Portugal had everything it took to make it to the last four of the League of Nations for the second time. But playing at home and with a draw to go, Fernando Santos’s team showed they hadn’t learned the lesson they learned in qualifying for the World Cup against Serbia: they let the Spanish game put them to sleep, forfeited a handful of chances to advance on the scoreboard, withdrew too much and was defeated in the closing minutes by an opponent who prepared the strategy in detail and saved herself a final half hour during which she proved unmanageable. Spain won, and won well, the 40th Iberian clash, joining Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands, who should be the organizers of the competition’s final four.
It is not surprising that Fernando Santos changed from two sides in relation to the match in the Czech Republic. João Cancelo and Nuno Mendes replaced Diogo Dalot and Mário Rui, but the coach made another change, this one in the front trio: instead of the always unpredictable Rafael Leão, the coach chose Diogo Jota, scorer of the last goal in Prague. to assemble your starting eleven. And of course, controversy or not, Cristiano Ronaldo also played early – the captain was sluggish and tired (from a certain point) and missed three clear chances to score. On the other hand, Luis Enrique was much more radical, or his team had not been beaten by Switzerland: no fewer than seven substitutions.
With the rare sight of a Quarry practically full, the match started hot and stayed that way for the first 45 minutes. The Spaniards devoted themselves to a kind of football without goals, switching the ball between their players – an art in which they proved to be masters – and trying to reach the Portuguese goal with as many players as possible. Portugal were more comfortable with the result and didn’t fall apart, leaving their opponent playing their slow and predictable game, and the only fear they got was a bad pass from João Cancelo, who hit Rúben Neves and allowed the roja to try to shooting, unsuccessfully, Diogo Costa’s goal.
It was necessary to wait the 23rd minute for the Wolverhampton midfielder to give the first shake in the drowsiness with which the match was going. After a corner, he risked a shot from outside the box, which forced Unai Simón to apply and deflect to the side. And despite overwhelming possession and a number of passes that tripled that of their opponents, Spain remained harmless, with Portugal the biggest threat. In the 33rd minute, a shot by Bruno Fernandes Diogo Jota left space in the opponent’s area, but the visiting goalkeeper again denied the goal with an excellent intervention. Shortly afterwards, at the age of 38, it was the United midfielder who took a shot from the left that was only stopped by the side netting of the goal. And the emptiness remained even until the break, despite a goal from Ferrán Torres, after a wide cross, to frighten the Portuguese goalkeeper a bit.
master game
In the second half, Luis Enrique dropped the yellow Guillamón and brought in Busquets’ experience (Rodri withdrew), but the first big chance came back for the Portuguese, thanks to a steal from Diogo Jota to Carvajal. The Liverpool winger progressed and released at just the right time for Ronaldo, but the alert Unai Simón shot out of the goal and shortened the angle, so the Portuguese captain’s shot struck him in the chest (47″). In the same vein, but in the 60th minute Luis Enrique shoved the pieces on his board, in a masterful move, bringing in a fresh and daring trio (Pedri, Gavi and Pino) and everything changed.The Portuguese midfield showed up tired and Spain began to approach the national goal Fernando Santos’ team could not leave and the coach took a lot of time to move: when he did he launched João Mário, when he probably needed a more intense and physical player to counter the Spanish dominance and, when Rafael Leão and Vitinha came in, control was already lost Spain took corner after corner, started hitting it and Portugal got the hang of it. The inevitable happened: a wide cross to the far post, Ni co Williams I love her turn in the middle and Morata bends towards goal (88″). In desperation, Portugal could even have drawn lots, but it wasn’t CR7’s night – that was Unai Simón’s, who again denied the Portuguese side.
Source: DN
