European giants, Spain and Croatia, have set up a crunch 2023 UEFA Nations League final showdown after sailing through the semifinals.
At the Enchede turf in the Netherlands, Spain waged a fierce battle to fight off the resilience of the Italians for a place in the 2023 UEFA Nations League final.
The high-pitched atmosphere at Enchede saw the two elephants battle each other in a spirited semifinal clash.
Italy suffered an early blow after conceding a cheap goal following a costly blunder by Leonardo Bonucci. Bonucci lost the ball in his own half cheaply to Yeremy Pino who put the La Roja ahead with a dink finish in the 3rd minute.
Italy were able to come back into the game after going a goal down. Ciro Immobile converted a spotkick to level the scores after Spain conceded a penalty.
The two titans almost ended all squares before Joselu hit a late winner for Spain in the 88th minutes, sending the team to their second UEFA Nations League final in three years.
The other semifinal clash pitted 2022 World Cup third-place winners and 2018 runners-up, Croatia, against 2022 World Cup quarterfinalists and 2010 finalists, Netherlands.
The two sides settled for a dramatic 2-2 draw after regulation time but Petkovic’s and Modric’s extra-time double separated the tie and send the Croats to their first UEFA Nations League final.
Malen’s 34th-minute opener for Netherlands was canceled out by Kramaric’s 55th-minute goal from the spotkick.
Pasalic then put the Croats ahead in the 72nd minute. Croatia nearly ran out with a win before Lang’s last-minute stoppage-time goal dragged the game to extra time, where Petkovic and Modric sealed the win.
Spain to tackle Croatia in 2023 UEFA Nations League final
Following their hard-fought victories in the semifinals, Spain and Croatia will lock horns in the 2023 UEFA Nations League final.
It will be Spain’s second attempt on clinching the new-ly introduced national team tournament in Europe after losing the second edition of the tournament to France in 2021.
In the past two World Cups, Croatia have been a force to reckon with after reaching the semifinals of the competition on two successive occasions.
They finished as runners-up in 2018 after losing to France and as third-place winners in 2022 edition, edging out Morocco 3-1.
Despite a great outing on the world stage, Croatia are still searching for their first major European trophy. Hence it is expected they will go all out against the De La Fuente boys with full force in the finals to clinch the trophy.
Spain are three times European champions but it has been over a decade since they last clinch a European trophy. They came close to winning the UEFA Nations League trophy in 2021 but lost to France in the final.
Spain Vs Croatia UEFA Nations League Final, kickoff, Venue, And How to watch
Spain Vs Croatia 2023 UEFA Nations League final will kickoff by 07:45pm at De Kuip, Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
The match will be streamed live on beIN Sports and other online streaming platforms.
