In the final of the Nations League, the wait for a goal was in vain, after a penalty shootout Spain rejoices! The Croats were saved by Simon

The third final of the Nations League did not bring any goal parade again. Fans waited in vain for a goal during the match, and with the score 0:0 it came down to a penalty shootout, in which the Spanish were ultimately more successful. The hero was Unai Simon, who converted two penalty attempts.

The Croatians advanced to the final of the Nations League against the Dutch, against whom they played a fantastic game, scoring six goals. Croatia won 4:2 after extra time. The Spaniards met the Italians in the semi-finals, beating them narrowly 2-1.

The first half of the final match did not produce a goal for the third time in a row

The Croatians combined more with the ball in the beginning, but it was the Spaniards who threatened first. In the twelfth minute, Gavi shot from outside the box, but just missed the goal and thus did not bring any goal joy.

For the most part, both sides tried to attack down the lines and sent high centres into the box. The defences remained concentrated. It was not until shortly after the half hour mark that Ivan Perisic had a dangerous header that went right down the bar, but the goalkeeper made a great save.

The first half didn’t bring any more chances. Neither team wanted to go anywhere, so it was 0:0. For the third time in a row, the Nations League final did not produce a goal in the first half.

In the second half, too, there was a futile wait for a goal

Croatia waited for nothing in the second half. After a few minutes, Ivan Perisic raced down the flank, and Josip Juranovic was on the end line. However, his hard shot went just past the bar.

On the other side, Rodri, who showed us, for example, in the Champions League final, how he can shoot. This time, however, he didn’t show his skill as his shot went over the crossbar.

As the game drew to a close, the nervousness grew. Fabian Ruiz wanted to take advantage of the Croatian goalkeeper’s poor run. But he couldn’t hit the open net. No goalscorer scored during the 90 minutes, so there had to be extra time.

A tired extra time came down to penalties where Simon

The big scoring opportunity came towards the end of the first half of extra time. Lovro Majer ran at the goalkeeper alone from the middle of the pitch, but was cut off from the joy of scoring by a fantastic and above all clean slide by Nacho.

The Croatian team’s final push didn’t do anything to the score either. Under 120 minutes played, no goal fell, and so a penalty shootout followed.

In the first three rounds of penalties each of the shooters succeeded. Vlašić, Brozović and Modric were successful for the Croats, while Joselu, Rodri and Merino were successful for the Spanish. In the fourth series, Majer took the penalty, but the goalkeeper saved it.

Asensio converted it and Spain took the lead. Perisic was able to equalise with a successful kick, but Laporte could have decided the final. However, his hard shot was stopped by the crossbar. After five straight penalties, the score was 4-4.

Petkovic was the next Croatian to dare to play. However, his shot was parried by Unai Simon and gave the Spaniards the advantage for the second time. Dani Carvajal took advantage, waiting for the goalkeeper to jump and then sending the ball under the crossbar with a curve.

Spain thus rejoiced in their Nations League triumph, beating Croatia after a penalty shootout. Unai Simon was the hero for the Spaniards as he managed to grab two penalty corners.

Source: FIFA