Portugal and Spain clinched UEFA Nations League wins on Thursday to set up a battle between their Iberian neighbors for a spot in the Final.
Portugal monopolized the top of Group 2 of the A-team when they beat the Czech Republic 2-0, while Spain got their first win and moved up to second place when they overcame tight Switzerland. wrestling with a score of 1-0 in Geneva.
Portugal, the first champions in 2019, are two points ahead of Spain and three points ahead of the Czechs after three games. Only the winners of the group will advance to the Quarterfinals, while the bottom ranked teams will be relegated.
“It’s still open,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.
It was Cristiano Ronaldo’s second straight win for Portugal after opening with a draw against Spain, last year’s runners-up France.
The Spaniard ended his winless streak with a win over Switzerland, which had lost all of their matches. The Swiss have not been beaten at home in eight years through 23 matches.
“Professional football is about results,” said Spain coach Luis Enrique. “We were able to impose our style.”
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Portugal opened the scoring with Joao Cancelo’s low shot from a tight angle in the 33rd minute, and Gonçalo Guedes added another goal five minutes later from inside the box after Bernardo Silva’s assist.
Defender Pepe made his 127th appearance, joining Luis Figo for his third all-time great trophy for Portugal. The duo are behind João Moutinho’s 145 appearances and Ronaldo’s 188 appearances.
Pablo Sarabia scored from Marcos Llorente’s cross, the goal was confirmed after the VAR review. – BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS
Spain took the lead in the 13th minute when Pablo Sarabia diverted from Marcos Llorente’s cross to score a goal that had to be watched on video to check for offside.
“That’s about the time we won,” Sarabia said. “These three points are very valuable to us.”
This is the first meeting of the two teams since Spain beat Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals of the European Championship last year.
Portugal will close the June international match in Switzerland on Sunday, while Spain take on the Czech Republic.
HAALAND FORGET MY PHOTOBOOK
In the second division League B, Erling Haaland was empty-handed in Norway’s 0-0 home draw with Slovenia. Haaland arrives as one of the top scorers in the Nations League with three goals.
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Norway leads Group 4 while Slovenia, who have been relegated from 63rd place after Miha Blazic was sent off, are in last place. Serbia beat Sweden 1-0 thanks to Luka Jovic’s goal to jump to second place, three points ahead of Sweden.
In League C, Kosovo beat Northern Ireland 3-2, Greece beat Cyprus 3-0, Gibraltar drew Bulgaria 1-1 and Georgia beat North Macedonia 3-0.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of Georgia and Tasos Bakasetas of Greece each scored on Thursday to join Haaland and Serdar Dursun of Turkey with three goals.
Estonia beat Malta 2-1 in League D.
