CRO 0(4)-0(5) ESP HIGHLIGHTS, UEFA Nations League final: Spain wins 5-4 on penalties

CARVAJAL DOES IT!!!! SPAIN WIN THE UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE TITLE. ITS SPAIN 5-4 CROATIA

Simon saves yet again. Petkovic’s shot this time. CRO 4-4 ESP

Laporte hits the crossbar!!! CRO 4-4 ESP

Perisic scores but something special is needed from Livakovic. CRO 4-4 ESP

Asensio takes Spain to the brink of win. CRO 3-4 ESP

Simon saves Majer’s shot. CRO 3-3 ESP

Merino scores as well. CRO 3-3 ESP

Modric makes no mistake. CRO 3-2 ESP

Rodri with another good penalty to restore parity. CRO 2-2 ESP

Brozovic scores a comfortable one. CRO 2-1 ESP

Joselu slots it to the top left corner. CRO 1-1 ESP

VLASIC SCORES. CRO 1-0 ESP

Another corner for Croatia. Swung inside the penalty area from Modric, superb glove work from Simon as he collects the ball with ease. AND THAT’S THE END OF EXTRA TIME AS WELL. PENALTIES TO DECIDE THE WINNER!

Corner this time for Croatia as Kovacic’s shot takes a deflection. The cross comes in from Majer, nothing happens

Asensio’s cross is forced out for yet another Spain corner. Fati gives a short one for Carvajal but it’s the usual. Nothing substantial happens

Rodri tries an ambitious long ranger but it takes a deflection off a defender and goes away for a corner. Fati takes it, sends a searching cross but falls in no mans land

OUT: Juranovic IN: Stanisic

Olmo’s powerful shot is deflected outside for a Spain corner. They yet against choose to go short and the result is same as they give away possession cheaply

Great through ball from Jordi Alba from the edge of the box towards Asensio. But the latter’s first touch is heavier than required

Joselu starts the proceedings

It’s still 0-0 in Rotterdam!

Two added minutes

Nacho is moved to right-back as he continues to struggle from the aftermath of that tackle. Spain out of options as Fuente has exhausted all of his substitutions

WHAT A DEFENDING FROM NACHO! Kovacic moved like a bullet as he danced past three defenders before finding Majer inside the box but Nacho’s perfectly-timed sliding tackle keeps the striker at bay

Rodri it is this time as he is shown the yellow card as he pushes down Majer

OUT: Navas IN: Carvajal

Nacho gets penalised for a mindless sliding tackle on Petkovic

Navas wins a free-kick on the right follwing a rash tackle from Petkovic. The opening four minutes have been pretty dull

Croatia gets the ball rolling. The last time these two teams met, Spain won it in extra time!

Corner for Croatia as Fati forces the ball out. Modric takes it and its a poor delivery. Cleared away easily. AND THAT’S THE END OF 90 MINUTES. THE GAME WILL BE DECIDED IN EXTRA TIME!

Yellow card for Petkovic for a rash challenge on Laporte

FOUR ADDED MINUTES!

OUT: Kramaric IN: Majer

Navas puts a through ball on the left to Asensio. The latter tries to find the far corner but the ball goes brushing pas the goal

OUT: Gavi IN: Olmo

Croatia’s 4-2 win against Netherlands in the semifinal came in extra-time. Will we see a similar scenario? Looking at how things are, we can almost be certain

Modric breaks free and looked set for a counter attack but Gavi lunges into him and concedes a free kick while collecting a yellow card as well!

OUT: Ivanusec IN: Vlasic

OUT: Ruiz IN: Merino; OUT: Le Normand IN: Nacho

CHANCE! Fati races onto Alba’s pass inside the left-hand channel but Livakovic intervenes with a sliding tackle. Ruiz lobs towards the top-right corner, as Livakovic was out of his position but narrowly misses

Petkovic crosses into the box, Alba clears it with a backheel that goes towards Ivanusec but the offside flag is up

OUT: Pino IN: Fati; OUT: Morata IN: Joselu

Superb sliding tackle from Gavi, who stops Petkovic who looked dangerous at the edge of the box. Navas collects the ball but Perisic’s challenge gives away a free kick for Spain

OUT: Pasalic IN: Petkovic

Perisic from the left slips a lofted ball towards the far corner. Pasalic tries a header from a tight angle but it goes out for a goal kick

Superb run from Jordi Alba, who puts in an identical cross inside the box. Asensio heads it but the ball brushes past the crossbar. Could’ve done better!

Counter from Croatia. Perisic takes the ball into the final third on the left but Gavi and Navas combine to intercept

Pino finds Jordi Alba on the left. The latter then sends in a teasing ball into the box but it is too high for Morata to do anything

Collision between Brozovic and Gavi leads to the Barcelona player go down in agony. But the referee says play on. Replay showed Brozovic extending his arm towards Gavi’s face. Should’ve been a free kick for Spain

Wonderful wing play from Perisic as he skips past two defenders on the left and goes on to send in a cross. Juranovic collects it but fires it well wide off the target. A chance goes begging

Kramaric lays it off to Pasalic. The latter then changes line of play and finds Juranovic on the right. He fires a cross inside the box but a proactive Simon punches it out

Substitutes of both the sides are warming up on the sidelines

Croatia with the ball now. Spain with the first set piece situation here. Alba sends one inside the box but he’s overcooked it as the ball flies past everyone and out for a goal kick

Free-kick at a dangerous area for Spain as Pino is brought down by two sliding defenders. Asensio and Rodri tried to progress with short passes but that fails big time. And with that comes an end to the first 45 minutes!

