprise, they were hosts, and it reflects their strength, there is no strength in Dutch team obviously

[coinerer]

Congratulations to Spain

It was very tough from beginning to the end and Spain have to win the day. There must be a winning in every finals. I really wished Modric would have lifted this cup but he tried his best but it didn't work for him
The hero of tonight was the Spanish keeper - Simon who saved 2 goals in the penalty shoot out.
I really love this season end. It is not boring, there are alot of matches to watch and to bet.

And again Modric failed in the final when he was in the national team, which is quite disappointing because it looks like it will be a trophy for Croatia, and their goalkeeper this time did not perform like in a good World Cup on penalties. Congratulations to Spain who finally became champions not as the favorite team to win but were able to overcome their opponents well, including in penalty shootouts,

I will not blame the Crotia goalkeeper for not saving penalty. When it comes to Penalty kicks,  there is not guarantee that any goalkeeper will save the shoots. That is why we blame the players for missing Pk and praise the goalkeeper for saving PK.
Having said the above, I will rather blame two Croatia players for missing Pk, unlike the Crotia I know too well in the world for being able to take excellent penalty kicks.
Sometimes too you drop your goalkeeper and take the second choice. Spain dropped Kepa for Simon and the result was great

There is always nothing for the goalkeeper to do but many times many penalties are missed due to the fault of the goalkeeper.  However, Croatia vs spain match was very hard fought and spain scored 5 goals in penalties but Croatia missed one, unfortunately they lost.  But Croatia's goalkeeper cannot be blamed for this. Both teams were very good and strong so the match was played like this. winning and losing matches in pk mostly depends on goalkeeper and luck

[Lucius]

Unfortunately, Croatia once again missed a great opportunity, but I think that to win against the biggest ones you still need to play at a much higher level. I honestly expected a much better game by both teams with a lot of goals, but this new Spain is not yet as good as the one from the last European Championship when it beat Croatia in extra time.

Penalty kicks are always a lottery, and this time luck was on Spain's side. Still, being in the finals for a small country of 3.8 million people is also a great success, especially if we take into account all the successes in just over 30 years of existence of the modern Croatian state.

[CLS63]

The statistics regarding shots on target is just horrible so far. I thought we would see at least a couple of goals in regular + extra time. Both teams don't want to take big risks currently as it is getting more difficult make up for it. As Croatia's extra time performance recently is really good Spain had better be aware against a surprise goal in these minutes.

Few minutes to go with both teams tired, and Spain is the team putting all the pressure, Croatia just waiting for a moment to take their chances. Shots of target has been plenty especially for Spain who have just had it difficult getting their shots on target. Ansu Fati has been a very effective for Spain since he came on, but this game is going to penalties from what I see and the Croatian coach is already getting set for it, that is why Luka Modric is still on.

Croatia have a good record of winning on penalties, they will be the more confident of the two sides if it gets to that.

Agreed. It was important for Croatia to keep the most experienced star on the field thinking of the possibility to see penalty shoot-outs. He pulled his weight by scoring the penalty without problems but it wasn't still enough for his team to be champions unfortunately. Simon really deserves all the appreciation after those crucial saves. We couldn't see the same effort from Livakovic but this still doesn't change the fact that he is a really solid goalkepeer. He impressed many people in the World Cup too in the end.

From now on let's see what Modric is planning to do with his national career.

[Sim_card]

Unfortunately, Croatia once again missed a great opportunity, but I think that to win against the biggest ones you still need to play at a much higher level. I honestly expected a much better game by both teams with a lot of goals, but this new Spain is not yet as good as the one from the last European Championship when it beat Croatia in extra time.

Penalty kicks are always a lottery, and this time luck was on Spain's side. Still, being in the finals for a small country of 3.8 million people is also a great success, especially if we take into account all the successes in just over 30 years of existence of the modern Croatian state.

Both team trued their best both non of them was willing to give up the game for defeat until the penalty shoot out. I see penalty as a game of luck because even the best team might get defeated by a weak team in penalty shoot out. Luck was on Spain's side yesterday because it is that Croatia is good at penalties than Spain but yesterday it turned the other way. Congratulations to Spain to be have that luck in the finals,Croatia shouldn't feel bad on this because luck wasn't on their side,if not they would have taken advantage of the 5th PK that was lost by Spain

[asriloni]

Damn. The victory for Croatia was so close, but they were unsuccessful in the lottery. But as they say, the strongest is lucky, so I congratulate the Spanish team on the trophy.
By the way, I hope that another silver will be a hint to Modric not to end his career in the national team, but to continue trying  

Modric never feels tired to become runner up. It's amazing to see how unai simon was blocking two shots from lovro and bruno petkovic. Let's see what's gonna be modric's decision regarding his career in international football.
Modric must also be aware if a young talented player shall also get a chance to play in the national team as well. His age is very old to play on the national team.
The result from this match makes me knew the reason why madrid was picking joselu from the relegated team.

Congrats for spain by winning the competition.
Croatia has been always pushing during the first, second half and additional time. It has more goal attempts compared with spain.

[Strongkored]

And again Modric failed in the final when he was in the national team, which is quite disappointing because it looks like it will be a trophy for Croatia, and their goalkeeper this time did not perform like in a good World Cup on penalties. Congratulations to Spain who finally became champions not as the favorite team to win but were able to overcome their opponents well, including in penalty shootouts,

We cannot blame any team when it comes to penalties since it is a mixture of pure luck and some skills. Croatia missed the title and Spain were able to reach that match after eliminating big teams like Portugal and Italy. They deserve that title so congratulations for them and good luck for Croatia next time.

I don’t blame anyone actually, because I understand how the match to be determined the outcome through the penalty shoot-out becomes so wild the result, any team can fail, even when they started so favored to win will likely end with failure if it was a penalty shoot-out, just a little disappointed with the outcomes, because thinking this will be a game that ends in normal time with a few goals, but it turns out not.
Croatia being a team that failed in an important match is really unfortunate.

[FatFork]

Unfortunately, Croatia once again missed a great opportunity, but I think that to win against the biggest ones you still need to play at a much higher level. I honestly expected a much better game by both teams with a lot of goals, but this new Spain is not yet as good as the one from the last European Championship when it beat Croatia in extra time.

Penalty kicks are always a lottery, and this time luck was on Spain's side. Still, being in the finals for a small country of 3.8 million people is also a great success, especially if we take into account all the successes in just over 30 years of existence of the modern Croatian state.

Thats right. Although Croatian national team is still without a gold, it has won three medals at major competitions in the last five years under the leadership of the current coach. This is truly an accomplishment that fills the entire nation with pride, and a significant amount of credit for this achievement goes to coach Dalić, though I don't want to overlook the immense talent possessed by the players of this generation.

Both teams put up a strong performance last night, but this time luck favored the Spanish side in penalty kicks. However, I have no complaints as the game remained intense and exciting until the very last moment, even though we didn't witness a goal throughout regular time or extra time.

[harapan]

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

Yea, and Spain also deserved it. Don't make it look like only one team deserved it. Spain also had to win their own matches and struggle to get to the final. Any team that would have won the final would have deserved it because they both played well.
Croatia can keep still fighting. They have a very good squad and they can prepare for the Euros next season. They have what it takes.

Let's see what's gonna be modric's decision regarding his career in international football.
Modric must also be aware if a young talented player shall also get a chance to play in the national team as well. His age is very old to play on the national team.

I would not like Modric to retire from the national team yet. He may be old but he's still very good and I would like him to lead his team to another international tournament one last time. The Euro will be a great opportunity to do that. He may not be strong enough to play 90 minutes in every match or 120 minutes as the case may be, but he's a great motivation and inspiration to the other players.

[execijutiere]

Yesterday in the final match, the winner was decided on penalties.Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in the match, but there were no goals in normal time and the match went into extra time.In extra time there was still a goalless draw and Spain became the champion by defeating their opponent 5-4 on penalties.Both teams did not play badly but they could not make the most of their chances.Croatia had 12 shots while Spain had 21 shots but could not find a goal.It must be a shame for these two finalists that there were 33 shots in the match but no goals.

[KTChampions]

Damn. The victory for Croatia was so close, but they were unsuccessful in the lottery. But as they say, the strongest is lucky, so I congratulate the Spanish team on the trophy.
By the way, I hope that another silver will be a hint to Modric not to end his career in the national team, but to continue trying 

I wouldn't call penalty shootout as lottery, now gaolkeepers and their coaches are really doing lot of preparation for penalties, they analyze all penalties made by their opponents before. My prediction about game didn't turned to be true, it was very typical final and it was equal game. Croatia lost penalty shootout after long break, they always been winning it in recent competitions.
I also thought about Modric. Gold today would be nice way to retire from nantional team, now he has reason to continue.

