2023-06-17 07:10:33
Saturday, June 17, 2023 – 11:09 am
ABU DHABI, 17th June, 2020 (WAM) — The curtain will fall tomorrow on the activities of the third edition of the UEFA European Football Championship, with the expected confrontation between the Croatian and Spanish national teams in the final match of the tournament at the “Feyenoord” stadium in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Both teams are looking forward to winning their first titles in the tournament following reaching the final with merit and following a strong show and a distinguished victory in the semi-finals.
The Croatian national team made its way to the final by defeating the Dutch national team 4-2 in its own home in a match that extended to extra time in the semi-finals, while the Spanish national team qualified for the final following winning in the semi-finals 2-1 over its Italian counterpart, the European Nations Cup holders (Euro 2020).
The Spanish national team lost the final of the second edition of the Nations League once morest its French counterpart, while the Croatian national team is in the final for the first time.
The website of the European Union for the game (UEFA) indicated that the two teams met more than once before, and the confrontations between them were characterized by excitement and equality.
The two teams met for the first time in Euro 2012, and Spain won 1-0 in the group stage, and the Croatian team responded by defeating Spain 2-1 in the group stage of Euro 2016.
The first edition of the Nations League witnessed a huge 6-0 victory for the Spanish national team over its Croatian counterpart in the group stage in 2018, but lost in the second match once morest the Croatian national team 2-3 in the same group.
The most recent previous confrontation between the two teams was the most exciting and interesting, as the Spanish national team defeated its Croatian counterpart 5-3 following extra time in Euro 2020.
And now, the two teams meet for the European Nations League title, which represents a dream for the Croatian national team and its fans, following the huge boom that the team has achieved in its results in recent years.
The Croatian national team won second place in the 2018 World Cup and third place in the 2022 World Cup.
On the other hand, tomorrow’s match and the Nations League title represent an important step in the career of the Spanish national team led by its new coach, Luis de la Fuente, who took over to succeed his compatriot Luis Enrique following the team’s early exit from the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
“We know the strength of the Croatian national team, which has high potential and great planning capabilities with very experienced players,” said de la Fuente. “This team reached the final of the World Cup and the final of the Nations League, which means it is a very special team.”
Croatian national team coach Zlatko Dalic noted: “It’s a huge prize, a gold medal. We mightn’t wish for more motivation than this. We worked hard (in the semi-finals) but we’ll try to get our energy back. In 6 years, we’ve won 3 medals for Croatia. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Nobody expected that we might do this. Towards a great football force.
Reda Abdel Nour / Ahmed Zahran
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