Football. Illustrative photo.
Rotterdam – The final tournament of the third year of the League of Nations will begin with the match between the Netherlands and Croatia. Played in Rotterdam from 20:45, the Spaniards will face the reigning European champions Italy in Enschede on Thursday. The final and the duel for third place are scheduled for Sunday.
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The Dutch go into the home tournament with a different coach than the one who led them to win the group and advance to the playoffs. Louis van Gaal left the team after the quarter-final defeat at last year's championship in Qatar against eventual winners Argentina, and “Oranje” was taken over by veteran coach Ronald Koeman. He will repeat his participation in the Final Four from 2019, when the Netherlands fell short of Portugal in the final.
The Croatians are the only newcomers to the Final Four, but they enter the tournament as the most successful team of the last World Cup. In the League of Nations, they also won a tough group ahead of the defending champions, the French.
