Page 65 - Soccer360 - Issue 103

capitulations against France and Croatia, despite the clear talent at his disposal. Major lineup changes between those two games hint towards scattered thinking, with injuries only offering a slight explanation, as he struggles to find a balance between his rising young stars and van Gaal’s veterans.
Van Dijk and Ake, along with playmaker Frenkie
de Jong and forward Cody Gakpo are star names playing at the sharp end of domestic and European club football, but Koeman so far appears to be lost in his attempts to mould them into a system which brings out their star quality.
The upcoming qualifiers spread across September, October ,and November offer ample chance to redress the situation, but confidence is low of Koeman being able to secure a likely second place finish, behind red hot group favourites France. Didier Deschamps’ World Cup finalists should be unopposed in their push for top spot in the group, leaving the other automatic place as a scrap between Koeman’s Netherlands, an impressive Greece, and a Republic of Ireland side needing a positive response. The Dutch face both of their second-place rivals in September, as part of a double header that could decide the fate of the final group placings, before another date with France in October.
Greece’s summer win over Ireland puts them in the
Above: Roberto Mancini stepped down as Italy coach in August
SOCCER360 MAGAZINE 65
SPAIN SUCCESS
SPAIN OVERCAME CROATIA IN A PENALTY SHOOTOUT TO WIN THE 2022-23 UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE, THEIR FIRST TROPHY SINCE 2012. FEARGAL BRENNAN LOOKS BACK ON THEIR SUCCESS
Heading into the Nations League finals in June, it was hard to make an overwhelming case for any of the four sides to come out on top. Italy were not in the best of form; hosts Netherlands were struggling to adapt to new coach Ronald Koeman; Croatia were impressive but were yet to win a tournament, while Spain are in a lengthy transitional period after a poor World Cup and a bumpy start to Euro 2024 qualifying. However, there had to be a winner and it was Spain, without a major tournament victory since the peak of their worldwide dominance in 2012 and since reduced to their previous status as also-rans, who rose to the occasion. A predictably tight semi-final against Italy was decided in extra time to set up a meeting with Croatia, who had outplayed the Dutch the previous night.
Given what was at stake for both sides, the final was very closely fought and despite plenty of endeavour it was destined to go all the way to penalties. At this stage, Croatia seemed favourites to finally land their golden generation some silverware following their shootout heroics at the 2022 World Cup, but two saves from Unai Simon allowed Dani Carvajal to step up and convert the winning penalty. In a change to previous Spain successes, Real Madrid were the headline act this summer, as new signing Joselu continued to stretch out his Indian summer, with an extra time semi final winner against Italy, before Carvajal made his decisive contribution in the final.
After a tough start to his reign, this victory represents a huge stepping stone for coach Luis de la Fuente, who took over at the start of 2023, as the attention now turns to trying to seal an automatic qualification place at Euro 2024. Minor team tweaks across both games indicate de la Fuente has a relatively clear idea of what his team will look like in the autumn, without major changes from the Luis Enrique era, but the hunt for Sergio Busquets’ replacement will be a key issue, and the questions for de la Fuente will get bigger from September onwards.