After overcoming the scare, before the trip to Qatar and with the possibility of fighting for another trophy. This Thursday, in Seville, the National Team began a new chapter and opened the door to the League of Nations in the run-up to the World Cup — and then against Spain.
On the first day of the third international competition, Portugal immediately went to the Benito Villamarín, Betis stadium, face the Spanish at the same time that the Czech Republic was facing Switzerland in the other match of Group 2 of League A. A little more than two months after guaranteeing the presence in the World Cup in Qatar -already in the play off and after not being able to qualify directly-, the Portuguese team sought to take a first assertive and affirmative step in the League of Nations to put the difficulties shown in recent games in the past. And Fernando Santos believed that the Iberian duel could be the ideal match for it.
“What we want is to continue with what we did in the last games. That means there won’t be as many changes in this first game, maybe one or two changes compared to the games against Turkey and North Macedonia. What I will look for is that the team always maintains that standard, not so much the question of the players. It is much more about consolidating, in this League of Nations, what is being our banner”, said the national coach in the preview of the match.
Now, without Vitinha, who tested positive for Covid-19 during the week, Fernando Santos also left Domingos Duarte and Diogo Jota out of the squad, and the striker later arrived at the concentration camp for having been with Liverpool in the final of League. Champions League less than a week ago. Thus, the great novelty was the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench and Rafael Leão started alongside André Silva and Bernardo in attack, leaving the center of the field in the hands of Moutinho, with Bruno Fernandes and Otávio and Raphaël Guerreiro being chosen for the left of the defense to the detriment of Nuno Mendes. On the other hand, and with the injured Thiago Alcântara as a great absence, Luis Enrique released Soler and Gavi and opted for Sarabia, a striker who has just left Sporting after a season on loan from PSG.
Rafael Leão completes his 6th cap, but his 1st start with the national team?????????
⚠ There are 3 players in the team ??????? with less than 10 games: Diogo Costa, Otávio and Rafael Leão pic.twitter.com/gH2uGuuVTh
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) June 2, 2022
On the pitch, Spain stepped on the accelerator from the start and were even able to score in the opening minutes, with a shot by Gavi against a defender after an insistent shot (3′). Luis Enrique’s team clearly took the lead in the game and had control of possession of the ball, Playing almost entirely in the center of the opposing field and essentially taking advantage of the space between the center backs and the full-backs, something that left Cancelo and Guerreiro with little room for maneuver to come back up the aisle.
Portugal began to react as the first quarter of an hour passed, freeing themselves from the Spanish pressure and advancing lines to push the opposing team back, even creating the best scoring chance to date. Guerreiro lost his balance on the left, forced after a rebound and discovered Rafael Leão in the penalty area, with the striker finishing over Unai Simón’s exit (18′). The National Team tried to take advantage of the momentum of that occasion to catapult themselves forward but, in a play in which Leão even pulled a dangerous cross out of his hat after winning a duel, their effectiveness betrayed them.
????????? 40′ | ????????? Spain 1-0 Portugal ???????
Joao Cancelo ??????? It already goes with 4 disarms and I practically do not attack???? (there are 3 behind the boy’s head, let’s see how the game goes…)#UNL #NationsLeague #Let’s go with everything #IS BY pic.twitter.com/RwdANcn4qs
— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 2, 2022
Spain recovered the ball in their own penalty area, Gavi moved slowly down the left and opened on Sarabia on the opposite side, with the striker offering the goal to Morata after the Juventus player made a practically perfect diagonal without the ball (25 ‘). The Spaniards were able to increase their lead right away, with Soler forcing Diogo Costa to make a careful save (29′), and Portugal having a shot alongside André Silva the best chance to equalize until the end of the first half (34’). ).
At the break, however, Spain was winning. The National Team had less ball, fewer attacks and fewer opportunities and showed great difficulty in freeing himself from the possession of the ball by the opponent — or, even more, being able to respond to the ability of the Spaniards to recover possession of the ball.
????????? INTERVAL | ????????? Spain 1-0 Portugal ???????
???? Complicated match for the Portuguese, something “clumsy”
???? sarabia????????? saw Morata ???????? and this did not fail#UNL #NationsLeague #Let’s go with everything #IS BY pic.twitter.com/hH5Sc05Fk0— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 2, 2022
In the second half, Fernando Santos moved immediately and swapped João Moutinho for Rúben Neves. Spain continued to show a certain dominance and preponderance, but Portugal showed a different response capacity, causing some imbalances on the wings and even taking advantage of the best chance of the second half, with a shot by Rafael Leão for a great save by Unai Simón after a perfect synchronization by André Silva (59′).
At the end of the match, the national coach moved again and released Cristiano Ronaldo, who along with Gonçalo Guedes replaced Otávio and André Silva. Luis Enrique responded with Dani Olmo and Koke and Portugal, with the double substitution, completely lost the link between midfield and attack, limiting himself to monitoring the possession of the ball by Spain and then exploring the depth in a totally unsuccessful way.
????????? 78′ | ????????? Spain 1-0 Portugal ???????
After the substitutions of Portugal by Spain:
– is already the top scorer in the 2nd half (3-2)
– already increased ownership from 51 to 65%#UNL #NationsLeague #Let’s go with everything #IS BY pic.twitter.com/DN98KKtIkD— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 2, 2022
However, with eight minutes to go, a single burst of inspiration was all it took to turn the text around. Moments after both teams made substitutions, when Spain was still on the pitch, Guedes released Cancelo in the right aisle, the winger focused tensely into the area and Ricardo Horta, who had already entered, only had to finish off (82′). Sp go ahead. Braga, who has not played internationally since 2014, made his debut scoring with the National Team.
Until the end, nothing has changed. Portugal managed to salvage a draw against Spain despite a very poor first half and is level with the Spanish in Group 2 of League A of the Nations League, with the Czech Republic leading after beating Switzerland in Prague. In a game in which Gavi was very fruitful, Ricardo took the field to show that he prefers Horta — and made the difference in the second international match of his career. The National Team returns to action next Sunday, in Alvalade, against Switzerland.
????????? END | ????????? Spain ???? Portugal????????
???? Morata opened Sarabia’s pass…
???? But a “horticultural miracle” came out of the bank
???? Ratings, stats and xG at https://t.co/QZuwKyufuG#UNL #NationsLeague #Let’s go with everything #IS BY pic.twitter.com/z5MHkukSTQ— GoalPoint.pt (@_Goalpoint) June 2, 2022
Source: Observadora