Yes, a penalty is not completely a lottery, since the skill of goalkeepers + analytical training of the headquarters is of great importance. But we all understand that there is definitely a part of the lottery (where everyone has a chance) - for example, Liechtenstein will never (well, or once every 100 games) beat Brazil in a serious match, but I'm sure that if you take the penalty shootout competition, they will win 20- 30% games minimum.

[execijutiere]

In the 3rd place match, Italy defeated the Netherlands 3-2 and became the 3rd team to finish the tournament.If we look at the statistics, we can easily say that the Netherlands played a little better than Italy, got into more positions and kept the ball at their feet more, but we have seen again that winning the match is not completely related to these. In the first half, Italy had a comfortable first half, closing the first half 2-0 ahead with 2 goals in 20 minutes.In the second half, the match became faster.In the second half, as the Netherlands tried to close the gap, Italy did not allow this and in the end Italy was the winner.

[Queentoshi]

Yea, and Spain also deserved it. Don't make it look like only one team deserved it. Spain also had to win their own matches and struggle to get to the final. Any team that would have won the final would have deserved it because they both played well.
Croatia can keep still fighting. They have a very good squad and they can prepare for the Euros next season. They have what it takes.

Good win for this new Spain team with the mix of young players and a little experienced players from before, on winning a trophy, Spain is a country that is a football senior and have won many trophies, it is only fair that this new Spanish team continue in that way. It was a tough game and any team would have won since it was decided on a very close penalty score.

I would not like Modric to retire from the national team yet. He may be old but he's still very good and I would like him to lead his team to another international tournament one last time. The Euro will be a great opportunity to do that. He may not be strong enough to play 90 minutes in every match or 120 minutes as the case may be, but he's a great motivation and inspiration to the other players.

One more international competition, one more chance to win gold. For a small country like Croatia, they are really a strong team in football.

[Rabata]

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

Croatia came close to winning UEFA Nations League title with a 4-2 win against Netherlands. There was a lot of tension between the two teams from the start of the final match. Neither team scored in the entire 90 minutes, and when no goals were scored in extra time, they had to go to penalty shootouts. Spain won 5-4 on penalties at the end of the match although there was a chance for Croatia to win but it didn't happen. Finally, after 11 years of waiting, Spain is able to lift its international trophy. It is a big achievement for them.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

Congratulations to Spain

It was very tough from beginning to the end and Spain have to win the day. There must be a winning in every finals. I really wished Modric would have lifted this cup but he tried his best but it didn't work for him
The hero of tonight was the Spanish keeper - Simon who saved 2 goals in the penalty shoot out.
I really love this season end. It is not boring, there are alot of matches to watch and to bet.

Croatia have given the best results in this game and although in the end had to settle for runners-up after a normal time draw with Spain. The match was quite fierce where both of them appeared with their best quality, but because there were no goals scored by both teams the match had to be continued on penalties. Unai Simon did look extraordinary in this match and even made several brilliant saves in normal time of the match and in the end he showed his quality in the penalty shootout by saving two penalty executions from the Croatian player.

Even though previously I chose Croatia as a champion candidate and the results in that match were quite satisfying because Croatia was able to keep up with Spain's game. Defeat on penalties is something that is difficult to predict and for me this is not so disappointing because Croatia has given the best results. Congratulations to Spain for winning the UEFA Nations League.

[Inwestour]

Croatia have given the best results in this game and although in the end had to settle for runners-up after a normal time draw with Spain. The match was quite fierce where both of them appeared with their best quality, but because there were no goals scored by both teams the match had to be continued on penalties. Unai Simon did look extraordinary in this match and even made several brilliant saves in normal time of the match and in the end he showed his quality in the penalty shootout by saving two penalty executions from the Croatian player.

Even though previously I chose Croatia as a champion candidate and the results in that match were quite satisfying because Croatia was able to keep up with Spain's game. Defeat on penalties is something that is difficult to predict and for me this is not so disappointing because Croatia has given the best results. Congratulations to Spain for winning the UEFA Nations League.

In my opinion, Croatia didn't create more chances and didn't play better than Spain, everyone had chances in regular time, but the defense was stronger than the attack that evening, so we didn't see a single goal. Moreover, I think that Spain could win at the end of the match, but Croatia's defense was reliable. At the same time, the match was not boring, because the teams created interesting moments, this is the case when 0-0 did not become a boring match.

In extra time, it seems to me that the teams created even more dangerous chances, everyone wanted to score and finish this match without a penalty, but this did not happen, and the penalty was already a game of luck, more lucky was Spain, congratulations on their victory!

[shogun47]

Damn. The victory for Croatia was so close, but they were unsuccessful in the lottery. But as they say, the strongest is lucky, so I congratulate the Spanish team on the trophy.
By the way, I hope that another silver will be a hint to Modric not to end his career in the national team, but to continue trying 

I wouldn't call penalty shootout as lottery, now gaolkeepers and their coaches are really doing lot of preparation for penalties, they analyze all penalties made by their opponents before. My prediction about game didn't turned to be true, it was very typical final and it was equal game. Croatia lost penalty shootout after long break, they always been winning it in recent competitions.
I also thought about Modric. Gold today would be nice way to retire from nantional team, now he has reason to continue.

Yes, a penalty is not completely a lottery, since the skill of goalkeepers + analytical training of the headquarters is of great importance. But we all understand that there is definitely a part of the lottery (where everyone has a chance) - for example, Liechtenstein will never (well, or once every 100 games) beat Brazil in a serious match, but I'm sure that if you take the penalty shootout competition, they will win 20- 30% games minimum.

I wouldn't overestimate the analytical part because choosing a side to which you shoot or jump is still a lottery. If I am a penalty shooter and I know that I pick one side 8 out of 10 times over the other side, I could change my decision and use the other side and I wouldn't even have to be as accurate because the goalkeeper decides to stick with the 80% and haas no chance to defend the shot. There are some extraordinary penalty takers and it doesn't even matter whether the goalkeeper knows where the ball will hit. But there are also some weak penalty takers who really make it 50:50, trusting that the goalkeeper chooses a wrong side early. It is more about the shooter to make it a gamble than the goalkeeper. But I need to say that the Spanish penalties were really strong.

[hahay]

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

Croatia came close to winning UEFA Nations League title with a 4-2 win against Netherlands. There was a lot of tension between the two teams from the start of the final match. Neither team scored in the entire 90 minutes, and when no goals were scored in extra time, they had to go to penalty shootouts. Spain won 5-4 on penalties at the end of the match although there was a chance for Croatia to win but it didn't happen. Finally, after 11 years of waiting, Spain is able to lift its international trophy. It is a big achievement for them.

11 year wait, how come? Because in reality, this UNL just started in 2018/2019 so yes, how can Spain wait for this trophy for 11 years. But apart from that, basically Spain in this final match did play better by having domination during 2x45 and also in extra time. So yes, even though Croatia was able to hold Spain to a draw, but the reality is that Spain still deserves to win in this final match, because Spain can also play and has better quality than Croatia.

[püsür]

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

Yea, and Spain also deserved it. Don't make it look like only one team deserved it. Spain also had to win their own matches and struggle to get to the final. Any team that would have won the final would have deserved it because they both played well.
Croatia can keep still fighting. They have a very good squad and they can prepare for the Euros next season. They have what it takes.

Let's see what's gonna be modric's decision regarding his career in international football.
Modric must also be aware if a young talented player shall also get a chance to play in the national team as well. His age is very old to play on the national team.

I would not like Modric to retire from the national team yet. He may be old but he's still very good and I would like him to lead his team to another international tournament one last time. The Euro will be a great opportunity to do that. He may not be strong enough to play 90 minutes in every match or 120 minutes as the case may be, but he's a great motivation and inspiration to the other players.

Croatia is really making its mark on international tournaments with what it has done lately. Croatia has participated in all major tournaments. He played in the final and semi-finals of the World Cup, showed good performances in the European championships, and played the final again today. A country of 4 million people can do this. It's great that Modric plays at such a high level at this age. He is physically old for his age, but he is a very good football player for his age. That is really admirable. There are only handful of players in any sport that can do this. He is no Lebron James but still great. In this match, I understood why Pep Guardiola wanted Kovavici. He is a player who will add a great dynamism in the midfield, even if he is not seen very much. If he hadn't suffered so many injuries, his level would have gone even higher. Both the quality of the pass and the brisk play between the two penalty areas are rare in football players... I've been a fan of Kovacic for years.

[fzkto]

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

Yea, and Spain also deserved it. Don't make it look like only one team deserved it. Spain also had to win their own matches and struggle to get to the final. Any team that would have won the final would have deserved it because they both played well.
Croatia can keep still fighting. They have a very good squad and they can prepare for the Euros next season. They have what it takes.

Let's see what's gonna be modric's decision regarding his career in international football.
Modric must also be aware if a young talented player shall also get a chance to play in the national team as well. His age is very old to play on the national team.

