Croatia missed out on their first international trophy after losing on penalties to Spain in the Nations League final.
Dani Carvajal calmly chipped home the winning effort to seal a 5-4 victory on spot-kicks after Unai Simon had saved from Bruno Petkovic.
The contest in Rotterdam had finished goalless after extra time.
It is Spain’s first international trophy for 11 years, since their victory at Euro 2012.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ❤️ ????!!!
???? La Roja add a #NationsLeague title to their outstanding European track record!
Enhorabuena campeones, @SEFutbol! ???? pic.twitter.com/k841PrxMN7
— UEFA (@UEFA) June 18, 2023
“We’re so happy, it was a really tough game and this is so difficult to do,” said Spain midfielder Rodri, who was named man of the match.
Rodri thinks this could be the start of another succession of Spanish titles, with the squad featuring several exciting young players including Gavi, Ansu Fati and Yeremy Pino.
“This generation promises a lot. We were very strong mentally. There are things to improve, but winning is always good – we have to celebrate,” he said.
Victory also means Spain become the second nation to win the World Cup, European Championship and Nations League following France, who beat the Spanish in the 2021 Nations League final.
They could have won the shootout earlier after Simon saved from Lovro Majer, only for Aymeric Laporte to slam Spain’s fifth penalty off the crossbar.
It did not matter, however, as Simon kept out the subsequent effort from Petkovic, allowing Carvajal to be the hero.