The Nations League Final Four: Coaches' Comments, Schedule, Modričaus' Chance

2023-06-14 07:00 © AFP

On Wednesday, the UEFA Nations League A division finals quartet will begin. The matches will take place in two stadiums: the Rotterdam "Feyenoord" stadium, which accommodates 47.5 thousand spectators, and the "FC Twente" stadium, which holds 30.2 thousand fans.

The final quartet will feature the Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, and Italy.

For the tournament hosts, the Netherlands, this is a great opportunity to win their first major trophy since 1988 when the "flying Dutchmen" became European champions. Four years ago, the Dutch fell in this final quartet against Portugal.

Led by Luka Modric, the Croats have their first chance to secure such a prestigious trophy. Spain can start their era under a new coach, Luis de la Fuente, triumphantly. Meanwhile, Italy has the opportunity to fight for a second trophy in two years, after failing to qualify for the World Cup in the middle of this period.

Coaches comments:

Ronald Koeman (Netherlands): "We are looking forward to the match because this is the semifinal, and we are playing in the Netherlands. We have a good team and a lot of energy to reach the final, but Croatia is a very strong team. They have achieved a lot in recent years, it will be difficult.

Zlatko Dalic (Croatia): "It is a great achievement to be among the four best teams in Europe. Our achievement is already good, but we came here to win a medal. We worked towards this goal, we want to show it on the field.

Luis de la Fuente (Spain): I feel lucky to have this wonderful opportunity to compete against three amazing teams, in this case facing Italy in the semifinals, whom I consider serious competitors. We highly appreciate this and are excited to compete. We play as equals with all the best teams in the world, we are looking forward to this tournament.

Roberto Mancini (Italy): First of all, returning to the final quartet is a great achievement. In the group stage, we played against strong teams like Germany, England, Hungary. We are in a decisive phase of the tournament, obviously we want to win, like everyone else, but it won't be easy. I had to make certain decisions, it's a pity that some did not make it into the lineup, but all the players who are here deserve it.

Schedule:

June 14th. 21:45. Netherlands - Croatia

June 15th. 21:45. Spain - Italy

June 18th. 16:00. Third place match.

June 18th. 21:45. Final.

The UEFA Nations League finals quartet will be broadcast live on Viaplay.