I would not like Modric to retire from the national team yet. He may be old but he's still very good and I would like him to lead his team to another international tournament one last time. The Euro will be a great opportunity to do that. He may not be strong enough to play 90 minutes in every match or 120 minutes as the case may be, but he's a great motivation and inspiration to the other players.

Croatia is really making its mark on international tournaments with what it has done lately. Croatia has participated in all major tournaments. He played in the final and semi-finals of the World Cup, showed good performances in the European championships, and played the final again today. A country of 4 million people can do this. It's great that Modric plays at such a high level at this age. He is physically old for his age, but he is a very good football player for his age. That is really admirable. There are only handful of players in any sport that can do this. He is no Lebron James but still great. In this match, I understood why Pep Guardiola wanted Kovavici. He is a player who will add a great dynamism in the midfield, even if he is not seen very much. If he hadn't suffered so many injuries, his level would have gone even higher. Both the quality of the pass and the brisk play between the two penalty areas are rare in football players... I've been a fan of Kovacic for years.

Croatia is a country of football talent. Modric is not the only player of age and quality. There are other players in the national team as good as Modric, such as Perisic. Many of the Croatian players play for top European clubs. Therefore, it is no wonder Croatia have been getting great results. It should be noted that for some reason they have been unlucky enough to win major trophies.

[karabiber]

Yesterday in the final match, the winner was decided on penalties.Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in the match, but there were no goals in normal time and the match went into extra time.In extra time there was still a goalless draw and Spain became the champion by defeating their opponent 5-4 on penalties.Both teams did not play badly but they could not make the most of their chances.Croatia had 12 shots while Spain had 21 shots but could not find a goal.It must be a shame for these two finalists that there were 33 shots in the match but no goals.

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Croatia National Team but the success Croatia has had over the years is unbelievable for a small country. The Croatia National Team should be proud of themselves. They reflect team play and team spirit to the fullest. They have achieved two finals and one semi-final success in the last five years with the football they played. Just they need a little more luck. The Spanish National Team conversely won the trophy eleven years later, after various disappointments. Wow.

I think this will be a big step for the future of the Spanish National Team. On the other hand both teams played great football throughout the match and i can say that i am saddened that Croatia lost. The team playing such a good football should have won the cup at the end of the final.

[rendravolt]

Yesterday in the final match, the winner was decided on penalties.Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in the match, but there were no goals in normal time and the match went into extra time.In extra time there was still a goalless draw and Spain became the champion by defeating their opponent 5-4 on penalties.Both teams did not play badly but they could not make the most of their chances.Croatia had 12 shots while Spain had 21 shots but could not find a goal.It must be a shame for these two finalists that there were 33 shots in the match but no goals.

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Croatia National Team but the success Croatia has had over the years is unbelievable for a small country. The Croatia National Team should be proud of themselves. They reflect team play and team spirit to the fullest. They have achieved two finals and one semi-final success in the last five years with the football they played. Just they need a little more luck. The Spanish National Team conversely won the trophy eleven years later, after various disappointments. Wow.

I think this will be a big step for the future of the Spanish National Team. On the other hand both teams played great football throughout the match and i can say that i am saddened that Croatia lost. The team playing such a good football should have won the cup at the end of the final.

We can see in the picture above how many heartbreaks Croatia has had in recent years and none of the international competition trophies they have won so far. I think this is Croatia's golden generation and it's not certain that after a few years there will be the generation of players like now. Spain did a good job and finally they won a major trophy after waiting for this moment for a long time. For me Spain and Croatia are the best and indeed Spain took a step ahead with this victory. I hope that Luka Modric will continue to be able to spread motivation to other young Croatian players so that they can continue to be enthusiastic about continuing the tradition they dream of in the future.

[fullhdpixel]

It was another heartbreaking loss for the Croatia National Team but the success Croatia has had over the years is unbelievable for a small country. The Croatia National Team should be proud of themselves. They reflect team play and team spirit to the fullest. They have achieved two finals and one semi-final success in the last five years with the football they played. Just they need a little more luck. The Spanish National Team conversely won the trophy eleven years later, after various disappointments. Wow.

I think this will be a big step for the future of the Spanish National Team. On the other hand both teams played great football throughout the match and i can say that i am saddened that Croatia lost. The team playing such a good football should have won the cup at the end of the final.

No doubt Spain is doing impressive in last few years, and they are also back on the track with this big win against team like Croatia which is currently the unluckiest team for me in Europe After the Netherlands because in last few years they have few good achievements even never able to win any trophy but still their performance is best.

We can expect good quality from them in coming years as well even right now they have few top quality players which are doing amazing for their country without any luck but keep going and having good results are also never been easy in European soccer which is having currently the best quality in the world.

But still good win for the Spain after one decade, hopefully things could be impressive in next year in Germany as well.

[Distraction]

Croatia have zero titles achieved in team history. This must be really sad for such a capable team. I know that they haven't been impressive in Euro tournaments for years. But they got very close to winning another solid title in the 2018 World Cup and this year's Nations League. Back on the day of the World Cup finale France upset them.

And now Spain have caused an upset to them after a really tight competition during the final match. Croatia have been really trying but they just don't have the skill to finish the job after getting too close to success. Of course playing finales is a really good job. But this shows at the same time that they can do better with a special move. It would have been lovely to see Modric happy with a title won before his retirement from national football.

[bitgolden]

I don't think it's the coach's fault that Croatia made a mistake in the penalty shootout... Yes, luck was not on their side, but in recent years Croatia have consistently achieved good results... All match and the extra two halves Croatia played as well as Spain... They also had some good chances, but Spain is a very strong team, so no one could score... The penalty shootout was just luck...

There can be no coach's mistake here, the penalty shoot-out is the moment where luck and the individual skill of the players decide a lot. Both Spain and Croatia deserved to be winners, but Spain got more lucky, and Croatia stops again one step before victory.

Spain definitely had a great luck when it came to penalties, because in that situation anything could happen and they were the lucky ones. Croatia definitely deserved to win as well, both teams played like champions so I definitely congratulate them both. It's sad to see Croatia not win anything here as well, they keep getting close and they keep losing, I really hope that they will do better.

I think it's quite important to remember that this team has done as well as hoped for and I think it will be very important for them in the future. It's a small nation with a small population but they keep on providing football legends to the game and keep playing good football, that should be a roadmap to all those smaller nation for their future and see what they have done and replicate it.

[HajiBagi]

Yesterday in the final match, the winner was decided on penalties.Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in the match, but there were no goals in normal time and the match went into extra time.In extra time there was still a goalless draw and Spain became the champion by defeating their opponent 5-4 on penalties.Both teams did not play badly but they could not make the most of their chances.Croatia had 12 shots while Spain had 21 shots but could not find a goal.It must be a shame for these two finalists that there were 33 shots in the match but no goals.

In a game where the two teams on the field are unable to score each other, it means that both of them are very strong, are familiar with one another's abilities, know how to attack one another, and really enjoy the match as it is. You shouldn't say that because we are talking about a game, and in a game, anything can happen.
Penalty is also a goal because it is a method used when teams are unable to score goals during matches or in the championship round, and it is during the penalty that the winner is determined.

[snipie]

Croatia have zero titles achieved in team history. This must be really sad for such a capable team. I know that they haven't been impressive in Euro tournaments for years. But they got very close to winning another solid title in the 2018 World Cup and this year's Nations League. Back on the day of the World Cup finale France upset them.

And now Spain have caused an upset to them after a really tight competition during the final match. Croatia have been really trying but they just don't have the skill to finish the job after getting too close to success. Of course playing finales is a really good job. But this shows at the same time that they can do better with a special move. It would have been lovely to see Modric happy with a title won before his retirement from national football.

Indeed, Croatia are quite unlucky although the skills shown by the players. This generation is a golden one and hopefully the next one will be capable of maintaining the achievement done right now and why not win something. We should said that Croatia profited also from the decline of many teams such as Germany and Italy. These teams will be better in the future for sure.

[leonair]

So unlucky as they haven beaten in a penalty shootout! It's really heart-breaking to see Croatia come so close to victory yet fall short again. Their struggle is truly painful this UEFA Nations League edition. They truly deserved it because they've been trying hard for a long time. Despite not win the Nations League, they still have a great team. It's important for them to keep working hard and stay consistent, so this will pay off for the next generation of players. Congratulations to Spain for their win though.

Croatia came close to winning UEFA Nations League title with a 4-2 win against Netherlands. There was a lot of tension between the two teams from the start of the final match. Neither team scored in the entire 90 minutes, and when no goals were scored in extra time, they had to go to penalty shootouts. Spain won 5-4 on penalties at the end of the match although there was a chance for Croatia to win but it didn't happen. Finally, after 11 years of waiting, Spain is able to lift its international trophy. It is a big achievement for them.

