Croatia again showed their resilience by competing from start to finish for 120 minutes but were left without their first title in their history after a penalty shootout. This is how Dalic’s footballers played.
LIVAKOVIC Relaxed
Spain’s difficulty in creating danger made their game more spa-like until the shootout.
JURANOVIC Grow up
Yeremi Pino threatened him a bit and it was common to see him get into positions. He lacks some precision in his centers to put the Spanish defense in trouble.
SUTALO Careless
The young central defender drained Morata without much to do as the man from Madrid was formidable but he risked more than necessary in a few incidents.
ERLIC Seriously
Without Gvuardiol, he was in charge of directing the ball out of Croatia. He ruled his area with authority as the Spanish forwards were missing.
PERISIC Deep
He played as a left-back but with Asensio not even bothering him, he abused himself in attack and overwhelmed Navas more than once. He shot under the sticks at Ansu in the 85th minute. He got his penalty.
MODRIC No Sadness
The title along with his choice continues to fight him in the cruelest way. Zadar’s genius once again showed his quality, sacrifice, experience and knowledge of how to get to a great final. He went from less to more almost constantly, he led his team in attack and defense and he followed the shootout scoring his penalty.
BROZOVIC Expert
He is the anchor of the Croatian midfield and balances the game based on the movements of his partners. He once again gave a demonstration of what should be the pivot in modern football. He starred in a great duel with Rodrigo in the wide area. He got his penalty.
Dynamic Kovacic
This is the ‘free verse’ of the Croatian midfielder. He was the player most relaxed with his driving but it became less so after a good first half. He was fantastic, as always, with Modric and Brozovic.
PASALIC Gray
They barely overflowed from the right lane, they had no presence between the lines, where they do the most damage, and Croatia were a bit muted in their attempts to create dangerous situations. He was replaced by Petkovic at the time of the meeting.
KRAMARIC Girdle
He fought hand-to-hand with Le Normand and Laporte. Croatia looked for him from side centers but lacked the blood to find shots.
IVANUSEC Shy
It started with impetus but faded as the minutes passed. Perisic poses a greater threat to Spain.
The changes
PETKOVIC Islet
The tank was drained by rival central defenders, he couldn’t pick up direct balls and failed in the shoot-out.
VLASIC Tasteless
Ivanusec came on but had no impact on the game. He got his penalty.
MAJOR Fallon
He had the clearest chance in extra time but he was so slow, he tired losing balls and missed his penalty in the shootout
STANISIC Be careful
He has a testimonial role.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
