Portugal and Spain went head to head in the UEFA Nations League last night and lots of football lovers were hopeful that there would be different results from what we have seen between the two sides in recent years.
The last time we saw a winner in their encounter was back in 2010 when Portugal defeated Spain 4 - 0, every match between them since then has ended in a draw. It is hard to choose which team is better since their matches do not produce a winner, although Spain won the Euro semifinal match in 2012 after the penalty shootout; these two sides couldn't be separated after 120 minutes of football.
Last night was no different, the two sides ended up playing a 1 - 1 draw in their fixture leg of the Euro Nations Cup. I predicted the winner of the match to progress into the knockout stage but they displayed their old habit which left me indecisive about which team would come out on top of the group 2 in league A.
Both countries almost had the same rating in the encounter except for the fact that Spain dominated in terms of possession, they enjoyed passing the ball around but it wasn't enough to win the match.
Spain got the opener in the 25th minute and I thought that was enough to make goals rain but it turned out to be the usual game, Alvaro Morata didn't fail to convert his chances into a goal with Diogo Costa missing his footing before attempting to save the ball. The home team had the lead throughout the first half and even a few minutes to the end of the match, lots of Spanish fans would have believed it was a win but then, Joao Cancelo's pass found Ricardo Horta who puts it in the Spanish goal post with his right foot.
The goal meant a lot to the Portuguese team because not getting a point will automatically put them at the risk of not progressing from the group, it would be so painful for them to end their journey as it happened in the previous Uefa Nations League where they lost to France in Portugal and finished second behind the World Cup champions.
Securing one point from the match doesn't guarantee any team the next round ticket but it still gives them the hope of battling to progress and let's remember they aren't the only team in the group.
While the elephants were tearing the grounds apart, Czech Republic and Switzerland were also competing at the Sinobo Stadium.
It was an encounter with much actions and we saw more attempts on goal than the Spanish and Portuguese total attempts on goal. Czech came out victorious in the encounter at the end of 90 minutes, it ended 1-1 at end of halftime, and Djibril Sow own goal determined the winner of the encounter.
Should Spain and Portugal be worried?
They are the biggest contender to progress into the next round of the competition but Czech getting all three points in their first match could change the narration of things. Czech Republic was just promoted from League B and they are comfortably sitting at the top of the group with two points ahead of Portugal and Spain but that still doesn't look like a threat to me, it will become a threat if the two big boys refuse to get all three points against Czech Republic which is definitely impossible.
It is just the first out of six, there is still lots of time for every team to buckle down and fight hard to secure a ticket into the knockout stage of the Uefa Nations League.
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