Spain 5 out of 5 pk were successful all the kicks were very perfect. but even though Croatia made all their kicks perfectly, they failed 1 kick due to which Croatia lost by the score of 5-4. as a final match, the match was quite tight but as one team had to lose, Croatia lost due to their slight weakness. But we can't blame Croatia's goalkeeper as he was clever enough to save but unfortunately missed one. on the other hand, winning the match after many efforts was a great achievement for Spain

[alastantiger]

Spain definitely had a great luck when it came to penalties, because in that situation anything could happen and they were the lucky ones. Croatia definitely deserved to win as well, both teams played like champions so I definitely congratulate them both. It's sad to see Croatia not win anything here as well, they keep getting close and they keep losing, I really hope that they will do better.

I think it's quite important to remember that this team has done as well as hoped for and I think it will be very important for them in the future. It's a small nation with a small population but they keep on providing football legends to the game and keep playing good football, that should be a roadmap to all those smaller nation for their future and see what they have done and replicate it.

Spain was just lucky. In comparison to Croatia, they are a match. Irrespective of their win, it must be said that Spain lacks wingers who can beat someone and a striker who can score goals. There are too many players who are technically gifted and have a great shot from outside the box like Olmo, Asensio, Fabian, but then it seems like they deliberately avoid playing it simple. That's why I commend Ansu during the game because he tried to dribble on the wings and looked to play it simple with his teammates on the inside. He almost scored too.

For Croatia, they missed this title again having been runners up in 2018 World Cup, third place in 2022 World Cup and now runners up again. Majority of their main players are already in their 30s someone like Modric who is already 37yr old, this looks like the last outing for him. Hopefully the younger generations who will take after them will bring the title home.

[hahay]

Croatia have zero titles achieved in team history. This must be really sad for such a capable team. I know that they haven't been impressive in Euro tournaments for years. But they got very close to winning another solid title in the 2018 World Cup and this year's Nations League. Back on the day of the World Cup finale France upset them.

And now Spain have caused an upset to them after a really tight competition during the final match. Croatia have been really trying but they just don't have the skill to finish the job after getting too close to success. Of course playing finales is a really good job. But this shows at the same time that they can do better with a special move. It would have been lovely to see Modric happy with a title won before his retirement from national football.

Indeed, Croatia are quite unlucky although the skills shown by the players. This generation is a golden one and hopefully the next one will be capable of maintaining the achievement done right now and why not win something. We should said that Croatia profited also from the decline of many teams such as Germany and Italy. These teams will be better in the future for sure.

Croatia was unlucky to be able to get a trophy but for me, with Croatia being able to reach the final match, of course it was already a good achievement for them too. Even though, I also realize that at this moment Croatia also has a good squad, but that doesn't mean they can get a trophy easily. Because after all, Croatia almost won anyway, because Croatia only lost on penalties which basically Croatia can show and or Croatia still has a great performance and style of play too.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

In my opinion, Croatia didn't create more chances and didn't play better than Spain, everyone had chances in regular time, but the defense was stronger than the attack that evening, so we didn't see a single goal. Moreover, I think that Spain could win at the end of the match, but Croatia's defense was reliable. At the same time, the match was not boring, because the teams created interesting moments, this is the case when 0-0 did not become a boring match.

In extra time, it seems to me that the teams created even more dangerous chances, everyone wanted to score and finish this match without a penalty, but this did not happen, and the penalty was already a game of luck, more lucky was Spain, congratulations on their victory!

That's true and indeed Croatia didn't get many chances and played far below Spanish standards, but I actually saw their ability to defend made it difficult for the Spanish players to score goals, so that until the end of the match no goals were created. Spain tried to increase the tension of the game and tried to attack with a much more measured scheme in the second half, but they failed to take advantage of it because Croatia's defense was still quite solid.

Losing on penalties doesn't hurt too much and it's much more difficult to predict a shootout match. But at least we can see that Croatia have shown extraordinary abilities against Spain and they also managed to hold a draw until the match ended in normal time and extra time, for me this is very extraordinary for Zlatko Dalic's men.

[Fuso.hp]

Croatia was unlucky to be able to get a trophy but for me, with Croatia being able to reach the final match, of course it was already a good achievement for them too. Even though, I also realize that at this moment Croatia also has a good squad, but that doesn't mean they can get a trophy easily. Because after all, Croatia almost won anyway, because Croatia only lost on penalties which basically Croatia can show and or Croatia still has a great performance and style of play too.

Croatia have also been beaten in the finals of major tournaments like the World Cup. Croatia certainly deserved the 2023 UEFA Nations League trophy but here too they were defeated in the final. Penalties basically decided their fate. Despite playing well throughout the match, Croatia eventually lost on penalties. A number of Croatia's senior players would have retired from the national team, and if Croatia had won the UEFA Nations League trophy, their careers might have been somewhat fulfilled, but in the end, their careers remained unfulfilled.

[emrecemsan]

Spain was just lucky. In comparison to Croatia, they are a match. Irrespective of their win, it must be said that Spain lacks wingers who can beat someone and a striker who can score goals. There are too many players who are technically gifted and have a great shot from outside the box like Olmo, Asensio, Fabian, but then it seems like they deliberately avoid playing it simple. That's why I commend Ansu during the game because he tried to dribble on the wings and looked to play it simple with his teammates on the inside. He almost scored too.

For Croatia, they missed this title again having been runners up in 2018 World Cup, third place in 2022 World Cup and now runners up again. Majority of their main players are already in their 30s someone like Modric who is already 37yr old, this looks like the last outing for him. Hopefully the younger generations who will take after them will bring the title home.

Spain must have changed their coach 4 or 5 times in the last 5 years if I'm not mistaken. But there is still not much thing changed about their playing style. Spain really like to make things harder for themselves in some matches. Although they capture the full control of such matches they still insist on playing smarter. Maybe this match was also one of that kind. They could have used their dangerous attacks much more effectively and scored a goal much earlier to make the match more entertaining to follow.

Anyway Luis de la Fuente must be really happy to win a title for Spain only 6 months after he started his job here. 

[shogun47]

Spain was just lucky. In comparison to Croatia, they are a match. Irrespective of their win, it must be said that Spain lacks wingers who can beat someone and a striker who can score goals. There are too many players who are technically gifted and have a great shot from outside the box like Olmo, Asensio, Fabian, but then it seems like they deliberately avoid playing it simple. That's why I commend Ansu during the game because he tried to dribble on the wings and looked to play it simple with his teammates on the inside. He almost scored too.

For Croatia, they missed this title again having been runners up in 2018 World Cup, third place in 2022 World Cup and now runners up again. Majority of their main players are already in their 30s someone like Modric who is already 37yr old, this looks like the last outing for him. Hopefully the younger generations who will take after them will bring the title home.

Spain must have changed their coach 4 or 5 times in the last 5 years if I'm not mistaken. But there is still not much thing changed about their playing style. Spain really like to make things harder for themselves in some matches. Although they capture the full control of such matches they still insist on playing smarter. Maybe this match was also one of that kind. They could have used their dangerous attacks much more effectively and scored a goal much earlier to make the match more entertaining to follow.

Anyway Luis de la Fuente must be really happy to win a title for Spain only 6 months after he started his job here. 

They are not the Spain from a decade ago in regards to their player material. The coach doesn't even matter. When the coach was still del Bosque, it wasn't all that success because he was a much better coach than others. He was great yes, but the players he had available and that he could choose from were all exceptional. It was a golden era and if that golden era stops at some point it is never simple for a successor to deliver the same performances.

[Merit.s]

Croatia was unlucky to be able to get a trophy but for me, with Croatia being able to reach the final match, of course it was already a good achievement for them too. Even though, I also realize that at this moment Croatia also has a good squad, but that doesn't mean they can get a trophy easily. Because after all, Croatia almost won anyway, because Croatia only lost on penalties which basically Croatia can show and or Croatia still has a great performance and style of play too.

Croatia have also been beaten in the finals of major tournaments like the World Cup. Croatia certainly deserved the 2023 UEFA Nations League trophy but here too they were defeated in the final. Penalties basically decided their fate. Despite playing well throughout the match, Croatia eventually lost on penalties. A number of Croatia's senior players would have retired from the national team, and if Croatia had won the UEFA Nations League trophy, their careers might have been somewhat fulfilled, but in the end, their careers remained unfulfilled.

I don't think that Croatia lost was the fault of the players. It was their fate that they will be defeated by Spain because Croatia played brilliantly and I didn't expect such performance from them. Penalty is a game of luck and shouldn't be used to judge a team when they lost in PK. This was why I said it was their fate. On the other hand Spain was lucky on that day as the match favored them in the Penalty stage. Spain wouldn't stop surprising the world with the quality football from world class players. Destiny can't be changed but delayed,those players that will resign in Croatia national team was not destined to win the trophy.

