Hero Simon, gave Spain the first Nations League in its history!

Picked that up too! The title that was missing from her portfolio (after three Euros and a World Cup) was won by Spainwhich – after 120′ without a score – prevailed at penalty kick (5-4) on her Croatia in his grand final Nations League 2023 held in ‘De Kuip’, Netherlands. Thus, he succeeded to the throne of Portugal and France, while for her part, Hrvatska found herself once again at the “source” without… drinking water.

Great protagonist for “Furia Roja” o Unai Simonwho in the “Russian roulette” put a “stop” on their defenses Major and Petkovicby Carvajal to score with execution (12th in the process) a la… Panenka the winning goal. Missed penalty (crossbar) by Laporte as well, but without costing his team.

And all this after a 120 minutes that will be quickly forgotten, with Croatia being more threatening in the first half of normal time and since then Spain taking on the main action.

At the same time, Jesus Navas became the first player in history to win the World Cup, Euro and Nations League.

On the bench for Croatia remained o Domagoi Vida. It is recalled that its central defender AEK he was a key player in the semi-final against the Netherlands (he played the entire game, another one that Croatia went to extra time).

The match:

Fairly even play in the first few minutes, with Spain taking on the early attacks, but Croatia quickly starting to hold the ball.

Tactics prevailed. After all, it had to arrive 12th minute to mark the first good moment, with his drift shot Gavi from the boundary of the area to pass by the root of the right beam.

The Croatians gave their own distinct pulse in the stands, while their team tried to get the ball into the opposition area with full-backs.

Little by little the whole of it Zlatko Dalic began to threaten and did so consistently until the final half.

Initially, typically the home team had two big chances in the 24′with Spain’s two central defenders, Laporte and Le Normand, interfering catalytically in the efforts of Kramaric and Pasalic, respectively. Especially, in the first case, where the Hoffenheim striker found himself in a tête-à-tête position with Simon, with his opponent taking the… bite out of his mouth. Afterwards, the goalkeeper of “Furia Roja” blocked his headers Perisic (31′ and 39′), who – again playing as a left half-back – often made the move at the back of the defense.

Spain shouted ‘present’ again through a fine final effort at 42′when Morata’s curling header went well over the crossbar.

The two teams entered the second half with no score and no changes. Low tempo again, with him Juranovic to threaten in the 51st minute with a diagonal shot and Asensio to “answer” in the 57th minute after a nice display by his team.

The changes further contributed to the drop in pace. Sure, Spain continued to threaten in the second half. As happened with Ruith (76′ and 77′) and Asensio (77′), but mostly in 84′at the most important moment in the normal duration of the match: The new entrant Fati took the shot through a group of players in the area, with Perisic to clear before the ball crosses the line. And after his diagonal shot also went out Asensio in the 90′, the two teams were taken to the extra half hour.

Spain again the offensive initiatives at the beginning of extra time. Of course, the first big moment in the first part belonged to the Croatians. Specifically, at 100′Kovasic took out with a nice slash in a four-on-four position Majorwho however received the “stop” in the first year from Nachos and in a second by Alba. To follow a “hot” four minutes, with their shots Asensio and Olmo at 104′ and Brozovich to “respond” to 105’+2′.

Nothing changed in the second half of extra time after his shot Joselu in the 107th minute, from an advantageous position, he went out, while his Kovasic in the 119′ he countered.

Thus, the two teams were led to the penalty shootout. After all, of course there was one moment of tensionwhich of course was detonated.

In the penalty shootout, Simon repelled the executions of Major and Petkovicby Laporte on the part of Spain to send the ball to the crossbar.

The penalty shootout procedure:

1. Vlasic’s goal 1-0

2. Joselu’s goal 1-1

3. Brozovic’s goal 2-1

4. Rodri’s goal 2-2

5. Modric’s goal 3-2

6. Merino’s goal 3-3

7. Simon’s save in Meyer’s execution

8. Merino’s goal 3-3

9. Perisic’s goal 4-4

10. Laporte’s execution on the crossbar

11. Simon’s save in Petkovic’s execution

12. Carvajal’s goal 4-5

PARO EL PENALTI UNAI SIMOOOON pic.twitter.com/xZseJEID6E

— Real Madrid Unido™ (@RMadridUniido) June 18, 2023

SEGUNDO PENALTI QUE PARO UNAI SIMON pic.twitter.com/GpvuuLF97y

— Real Madrid Unido™ (@RMadridUniido) June 18, 2023

Watch the match live here.

The compositions of the two teams:

Croatia (Zlatko Dalic): Livakovic – Juranovic (112′ Stanisic), Sutalo, Erlic, Perisic – Modric, Brozovic, Kovasic – Pasalic (62′ Petkovic), Kramaric (90′ Majer), Ivanusec.

Spain (Luis de la Fuente): Simon – Navas (97′ Carvajal), Le Norman (78′ Nacho), Laporte, Alba – Rodri, Ruith (Merino) – Asensio, Gavi (87′ Olmo), Pino (66′ Fati) – Morata (66′ Joselu) .