Explosive run from Jordi Alba on the left as he skips past three defenders and lofts one inside the box. Morata gets to it but fails to keep the ball on target

Rodri puts in a through ball to Gavi right before the edge of the box. The latter tries to chip one inside with Morata running forward but he doesnt get the desired elevation as the ball gets cleared away

CHANCE!!! Pasalic lofts an inviting through ball towards Brozovic inside the box. His first touch is superb, he then tricks past a defender and crosses it but there’s no one to recieve it

Pino from the middle, sends a long ball towards Ruiz on the left. The latter tries a cross but it is cleared away

The first half hour was pretty dull except a few half chances. The biggest chance for Spain came early when Gavi dragged one away from the post in the 12th minute

Navas and Gavi combine on the right to create an opening but the Croatian defense is upto the task as they are forced to look somewhere else. Alba gets the ball eventually, sends a cross in, Morata gets his head in but it is deflected away for a corner. Nothing off it

CHANCE! Wonderful long ball Juranovic from deep inside his half towards Kramaric up front, who broke free and tried to finish. But a last gasp interception from Laporta means it is only a corner for Croatia

Pino felt there was a handball inside the box and this doubt gets the better of him as he brings Kramaric down with a rash tackle. Pino then continues to argue with the referee but the official is unmoved

Corner for Spain as Navas’ cross is deflected out. Asensio fires it in but the high ball is cleared away without much trouble.

Spain looking to attack with short passes and has found minimal returns from this kind of a play. Fuente’s side is forced to track back

Counter from Croatia. Modric plays a clever lofted ball inside the box, Pasalic runs towards and thought he won his side a corner it but is caught offside

CHANCE! Gavi gets the ball at the edge of the box, he takes a fraction of second to get himself into position but drags it past the post. Livakovic would’ve been beaten clinically, had that went inside

Navas on the right, finds Asensio. The latter slips a superb through ball inside the box but it is too fast for Gavi to pick

A defensive mistake leads to Ruiz gaining possession near the box on the left. He then tries an ambitious shot from afar that goes straight to Livakovic who fumbles and spills the ball, Gavi tried to snatch it but the offside flag is up. Sigh of relief from the Croatian custodian

Asensio finds Jordi Alba in the middle. The latter then chips a superb lofted ball into the box towards a running Gavi, who fails to control the ball as it goes out for a goal kick. Gavi is clearly frustrated

Kovacic tries to create an opening as he pokes a through ball towards Kramaric but Ruiz intercepts to put breaks on the attack

Brozovic dictates the terms as he skips past three defenders and finds Juranovic on the right. He advances into the final third and puts in a cross but Jordi Alba deflects it to make things easier for Simon

The teams have taken their sweet time to settle down. Both sides have been sloppy so far, giving up possession constantly

Spain will start the proceedings and will begin left to right. Croatia has the most support in Rotterdam, the stadium is filled with white and red

Players of both the sides have lined up in the tunnel and are ready to take the field. The trophy is in place and the stage is set! Spain’s national anthem plays first

Group Stage – 11 points (3W, 2D, 1L)

Spain 1 – 1 Portugal

Czech Republic 2 – 2 Spain

Spain 2 – 0 Czech Republic

Switzerland 0 – 1 Spain

Spain 1 – 2 Switzerland

Portugal 0 – 1 Spain

Semifinal

Spain 2 – 1 Italy

Group Stage - 13 points (4W, 1D, 1L)

Croatia 0-3 Austria

Croatia 1-1 France

Denmark 0 – 1 Croatia

France 0 – 1 Croatia

Croatia 2 – 1 Denmark

Austria 1 – 3 Croatia

Semifinal

Netherlands 2 – 4 Croatia

Croatia and Spain have played each other nine times. Croatia has won three matches while Spain has secured five wins. One match ended in a draw. The two teams last met during the round of 16 of the UEFA Euro 2020, which Spain won 5-3 in extra time.

Croatia: D-W-W-W-W

Spain: D-W-W-L-W

​

​

When does the UEFA Nations League final between Croatia and Spain kick-off?

The UEFA Nations League final between Croatia and Spain will start at 12:15am IST at the De Kuip stadium in Roterdam.

Where can I live stream the UEFA Nations League final between Croatia and Spain?

The UEFA Nations League final between Croatia and Spain can be live streamed on the Sony LIV app/website. The match will also be telecast live on the Sony Sports TEN 2 and Sony Sports TEN 2 HD channels TV channels

Croatia: Livakovic; Juranovic, Vida, Sutalo, Perisic; Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Ivanusec

Spain: Simon; Navas, Le Normand, Laporte, Alba; Merino, Rodri; Asensio, Gavi, Pino; Morata

Croatia is aiming for its first tournament trophy as it plays Spain in the final of the Nations League in Rotterdam.

Croatia finished third in the World Cup last year and runner-up in 2018, and winning the Nations League would cap 37-year-old Luka Modric’s international career in what would be the Real Madrid midfielder’s 166th game for his country.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente can win a trophy in only his fourth game since taking over in December following Spain’s World Cup round-of-16 exit to Morocco under Luis Enrique.

Spain’s last tournament win came at the 2012 European Championship. Earlier, host nation the Netherlands plays Italy in the third-place game in Enschede.

-AP