[borovichok]

I don't think that Croatia lost was the fault of the players. It was their fate that they will be defeated by Spain because Croatia played brilliantly and I didn't expect such performance from them. Penalty is a game of luck and shouldn't be used to judge a team when they lost in PK. This was why I said it was their fate. On the other hand Spain was lucky on that day as the match favored them in the Penalty stage. Spain wouldn't stop surprising the world with the quality football from world class players. Destiny can't be changed but delayed,those players that will resign in Croatia national team was not destined to win the trophy.

Croatia loses the national league championship to Spain. It was a challenging game characterized by excellent performances from both parties; everyone was concentrating on the title and put in all they had on the field; nevertheless the game ended in extra time and penalty shootouts with brilliant performance fulltime. That was a completely another level, and we all know how nerve-racking taking penalties is. Those who scored were ecstatic, while those who failed to score were booed by the supporters. Spain won the current champions of the national league trophy.

[mvdheuvel1983]

Croatia loses the national league championship to Spain. It was a challenging game characterized by excellent performances from both parties; everyone was concentrating on the title and put in all they had on the field; nevertheless the game ended in extra time and penalty shootouts with brilliant performance fulltime. That was a completely another level, and we all know how nerve-racking taking penalties is. Those who scored were ecstatic, while those who failed to score were booed by the supporters. Spain won the current champions of the national league trophy.

The goalkeeper of the Croatian national team, every time he plays against Spain, turns into a calamity with legs and gloves. He didn't stop any penalties, they scored five goals against him in the Euro, it's that ancestral fear that some goalkeepers have when playing against certain opponents. Spain lost on penalties 2018, 2020 and 2022. Why they had to be so good and confident now, when Croatia had a chance for first trophy? And mind you, Croatia have good record on penalties.

[Daniel91]

Croatia loses the national league championship to Spain. It was a challenging game characterized by excellent performances from both parties; everyone was concentrating on the title and put in all they had on the field; nevertheless the game ended in extra time and penalty shootouts with brilliant performance fulltime. That was a completely another level, and we all know how nerve-racking taking penalties is. Those who scored were ecstatic, while those who failed to score were booed by the supporters. Spain won the current champions of the national league trophy.

The goalkeeper of the Croatian national team, every time he plays against Spain, turns into a calamity with legs and gloves. He didn't stop any penalties, they scored five goals against him in the Euro, it's that ancestral fear that some goalkeepers have when playing against certain opponents. Spain lost on penalties 2018, 2020 and 2022. Why they had to be so good and confident now, when Croatia had a chance for first trophy? And mind you, Croatia have good record on penalties.

Honestly, I also expected that Croatia would be more successful in penalty shootouts than Spain, especially considering that Croatia has been very successful in penalty shootouts lately and Spain has been very unsuccessful.
However, this time the players of Spain were very well prepared for penalties, both mentally and physically, and did not give Croatia's goalkeeper Livaković any chance.
Penalties are always a lottery in a way and you can't expect to win every time like that. Realistically, even in the regular part of the match, Spain was closer to victory and deservedly won.
It's a pity for Modric and maybe the last chance for him to win a trophy with the national team.

[KTChampions]

Yes, a penalty is not completely a lottery, since the skill of goalkeepers + analytical training of the headquarters is of great importance. But we all understand that there is definitely a part of the lottery (where everyone has a chance) - for example, Liechtenstein will never (well, or once every 100 games) beat Brazil in a serious match, but I'm sure that if you take the penalty shootout competition, they will win 20- 30% games minimum.

I wouldn't overestimate the analytical part because choosing a side to which you shoot or jump is still a lottery. If I am a penalty shooter and I know that I pick one side 8 out of 10 times over the other side, I could change my decision and use the other side and I wouldn't even have to be as accurate because the goalkeeper decides to stick with the 80% and haas no chance to defend the shot. There are some extraordinary penalty takers and it doesn't even matter whether the goalkeeper knows where the ball will hit. But there are also some weak penalty takers who really make it 50:50, trusting that the goalkeeper chooses a wrong side early. It is more about the shooter to make it a gamble than the goalkeeper. But I need to say that the Spanish penalties were really strong.

Yes, the priority is on the side of the penalty taker, because if the penalty is taken perfectly, then even the ideal goalkeeper will not be able to make a single save. But even if we discard goalkeepers and analysts, then when evaluating penalty shooters, we will see they have different levels of skill and different levels of psychological stability - which undoubtedly affects the result and cannot be attributed to chance (lottery).

[rdluffy]

Unfortunately, Croatia once again missed a great opportunity, but I think that to win against the biggest ones you still need to play at a much higher level. I honestly expected a much better game by both teams with a lot of goals, but this new Spain is not yet as good as the one from the last European Championship when it beat Croatia in extra time.

Penalty kicks are always a lottery, and this time luck was on Spain's side. Still, being in the finals for a small country of 3.8 million people is also a great success, especially if we take into account all the successes in just over 30 years of existence of the modern Croatian state.

I was so sad that I forgot to post it here.
I lost the bet because I thought Croatia would win, but not only the bet, I wanted to see Croatia champion to crown a great job they did during these last years
Despite not being the media's favorite team and not being as highlighted as other teams, Croatia played very well, took all the competitions they played seriously and the work of all players and coaching staff should be recognized
The results in the last few years are better than many favorite teams that have not been able to play well for years

The final match was not a great match as we expected, and when it went to penalties I confess that I was "almost sure" that Croatia would win
A curiosity, it had been 15 years since Croatia lost a penalty shootout, since Euro 2008.

All in all, the team is a great pride for Croatians. I hope they continue with this constant good results and now they have to qualify for Euro 2024

Note - I still managed to profit with the final phase of the championship because the odds of Croatia were very good, and if it continues to be like this, there are good profits to be made in the next championships 

[Juggy777]

Unfortunately, Croatia once again missed a great opportunity, but I think that to win against the biggest ones you still need to play at a much higher level. I honestly expected a much better game by both teams with a lot of goals, but this new Spain is not yet as good as the one from the last European Championship when it beat Croatia in extra time.

Penalty kicks are always a lottery, and this time luck was on Spain's side. Still, being in the finals for a small country of 3.8 million people is also a great success, especially if we take into account all the successes in just over 30 years of existence of the modern Croatian state.

I was so sad that I forgot to post it here.
I lost the bet because I thought Croatia would win, but not only the bet, I wanted to see Croatia champion to crown a great job they did during these last years
Despite not being the media's favorite team and not being as highlighted as other teams, Croatia played very well, took all the competitions they played seriously and the work of all players and coaching staff should be recognized
The results in the last few years are better than many favorite teams that have not been able to play well for years

The final match was not a great match as we expected, and when it went to penalties I confess that I was "almost sure" that Croatia would win
A curiosity, it had been 15 years since Croatia lost a penalty shootout, since Euro 2008.

All in all, the team is a great pride for Croatians. I hope they continue with this constant good results and now they have to qualify for Euro 2024

Note - I still managed to profit with the final phase of the championship because the odds of Croatia were very good, and if it continues to be like this, there are good profits to be made in the next championships 

@rdluffy I was upset too when I saw that Croatia lost because I felt that they would win it for Modric and give him a proper send off as he definitely deserved to win this trophy. Furthermore you’re right when it goes into penalties nothing really is guaranteed but yet I thought that Croatia would prevail because of their winning mentality but in the end destiny had other plan’s and Spain ended up winning the tournament.

[shogun47]

Yes, the priority is on the side of the penalty taker, because if the penalty is taken perfectly, then even the ideal goalkeeper will not be able to make a single save. But even if we discard goalkeepers and analysts, then when evaluating penalty shooters, we will see they have different levels of skill and different levels of psychological stability - which undoubtedly affects the result and cannot be attributed to chance (lottery).

Indeed and that is why those penalty takers who don't think as much are often the best. They have their plan for execution and don't change it halfway towards the ball again. Haaland and Ronaldo are brutal in their execution, they plan and then strike with maximum power. They can fail as everyone else, but they usually don't. There have been several examples in huge games like finals or semi finals when it was obvious that the taker was nervous and then failed. Strong penalties are mostly those when you can see that the taker doesn't care about the goalkeeper. They don't care where the goalkeeper will jump because they decide that the ball is going to hit the corner at the maximum. But a lot of penalty takers are making almost a comedy or entertainment show out of their shots and I hate it.

[Litzki1990]

Croatia have zero titles achieved in team history. This must be really sad for such a capable team. I know that they haven't been impressive in Euro tournaments for years. But they got very close to winning another solid title in the 2018 World Cup and this year's Nations League. Back on the day of the World Cup finale France upset them.

And now Spain have caused an upset to them after a really tight competition during the final match. Croatia have been really trying but they just don't have the skill to finish the job after getting too close to success. Of course playing finales is a really good job. But this shows at the same time that they can do better with a special move. It would have been lovely to see Modric happy with a title won before his retirement from national football.

