Seville (Spain) – Portugal snatched a 1-1 draw against Spain, qualifiers for the last edition, Thursday in Seville, on the first day of the 2022-2023 Nations League, in a match in which Cristiano Ronaldo entered the hour of play. It was very secretive.
This rather tight Iberian duel did not find a winner: in the 25th minute, after a counter-flash led by young Barcelona Jaffe, Carlos Soler sent Alvaro Morata at the point of offside in the area for the 26th goal of the Juventus striker in Jersey La Roja .. But Braga striker Ricardo Horta responded in the minute 82 alone in the area when Joao Cancelo received a cross.
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who was saved in the first half and entered 62nd place instead of Ottavio, spent half an hour in protest and was very conservative in the Seleção match.
But without flashes, the Portuguese managed to achieve the precious equalizer at the Benito Villamarin Stadium, which filled only three quarters on Thursday evening (41,236 spectators out of 60,000 spectators).
Spain, who reached the final of the last edition against France in October (2-1), got off to a better start, with Gavi’s first big shot in the third minute, turned by veteran Pepe.
The young attacking midfielder of FC Barcelona, only 17 years old, was very active in the midfield: it is in particular in the transfer base that led to the first goal of the meeting, signed by Alvaro Morata.
– Alba’s missed opportunity –
But Portugal, initially drugged, woke up during the match: in the 18th minute, Rafael Leao, a tall and young AC Milan striker (22 years, 1.88 m), was tried by Real Madrid, his luck in the penalty area after a superb penetration by Rafael Guerrero but his shot I went away.
Portugal largely dominated the second half, but did not find the error until the end of the match, in an act similar to the goal of Spain.
“It’s a sense of pride, I’m here deservedly, but I wanted to prove that I can help the team, and everything went well for me today (Thursday, editor’s note)”, Horta reacted to the final whistle in 72nd place instead of Rafael Leao and surprise scorer after Ten minutes.
And after the Portuguese equalizer, Jordi Alba grabbed the ball 2-1 at the end of the header, but his recovery, in the face of the empty cage, did not catch the frame.
For both teams, this match set the tone for the rest of the Nations League and launched both teams on the path to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar (November 21 – December 19).
“We have to go forward. There is no weak team in this group. All matches will be difficult, there are teams that have very good tactical organization, defend very well, and it is difficult to win against them,” Alvaro Morata confirmed on TV1 after the match.
At the end of the first day, it will be the Czech Republic, who beat Switzerland 2-1 on Thursday evening, to take the reins of the very difficult Group B.
On Sunday, Spain (8:45 pm) heads to Prague to face the Czechs as part of the second day, while Portugal hosts Switzerland in parallel at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon.
