Image Credit- CNN
The year 2008-2012 were golden years for Spanish Football. They lifted the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and the UEFA European Championship in 2008 and 2012. However post their defeat in the 2013 Confederation Cup final, there have been a constant downfall for the Spanish National Side. In the 2014 World Cup they were knocked out in the group stage itself. In Euro 2016 and 2018 FIFA WC, they ended up in round of 16. Though they put a fightback in the 2021 European Championship wherein they finished as semi-finalist and were also the finalists of the 2021 Nations League Tournament, but their performance in the 2022 World Cup was below satisfactory.
However 6 months later they made a comeback which no one expected. Beating all odds they went on to win the 2023 UEFA Nations League Tournament. The 3rd edition of the UEFA Nations League final took place in Netherlands. The 4 teams who made it into the semi-final stage were Netherlands, Croatia, Spain and Italy. In a close encounter Croatia beat Netherlands and Spain beat Italy to reach the finals of the tournament. Both the semi-final games were equally entertaining as the winner was decided in the final minutes of the game.
The final was equally exciting like the semi-final as both teams gave their best. The strikers of both the teams were continuously trying to break the defense of their opponent, but the defense of both the team stood strong.
At the end of 120 minutes, the match went into penalties wherein Spain won the game 5-4. It was another heartbreak for the Croatians who in the past few years have been consistently performing well in the prestigious tournaments, but failing to win a silverware. However as soon as Spain won, the celebrations begun in entire Spain as they were successful in lifting an international trophy after 11 long years. Their wait was finally over.
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