Indeed, Croatia are quite unlucky although the skills shown by the players. This generation is a golden one and hopefully the next one will be capable of maintaining the achievement done right now and why not win something. We should said that Croatia profited also from the decline of many teams such as Germany and Italy. These teams will be better in the future for sure.

Croatia was unlucky to be able to get a trophy but for me, with Croatia being able to reach the final match, of course it was already a good achievement for them too. Even though, I also realize that at this moment Croatia also has a good squad, but that doesn't mean they can get a trophy easily. Because after all, Croatia almost won anyway, because Croatia only lost on penalties which basically Croatia can show and or Croatia still has a great performance and style of play too.

Croatia fans probably deserve a trophy from Croatia as they have been beaten in several finals. Croatia has no notable trophies so far. Croatia lost to Spain in the UEFA Nations League final thanks to just one missed penalty shot. Undoubtedly, Croatia is a strong team because without a strong team, they could not have played the semi-finals in a tournament like the World Cup. I expected maybe Croatia to win against Spain and Croatia was the favorite but in the end Croatia lost on penalties. Croatia might have a full squad this season but Croatia might not get a full squad next season as some of the senior players in the team might retire soon.

[Queentoshi]

Croatia fans probably deserve a trophy from Croatia as they have been beaten in several finals. Croatia has no notable trophies so far. Croatia lost to Spain in the UEFA Nations League final thanks to just one missed penalty shot. Undoubtedly, Croatia is a strong team because without a strong team, they could not have played the semi-finals in a tournament like the World Cup. I expected maybe Croatia to win against Spain and Croatia was the favorite but in the end Croatia lost on penalties. Croatia might have a full squad this season but Croatia might not get a full squad next season as some of the senior players in the team might retire soon.

Yes exactly for the Croatian team, time is not on their side and this Nations league may be their second to last chance before new and younger players take over the team completely. Just like Spain, Belgium and other countries known for football to be very good that have strong teams, at one point when the key players in the strong team leave and they struggle to find replacements, the team struggles during that time until they finally get. This is the kind of period that Croatia team will enter. They will seek players as good as the players in the team now. While finding these replacement, the team will struggle.

[Lucius]

~snip~

Life is made up of victories and defeats, and this defeat should still be viewed as one transient thing that will quickly become a matter of past. I have no doubt that Croatia will be on the Euro 2024 and that it will show good games there, but if it wants to make a good result again, it will need something more than luck.

The fact is that we are missing something that can push us to the end, and it is up to the coach and the expert staff to analyze the team and try to maybe introduce some new players into the game. Croatia must prepare for the fact that in the future they will play without some very important players, and it is still unknown whether Luka Modric will continue to play for the national team.

[Daniel91]

~snip~

Life is made up of victories and defeats, and this defeat should still be viewed as one transient thing that will quickly become a matter of past. I have no doubt that Croatia will be on the Euro 2024 and that it will show good games there, but if it wants to make a good result again, it will need something more than luck.

The fact is that we are missing something that can push us to the end, and it is up to the coach and the expert staff to analyze the team and try to maybe introduce some new players into the game. Croatia must prepare for the fact that in the future they will play without some very important players, and it is still unknown whether Luka Modric will continue to play for the national team.

I just read the news that Modrić rejected a very rich offer from Saudi Arabia and a salary of several hundred million dollars, and that instead he decided to play another year at Real, and he wants to play for the national team at the EURO and try to win the first historic trophy with the national team.
If this news is confirmed, it will only be an additional argument of what kind of man and character he is.
As for the national team, what we miss the most, since Mandzukic left in 2018, is a real and deadly striker.
We have a great defense and the team is very difficult to concede goals. The midfield with Modric, Brozovic and Kovacic is one of the best in the world, but what good is a great game in defense and midfield when you don't have strikers who will regularly score goals?
In any case, Croatia will be a very difficult and unpleasant opponent for everyone at the EURO.

[rendravolt]

Croatia fans probably deserve a trophy from Croatia as they have been beaten in several finals. Croatia has no notable trophies so far. Croatia lost to Spain in the UEFA Nations League final thanks to just one missed penalty shot. Undoubtedly, Croatia is a strong team because without a strong team, they could not have played the semi-finals in a tournament like the World Cup. I expected maybe Croatia to win against Spain and Croatia was the favorite but in the end Croatia lost on penalties. Croatia might have a full squad this season but Croatia might not get a full squad next season as some of the senior players in the team might retire soon.

Yes exactly for the Croatian team, time is not on their side and this Nations league may be their second to last chance before new and younger players take over the team completely. Just like Spain, Belgium and other countries known for football to be very good that have strong teams, at one point when the key players in the strong team leave and they struggle to find replacements, the team struggles during that time until they finally get. This is the kind of period that Croatia team will enter. They will seek players as good as the players in the team now. While finding these replacement, the team will struggle.

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

[KTChampions]

Yes, the priority is on the side of the penalty taker, because if the penalty is taken perfectly, then even the ideal goalkeeper will not be able to make a single save. But even if we discard goalkeepers and analysts, then when evaluating penalty shooters, we will see they have different levels of skill and different levels of psychological stability - which undoubtedly affects the result and cannot be attributed to chance (lottery).

Indeed and that is why those penalty takers who don't think as much are often the best. They have their plan for execution and don't change it halfway towards the ball again. Haaland and Ronaldo are brutal in their execution, they plan and then strike with maximum power. They can fail as everyone else, but they usually don't. There have been several examples in huge games like finals or semi finals when it was obvious that the taker was nervous and then failed. Strong penalties are mostly those when you can see that the taker doesn't care about the goalkeeper. They don't care where the goalkeeper will jump because they decide that the ball is going to hit the corner at the maximum. But a lot of penalty takers are making almost a comedy or entertainment show out of their shots and I hate it.

This is Lewangdowski  His execution of the penalty in my opinion is very miserable. And in general it looks like unfair - I think some kind of change should be introduced in the rules so that we do not see these caprine twitches:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1wcWRB_jGv8

The toughest penalty taker in my memory was Chilavert. Everyone knew that he would most likely hit in the center, but he had such a strong shot that it was impossible to reflect it.

[Minor Miner]

I don't think that Croatia lost was the fault of the players. It was their fate that they will be defeated by Spain because Croatia played brilliantly and I didn't expect such performance from them. Penalty is a game of luck and shouldn't be used to judge a team when they lost in PK. This was why I said it was their fate. On the other hand Spain was lucky on that day as the match favored them in the Penalty stage. Spain wouldn't stop surprising the world with the quality football from world class players. Destiny can't be changed but delayed,those players that will resign in Croatia national team was not destined to win the trophy.

Croatia loses the national league championship to Spain. It was a challenging game characterized by excellent performances from both parties; everyone was concentrating on the title and put in all they had on the field; nevertheless the game ended in extra time and penalty shootouts with brilliant performance fulltime. That was a completely another level, and we all know how nerve-racking taking penalties is. Those who scored were ecstatic, while those who failed to score were booed by the supporters. Spain won the current champions of the national league trophy.

Croatia had a strong squad. So everyone expected Croatia to win. But I don't like Croatia's performance in the final. Spain's players were more diligent than Croatia's players. And very well played. Spain deserved to win this match. Spain had a very organized performance. However, despite many attacks, neither team could score in 120 minutes. The defense of both teams was very strong. But the match was undoubtedly very competitive. We got an opportunity to enjoy an exciting match.

[shogun47]

This is Lewangdowski  His execution of the penalty in my opinion is very miserable. And in general it looks like unfair - I think some kind of change should be introduced in the rules so that we do not see these caprine twitches:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1wcWRB_jGv8

The toughest penalty taker in my memory was Chilavert. Everyone knew that he would most likely hit in the center, but he had such a strong shot that it was impossible to reflect it.

Haha thanks for sharing the link and yes, Lewandowski is one of those guys who suck when executing penalties. It is dumb looking and I would freak out as a coach when he doesn't hit in a very important game. I really prefer those who target whatever they target and then go with a hard shot. If the goalkeeper defends it, that's fine, but jumping around like a deer before shooting isn't fun to watch. But some are even worse looking than Lewandowski when they take penalties.

[BitcoinAccepted]

Spain also has a nice class at the moment. They have had bad years since the last time they became European and World champions. 2008-2010-2012, all became champions. They didn't show much after that. So in that respect it is nice for Spain to win another title. Croatia was close, but again no gold won. It must be frustrating somehow if you've been close to it a few times. But many players are not happy at all playing this Nations League tournament.

