As a seasoned veteran who has made 166 appearances for Croatia, Luka Modric, 37, has grown accustomed to the ebb and flow of life. Nevertheless, the fresh setback on Sunday night was still too painful for the former Ballon d'Or winner.  

Having fallen at the last hurdle of the 2018 World Cup and finished third at Qatar 2022, Croatia, a small country with a population of less than 4 million, again missed out on their first major trophy after losing to Spain on penalties in the Nations League final after a goalless 120 minutes. 

It might be Modric's final chance to deliver a trophy for Croatia, whose industrious players caused Spain all sorts of problems in Rotterdam but failed to make a breakthrough. 

Spain also wasted a couple of golden chances, but their goalkeeper Unai Simon became the hero in the shootout, as he saved shots by Lovro Majer and Bruno Petkovic before Dani Carvajal held his nerve to score the winning penalty. 

The triumph means Spain have clinched their first major trophy in 11 years since winning the European Championship in 2012. It also means Spain became the second national team in history to win the World Cup, Euros and Nations League following France. 

"For us, it was a unique opportunity, we went out early last year [at the Qatar World Cup], and today we had to take advantage," an emotional Carvajal told reporters. "We had confidence with the penalties, and it went well. I knew how I was going to shoot it, and I knew I was going to be sixth ... I wanted to take it Panenka style, and it went well."

The last-16 exit to Morocco in Qatar was frustrating, but the emergence of young Spanish prospects, such as Ansu Fati, Yeremy Pino and Gavi could herald a bright future. 

Spain talisman Rodri, who was named Player of the Tournament after another flawless display in the midfield, echoed the sentiment and suggested this could be the start of another string of titles for this young team. 

"We're so happy; it was a really tough game, and this is so difficult to do," said Rodri. "This generation promises a lot. We were very strong mentally. There are things to improve, but winning is always good; we have to celebrate."

Earlier in the day, Italy outclassed the Netherlands 3-2 in an entertaining Nations League third-place playoff.  

Federico Dimarco and Davide Frattesi gave Italy a comfortable halftime lead, but the Dutch pulled a goal back via Steven Bergwijn after the interval before Federico Chiesa restored the two goal advantage. 

Georginho Wijnaldum got a second for the Netherlands in the 89th minute to provoke a tense period of stoppage time, but Italy held on for the victory.