2023-06-14 21:28:25
Incredible Croatia! Third in the last World Cup, Zlatko Dalić’s men won on the lawn of the Netherlands in the semi-finals of the League of Nations after extra time (2-4) and are now waiting for Italy or Spain in the final.
After the group stages ended this fall, the League of Nations was back with the Final Four played in the Netherlands. Before the second semi-final between Spain and Italy, it was the Dutch and the Croats who met in Rotterdam.
Attractive on paper, the poster did not really capture the attention of spectators at the start of the match. During the first half hour, neither team created a real chance, the game was sterile, choppy and closed. The light finally came from the feet of the Dutch who were able to open the scoring thanks to Donyell Grind after a great collective action (34th). This goal was even the only shot on target of the first half, a sign of an unexciting meeting.
As soon as they returned from the locker room, the team at the checkered flag returned with better intentions, as evidenced by the opportunity to Andrej Kramaric whose curled shot ended up next (49th). In the aftermath, Cody Gakpo was guilty of a fault on Luke Modric, the referee had no choice but to designate the penalty spot. A penalty that Kramaric transformed perfectly to put the two teams equal (55th).
More amorphous, the Dutch reacted through Gakpo but his shot was too crushed (69th). A few minutes later, the Croats took a whole stadium cold by going ahead in the score thanks to a goal from Mario Pasalic on a center of Luka Ivanusec (73e).
While Croatia seemed to be holding up well, everything got carried away in added time. Gakpo first missed a good chance (90th + 1) before Only Noah, who entered the game a few minutes earlier, managed to send the ball into the ceiling of the Croatian goal, taking advantage of a somewhat confused phase (90th + 6). Both teams were then sent to overtime.
In a false rhythm between two teams who did not want to discover each other too much, Bruno Petkovic unleashed a magnificent long shot which ended in the bottom, restoring the advantage to the visitors (98th). In stride Frankie Young did not go far from an own goal which would have buried the hopes of an entire stadium (101st).
In the second half, the Dutch had a huge double chance via Steven Bergwijn who stumbled upon Dominik Livakovic and Lang who was unable to conclude afterwards (110th). A few minutes later, Croatia should have killed the game but lacked the edge. After a great collective action, Pasalic clears the opposing goalkeeper before hitting the bar (114th).
It was finally only a postponement for Croatia who took advantage of a new penalty to validate their ticket to the final of the League of Nations. Touched by Tyrell Malacia, Petkovic collapsed in the box. Without trembling, Modric then transformed a penalty which suffered no dispute (117th). In added time, Petkovic thought he would get a brace but his goal was canceled for an offside position.
After a second and a third place in the World Cup, Croatia could win its first international title. The checkered team will face Italy or Spain on Sunday, who will play the second semi-final on Thursday evening.
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