[hahay]

This is Lewangdowski  His execution of the penalty in my opinion is very miserable. And in general it looks like unfair - I think some kind of change should be introduced in the rules so that we do not see these caprine twitches:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1wcWRB_jGv8

The toughest penalty taker in my memory was Chilavert. Everyone knew that he would most likely hit in the center, but he had such a strong shot that it was impossible to reflect it.

Haha thanks for sharing the link and yes, Lewandowski is one of those guys who suck when executing penalties. It is dumb looking and I would freak out as a coach when he doesn't hit in a very important game. I really prefer those who target whatever they target and then go with a hard shot. If the goalkeeper defends it, that's fine, but jumping around like a deer before shooting isn't fun to watch. But some are even worse looking than Lewandowski when they take penalties.

It seems that it doesn't really matter how and in what way they take the penalty kick, because what matters is whether they score a penalty kick or miss it. Because, even though they do it in a standard way or don't have strange movements before kicking, but if they fail in the end the player is said to be bad because he failed to score a goal from the penalty spot. So yes, I personally don't really mind their style because after all, in the video the result is successful and not failed.

[KTChampions]

It seems that it doesn't really matter how and in what way they take the penalty kick, because what matters is whether they score a penalty kick or miss it. Because, even though they do it in a standard way or don't have strange movements before kicking, but if they fail in the end the player is said to be bad because he failed to score a goal from the penalty spot. So yes, I personally don't really mind their style because after all, in the video the result is successful and not failed.

Lewandowski has a decent amount of failed penalty attempts, but efficiency isn't the issue. The fact is that it looks like cheating - for some reason, the goalkeeper does not have the right to take a single step forward before hitting and is generally limited in rights as much as possible, and the attacker can jump as much as he wants, stop even after he has run up. It would be good to somehow equalize their rights - either forbid the attacker to slow down, or allow the goalkeeper to run out from the goal ribbon (reducing the angle of shott and significantly increasing their chances) - in this case, the attacker would strike at the highest possible speed.

[shogun47]

It seems that it doesn't really matter how and in what way they take the penalty kick, because what matters is whether they score a penalty kick or miss it. Because, even though they do it in a standard way or don't have strange movements before kicking, but if they fail in the end the player is said to be bad because he failed to score a goal from the penalty spot. So yes, I personally don't really mind their style because after all, in the video the result is successful and not failed.

Lewandowski has a decent amount of failed penalty attempts, but efficiency isn't the issue. The fact is that it looks like cheating - for some reason, the goalkeeper does not have the right to take a single step forward before hitting and is generally limited in rights as much as possible, and the attacker can jump as much as he wants, stop even after he has run up. It would be good to somehow equalize their rights - either forbid the attacker to slow down, or allow the goalkeeper to run out from the goal ribbon (reducing the angle of shott and significantly increasing their chances) - in this case, the attacker would strike at the highest possible speed.

This is a question of taste of course and I agree that efficiency counts in the first place, but I still don't like it when they behave like clowns. It almost looks disrespectful sometimes to the opponent when they are jumping like some weird animal and dancing some weird voodoo moves when taking a penalty kick. I sometimes thought that perhaps they are forced to use these signature moves from video game companies because then they can build some sequences into their games that keeps the audience and users more excited...

As for the advantage, that is of course the second issue. There is no red line anymore in terms of slowing down and accelerating before the penalty was shot and that is indeed kind of unfair. But when you try to draw a line in the rules, how would that be done? What pace is allowed? Who says whether there was an obvious delay or slowdown or not? It's already complicated enough with these absolutely outrageous handballs that are sometimes penalized...

[rdluffy]

Life is made up of victories and defeats, and this defeat should still be viewed as one transient thing that will quickly become a matter of past. I have no doubt that Croatia will be on the Euro 2024 and that it will show good games there, but if it wants to make a good result again, it will need something more than luck.

That is the charm of soccer. Many other excellent teams during history ended up not winning titles in a period of time.
But surely it is a matter of time.

The fact is that we are missing something that can push us to the end, and it is up to the coach and the expert staff to analyze the team and try to maybe introduce some new players into the game. Croatia must prepare for the fact that in the future they will play without some very important players, and it is still unknown whether Luka Modric will continue to play for the national team.

If I have to bet, I bet Modric will still want to keep playing until Euro 2024, because he still has his contract with Real Madrid and has everything to continue at a high level
But even without Modric, I think Croatia already has enough experience with the players that will continue and will be able to start a "new phase" with a good and competitive team, both for Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup.

I just read the news that Modrić rejected a very rich offer from Saudi Arabia and a salary of several hundred million dollars, and that instead he decided to play another year at Real, and he wants to play for the national team at the EURO and try to win the first historic trophy with the national team.

This is good for everyone but the Saudi Arabians hehe.
Keep playing in La Liga and the Champions League is extremely important for a player who wants to keep his level of soccer as high as possible.

As for the national team, what we miss the most, since Mandzukic left in 2018, is a real and deadly striker.

You reminded me of Davor Šuker, and it may be that what was really missing was a striker at that level, I can't say for sure
Maybe a reference in the area like Haaland or Harry Kane would help a lot, but it is very difficult to know if it would be enough or not, after all none of these players, even scoring many goals managed to take the national team very far.

[tusandii]

-snip-

-snip-

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

[rendravolt]

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

Even though in the end Croatia still couldn't win the international competition trophy but being able to move on to the final round is certainly a very good achievement. Croatia will continue to shine in the next few years and when they are more mature I think they will win the title for the first time. Actually I wasn't surprised by what Croatia showed in the final match of the nation's league because the depth of the squad is very even and the possibility of conceding is very small even though Spain has a squad depth that is slightly above Croatia. However, Croatia managed to perform consistently even during extra time, but it was quite painful to lose on penalties, maybe the only thing they didn't want.

[Sakanwa]

 I wasn't opportuned to follow up all the activities in the just concluded UEFA Nations league but I watched some few games and I think the Croatian team did very well and played fantastic football with the likes of modric leading the team to victory against other nations and qualifying I final stages of the tournament tournament.
 Though they couldn't lift the cup and were held to a draw against Spain which later lead to a penalty shoot out loosing 4 - 5 to the Spanish nation after a fine safe from unai Simon the Spanish goalkeeper the Croatian team did great and I was impressed with their performance, it would had been their first international trophy anyways congratulations to Spain for lifting the 2022/2023 UEFA Nations League Trophy.

[Blitzboy]

It seems that it doesn't really matter how and in what way they take the penalty kick, because what matters is whether they score a penalty kick or miss it. Because, even though they do it in a standard way or don't have strange movements before kicking, but if they fail in the end the player is said to be bad because he failed to score a goal from the penalty spot. So yes, I personally don't really mind their style because after all, in the video the result is successful and not failed.

Lewandowski has a decent amount of failed penalty attempts, but efficiency isn't the issue. The fact is that it looks like cheating - for some reason, the goalkeeper does not have the right to take a single step forward before hitting and is generally limited in rights as much as possible, and the attacker can jump as much as he wants, stop even after he has run up. It would be good to somehow equalize their rights - either forbid the attacker to slow down, or allow the goalkeeper to run out from the goal ribbon (reducing the angle of shott and significantly increasing their chances) - in this case, the attacker would strike at the highest possible speed.

I get why penalty masters like Lewandowski, with their elaborate techniques, might rub you the wrong way. The jumping jacks and freeze-frames smack of video game antics, right?

Meanwhile, goalies are hemmed in by strict rules, curtailing their action. The imbalance is stark. However, delineating 'usual speed' or 'excessive pause' in the run-up can be controversial, reminiscent of handball disputes. Football authorities need to confront these matters for the spirit of fair play.

[fzkto]

Spain also has a nice class at the moment. They have had bad years since the last time they became European and World champions. 2008-2010-2012, all became champions. They didn't show much after that. So in that respect it is nice for Spain to win another title. Croatia was close, but again no gold won. It must be frustrating somehow if you've been close to it a few times. But many players are not happy at all playing this Nations League tournament.

Yes, probably many national teams do not consider this tournament as important as the World Cup or the European Cup. The UEFA Nations League was created to replace the friendly matches which were never taken seriously. That's probably why sensations like Luxembourg's win against Bosnia can happen. But all the same, I believe that this cup format motivates the countries to play good football.

[KTChampions]

Lewandowski has a decent amount of failed penalty attempts, but efficiency isn't the issue. The fact is that it looks like cheating - for some reason, the goalkeeper does not have the right to take a single step forward before hitting and is generally limited in rights as much as possible, and the attacker can jump as much as he wants, stop even after he has run up. It would be good to somehow equalize their rights - either forbid the attacker to slow down, or allow the goalkeeper to run out from the goal ribbon (reducing the angle of shott and significantly increasing their chances) - in this case, the attacker would strike at the highest possible speed.

