Croatia defeated the Netherlands in overtime and qualified for the Nations League final!

In a thrilling game of twists and turns, with goals scored seconds before the final whistle and the winner decided in overtime, the Croatian prevailed 4-2 of the hostess Netherlandscelebrating qualifying for the Nations League final!

With the defender of AEK, Domagoi Vida, to start and play the whole game, making his 101st international cap, Croatia found themselves behind in the 34th minute, turned the tables in the second half, equalized at 90’+6′, but showed character in extra time, scoring two more times for the final 4-2! Thus, the golden generation of Croatian football qualified for another big final, confirming their great quality again!

The match

The match started with Croatia coming in stronger and more willing to create offensively. In the 15th minute, Perisic broke into the Dutch penalty area but was cut down by Dumfries, while in the 18th minute the home side created their first good spell, with Simmons controlling beautifully and finishing from a wide angle over Livakovic .

In the 24th minute, Modric sent the ball into the net, but the phase had been stopped much earlier due to a foul by Pasalic who made a scissor… on the head of Ake, while in the 31st minute, a clever low-hanging shot by Kramaric went over the posts of Bylow. The Netherlands, after being warned by Kupmeiners’ strong but misdirected shot on the counterattack, in the 34th minute created their best phase, with consecutive passes that ended up with Mullen, who sent the ball into the side net with a diagonal shot for 1-0! The balanced first half ended with the hosts “freezing” the tempo and protecting their lead.

The second half started with Croatia coming in…furiously, pushing for an equalizer and closing the “Oranje” in their frames. In the 49th minute, Kramaric cut in from the left and volleyed just wide of the left post, while in the 53rd minute, Hakpo lost the ball to Modric and then brought him down in the area, with the Romanian referee awarding a penalty. Kramaric slotted into the middle of the goal to score his 24th international goal to level the score at 1-1.

Hakpo collected Mullen’s deep ball but shot weakly at the keeper in the 69th minute, but second-half senior Hrvatska had more time in possession and increased the pressure. And in the 73rd minute, he was rewarded, with Ivanusecs entering the area from the left and finding Pasalic with a cross, who, with a pass in the movement from the heart of the opposing defense, brought the upset!

In the final minutes, the Dutch raised their performance in search of an equaliser, suffocating the Croatian defense from the 85th minute onwards. In 90’+1′, Hakpo found the ball laid out in front of him, in a very advantageous position, but he missed the shot, while in 93′, Lang committed a foul and Ake caught the rebound, but Livakovic blocked again. Finally, the Netherlands equalized in the closing seconds of the match, with Lang, who came on as a substitute in the 85th minute, taking advantage of the weakness of the Croatian defense to clear in stoppage time, making it 2-2 and sending the match to extra time!

As the action restarted, Dalic came on as a substitute for Petkovic and he soon vindicated, giving Croatia the lead again in the 98th minute when he received the ball perfectly by rolling his body and creating space, which he gave the ability to beat Bailow with a long shot to make it 3-2!

In the 102nd minute, Croatia came within a whisker of a fourth goal when Stanisic curled in a cross and De Jong headed the ball inches wide of his own goal. In the 104th minute, consecutive crosses from Brozovic and Pasalic did not find their targets for a while, while in the 105th minute, Ake caught Petkovic before he went one-on-one with Bylow.

In the 110th minute, the Netherlands equalized, but Livakovic saved Bergfein’s diagonal shot and Lang, who took the… rebound, shot wide. The Croatians sealed their big win in the 116th minute when Malasia gave Petkovic a penalty and Modric executed perfectly to make it 4-2 on his 165th international appearance!

Team compositions:



Netherlands (Ronald Koeman): Bailow, Dumfries (85′ Lang), Hertruida, Van Dijk, Ake (106′ Malaysia), Wieffer (75′ Wijnaldum), Kupminers, De Jong, Mullen (75′ Bergwein), Hakpo (106′ De Roon), Simmons ( 64′ Weghorst)

Croatia (Zlatko Dalic): Livakovic, Juranovic (80′ Stanisic), Sutalo (91′ Petkovic), Vida, Perisic, Modric (119′ Barisic) Brozovic, Kovacic (85′ Mager), Pasalic, Kramaric (90′ Erlich), Ivanuset (80′ Vlasic)

The Live of sport-fm.gr