On Wednesday, Croatia defeated the Netherlands 4-2 to go to the final of the Nations League. Bruno Petkovic and Luka Modric scored the game-winning goals in extra time to accomplish this feat.
The team coached by Zlatko Dalic, who advanced to the semifinals of the World Cup the previous year, went one step closer to winning their very first title and shown once again that they are experts in playing through extra time.
After Donyell Malen had given the Dutch the lead in the first half, Andrej Kramaric and Mario Pasalic scored for Croatia in the second half, but Noa Lang scored an equalizer in the 96th minute to force an extra half hour of play.
In spite of this, Petkovic evaded Frenkie de Jong and blasted a goal in from beyond the box eight minutes into extra time to definitively put Croatia in the lead. Modric then converted a penalty to seal the victory for Croatia.
The Nations League is one of the senior players in Croatia’s national team’s last opportunities to experience international success. One of those senior players is Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.
In their previous 16 matches, Croatia has only been defeated once, and it came at the hands of the eventual champions of the World Cup, Argentina. Additionally, Croatia was successful in stopping the Netherlands from winning their first tournament since the European Championship in 1988.
The team captained by Ronald Koeman came in second place in the first competition of the Nations League, which was held in Portugal in 2019. In 2021, France became victorious.
The head coach decided to play Malen on the right side of the attack, while the talented youngster Xavi Simons would make his fourth appearance for the Netherlands on the left side.
After thirty minutes of play, the Dutch side finally started to get going, and both of these players, along with the striker for Liverpool, Cody Gakpo, were involved in the game’s first goal.
Despite the fact that Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk said his side wanted to play with strong enthusiasm, the match began slowly in the evening heat because both sets of players were exhausted following a lengthy season with the World Cup wedged in the midst.
In the 31st minute, Teun Koopmeiners came close to scoring for Koeman’s team, but his shot went just wide of the goal. Malen finally broke the scoreless tie in the 33rd minute.
Mats Wieffer of Feyenoord, who was playing at his club’s stadium De Kuip, sent the ball to Malen, who then tucked it past Dominik Livakovic, who was Croatia’s World Cup hero on their way to third place in Qatar. Wieffer was playing in his club’s stadium.
The striker for Borussia Dortmund, who concluded the Bundesliga season in a strong vein of form, has scored five goals for the Netherlands national team at this point.
Kramaric made a brilliant move inside from the left side of the field, but his shot went just wide of the far post as Croatia continued to show improvement in the second half.
Soon after, they were tied when 37-year-old Modric, who was earning his 165th Croatian cap, deftly robbed Gakpo on the outside of the box, resulting in the striker pushing him back to surrender a penalty. Modric’s goal brought them even.
Kramaric calmly stroked his penalty shot through the centre as Justin Bijlow dove to his right, much to the joy of the Croatian supporters who had traveled there.
After 73 minutes, Luka Ivanusec provided the assist for Atalanta midfielder Pasalic to score his team’s second goal when he stabbed the ball in from close range after receiving a cross from Ivanusec.
Gakpo added further aggravation to an already trying evening for himself by missing the target when he was in a good position to do so in the 90th minute.
Before Lang pounced on a stray ball to tie the score, the Dutch defender Nathan Ake came near with an acrobatic attempt to score. Ake had a role in Manchester City’s victory in the Champions League final only five days ago.
Petkovic scored a goal by beating Bijlow at the near post, which made it impossible for the Netherlands to maintain parity for long.
In the most recent two World Cups, Croatia has won extra-time matches against Brazil, Japan, England, Russia, and Denmark. These victories were throughout the tournament.
When he had the chance to equalize, Lang instead sent the ball into the side netting, and the Netherlands paid the price for it when Tyrell Malacia fouled Petkovic inside the penalty area, and Luka Modric scored the penalty to ensure that Croatia would advance to Sunday’s final.
On Thursday, the second semifinal will take place in Enschede, and it will feature a matchup between Spain and Italy.