This is a question of taste of course and I agree that efficiency counts in the first place, but I still don't like it when they behave like clowns. It almost looks disrespectful sometimes to the opponent when they are jumping like some weird animal and dancing some weird voodoo moves when taking a penalty kick. I sometimes thought that perhaps they are forced to use these signature moves from video game companies because then they can build some sequences into their games that keeps the audience and users more excited...

As for the advantage, that is of course the second issue. There is no red line anymore in terms of slowing down and accelerating before the penalty was shot and that is indeed kind of unfair. But when you try to draw a line in the rules, how would that be done? What pace is allowed? Who says whether there was an obvious delay or slowdown or not? It's already complicated enough with these absolutely outrageous handballs that are sometimes penalized...

It is difficult for me to talk about this because, technically, slowing down is prohibited even now. The player who takes the penalty must not slow down, but he can perform feints (previously feints were allowed even after the run-up - that is, he could run up, stop and feint seeing where the goalkeeper fell). Players take advantage of this opportunity and what they do is actually slow down (although it's called feinting). Maybe we should just completely ban feints when taking a penalty? That is, the player must strictly not slow down to strike. It would remove all questions.

[tusandii]

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

Even though in the end Croatia still couldn't win the international competition trophy but being able to move on to the final round is certainly a very good achievement. Croatia will continue to shine in the next few years and when they are more mature I think they will win the title for the first time. Actually I wasn't surprised by what Croatia showed in the final match of the nation's league because the depth of the squad is very even and the possibility of conceding is very small even though Spain has a squad depth that is slightly above Croatia. However, Croatia managed to perform consistently even during extra time, but it was quite painful to lose on penalties, maybe the only thing they didn't want.

Yes, it has become a matter of pride for Croatia because it finished runners-up in this year's match when it had to accept defeat against Spain in a penalty shootout.
But in the penalty shoot-out, Croatia is only 2 points away from winning and this proves that Croatian players are stable enough and can be relied on.
If the way they play can continue to be improved, it is possible that next season they can bring home the championship trophy.

After all they can still have a chance at the Euro Cup which is currently still in the qualifying round.

[Sim_card]

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

Even though in the end Croatia still couldn't win the international competition trophy but being able to move on to the final round is certainly a very good achievement. Croatia will continue to shine in the next few years and when they are more mature I think they will win the title for the first time. Actually I wasn't surprised by what Croatia showed in the final match of the nation's league because the depth of the squad is very even and the possibility of conceding is very small even though Spain has a squad depth that is slightly above Croatia. However, Croatia managed to perform consistently even during extra time, but it was quite painful to lose on penalties, maybe the only thing they didn't want.

Yes, it has become a matter of pride for Croatia because it finished runners-up in this year's match when it had to accept defeat against Spain in a penalty shootout.
But in the penalty shoot-out, Croatia is only 2 points away from winning and this proves that Croatian players are stable enough and can be relied on.
If the way they play can continue to be improved, it is possible that next season they can bring home the championship trophy.

After all they can still have a chance at the Euro Cup which is currently still in the qualifying round.

Croatia still have hope to win this cup next year because from the way they played Spain in the finals,if it wasn't that they couldn't score any goal that led to penalty shoot out,I think that Croatia would have won the game. Spain was well organized and prepared for whatever outcome the match will led to,this was the reason why Spain concentrated on their penalties and won the game.  Croatia in the past was better in Penalty shoot out but from my own understanding,I see that penalty is just like gambling whereby the probability of winning is 50-50. They can perform brilliantly in the ongoing Euro qualifier to make up their lost in the finals against Spain.

[Daniel91]

-snip-

-snip-

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

Croatia has achieved great results in recent years, and today is a difficult opponent for any team in the world. Croatia no longer has to prove itself to anyone because it has been playing at the top level for 5 years, regularly winning medals at world competitions (2 world cups and UEFA Nations League) and regularly defeating the best national teams in the world such as Argentina, England, France, Brazil and the Netherlands.
Why are you surprised that Croatia lasted until the penalty shootout without conceding a goal? Well, Croatia regularly defeats all its opponents in such a way and very rarely loses in extra time and penalties.
Croatia did not manage to win on penalties this time, but I think the next time will be different 

[tusandii]

-snip-

-snip-

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

Croatia has achieved great results in recent years, and today is a difficult opponent for any team in the world. Croatia no longer has to prove itself to anyone because it has been playing at the top level for 5 years, regularly winning medals at world competitions (2 world cups and UEFA Nations League) and regularly defeating the best national teams in the world such as Argentina, England, France, Brazil and the Netherlands.
Why are you surprised that Croatia lasted until the penalty shootout without conceding a goal? Well, Croatia regularly defeats all its opponents in such a way and very rarely loses in extra time and penalties.
Croatia did not manage to win on penalties this time, but I think the next time will be different 

Yes, and that is an extraordinary achievement where teams from other countries cannot get it.
Croatia always surprises the unimaginable and they often make their opponents feel anxious when on the counter attack.
It's true that Croatia have got it all and their job is to prepare for the Euro Cup and also the upcoming World Cup.

I was surprised because usually they defend by conceding goals but in this match not a single goal could penetrate their net.
I watched Croatia's matches several times which ended in penalties and it was very impressive.

[Daniel91]

-snip-

-snip-

Croatia has been endless in recent years and it has proven that they are very consistent compared to other strong countries in reaching the finals of the nation's league. However, even though there is a lot of talent available now, it will not last long and indeed Croatia must find the next successor so they can win trophies in the next competition. On the other hand, teams like Spain and Belgium are also in the current regeneration stage. It's just that Spain was able to top them first because it had a fairly long process since 2010 and if you look at the depth of the current Spanish squad it will certainly be a threat to other European teams in the nation's league.

Yes, Croatia in recent years has always provided good development and has some reliable players in it, but that doesn't guarantee they can compete with other big countries.
As you have said that Croatia is still far behind Spain and if in the future Croatia does not make some improvements or improve playing performance then I believe it will be difficult for them to be close to the championship trophy.

But I was amazed by Croatia's game because they were able to survive Full-time without conceding any goals until the match ended in a penalty shootout.

Croatia has achieved great results in recent years, and today is a difficult opponent for any team in the world. Croatia no longer has to prove itself to anyone because it has been playing at the top level for 5 years, regularly winning medals at world competitions (2 world cups and UEFA Nations League) and regularly defeating the best national teams in the world such as Argentina, England, France, Brazil and the Netherlands.
Why are you surprised that Croatia lasted until the penalty shootout without conceding a goal? Well, Croatia regularly defeats all its opponents in such a way and very rarely loses in extra time and penalties.
Croatia did not manage to win on penalties this time, but I think the next time will be different 

Yes, and that is an extraordinary achievement where teams from other countries cannot get it.
Croatia always surprises the unimaginable and they often make their opponents feel anxious when on the counter attack.
It's true that Croatia have got it all and their job is to prepare for the Euro Cup and also the upcoming World Cup.

I was surprised because usually they defend by conceding goals but in this match not a single goal could penetrate their net.
I watched Croatia's matches several times which ended in penalties and it was very impressive.

In fact, Croatia used to have a better attack than defense, just think of Šuker or Mandžukić, but after the retirement of Mandžukić, Croatia no longer has a killer striker, but that's why today they have a better defense than in previous major competitions.
The best Croatian defensive footballer, Guardiol has just signed a contract with Manchester City and moved to the best club in the world for 100 million euros, thus becoming the most expensive defensive footballer in the world.
Stanisic plays for Bayern, Barisic for Rangers, Sosa for Stuttgart, Juranovic for Union Berlin etc.
We have never had a better defense in history and we concede very few goals. Unfortunately, we lack a top striker and it is difficult for us to score goals as a team, which could be seen in this final against Spain.

[Bananington]

I am of the opinion that since the Nation's League ended some days ago, this board should be closed because almost all possible discussions about the Nation's league must have been discussed already.

@OP please consider closing this thread.

[tusandii]

-snip-

-snip-

In fact, Croatia used to have a better attack than defense, just think of Šuker or Mandžukić, but after the retirement of Mandžukić, Croatia no longer has a killer striker, but that's why today they have a better defense than in previous major competitions.
The best Croatian defensive footballer, Guardiol has just signed a contract with Manchester City and moved to the best club in the world for 100 million euros, thus becoming the most expensive defensive footballer in the world.
Stanisic plays for Bayern, Barisic for Rangers, Sosa for Stuttgart, Juranovic for Union Berlin etc.
We have never had a better defense in history and we concede very few goals. Unfortunately, we lack a top striker and it is difficult for us to score goals as a team, which could be seen in this final against Spain.

It was then and it is much different now where Croatia's defense is much better than their attacking positions.
Maybe this will be the task of the Croatian management and coach to be able to make their team have a strong defensive line and sharper attack line.
Several players have left Croatia due to retirement and so far the Croatian attack line is still relatively empty because the person occupying that position is currently less significant.
I admit that Croatia has talented players, just not for the front line.