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Scored: Kovacic (29, 65) – Ruben Dias (52, 90); Joao Felix (60)
Red card: Marco Rog (51)
Portugal officially became the former king of the UEFA Nations League after a 1-0 loss at home to France a few days ago. Before this season’s A3 Nations League group stage match, Portugal was 3 points behind France and also lost in the head-to-head index (the first factor to consider if the two teams equal points), so definitely cannot be overthrown. The Blues are out of the number one spot.
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| Croatia vs Portugal |
Meanwhile, Portugal cannot fall to the bottom of the table (it will be relegated). Thus, Seleccao did not have a professional goal for the last game in Croatia, but contrary to what the experts predicted, coach Fernando Santos still did not have some important pillars on the bench to give the opportunity. for the bank.
Specifically, Rui Patricio, Ruben Dias, Danilo Pereira, Bruno Fernandes; Joao Félix and number 1 star Cristiano Ronaldo continue to play. Actually, Portugal has exactly 5 settings, but in positions that are not so important. For example, Diogo Jota (Liverpool) also deserves to be the main kick in the current Seleccao to replace Bernando Silva (Man City) in attack.
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| Exit list Portugal |
Rubén Semedo (playing in Greece) takes the place of José Fonte, 37, as center back alongside Rubén Dias. José Moutinho (Lobos) is also considered a lifelong pillar of the national team. In other words, Portugal’s strength against Croatia has not changed since the defeat of France.
However, wearing a solid lineup doesn’t mean it’s good. The problem is that the players have to plow too much (including the previous stage at club level) so their physical condition is reduced. Some do not want to continue to regain strength in a “meaningless” game like this when in a few days they have to dedicate themselves to the host team.
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| Croatian players shared their joy with Kovacic after the opening score |
Therefore, it is not surprising that Portugal entered the game at a slow pace. Although the Croatian host needs to win more to determine his own fate (actually, even with a draw or a loss, Croatia can still survive League A if in the match at the same time, Sweden have the same result with them playing Front French) but it is not clear for being too cautious for fear that the champions of the Eurocup or the force will not allow Croatia to play only moderately.
The first part of the first half passed, each team had few unclear opportunities and the concentration of the defense was neutralized for the goal. Furthermore, there was a moment when Cristiano Ronaldo flipped high and missed, unfortunately, behind Mario Rui’s left flank.
In an unattractive streak of play, the goal kept coming. In the 28th minute, Rubén Semedo made a bad save after a cross from the opponent’s right, as “giving the ball” to Mario Pasalic and the Serie A midfielder that Atalanta created for his teammate Matteo Kovacic (Chelsea). use 2 consecutive endings to open the score.
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| At the age of 35 and having to plow continuously, it is completely normal for Ronaldo to fade |
The header goal helps Croatia to play better. In the 36th minute, Josip Juranovic (the defender who plays in Poland) had to raise the score to 2-0 because he could hit his head from a few meters away, but the ball went out. In the 38th minute, Danilo Pereira (PSG) had the opportunity to make a half-push volley on a free kick, but Livakovic’s goalkeeper managed it.
At the start of the second half, the European champions had a roster change, but the breaker was Bruno Fernandes, not 35-year-old captain Cristiano Ronaldo. In the 51st minute, Croatia had just 10 people on the pitch after Marko Rog (playing in Serie A with Cagliari) had to receive a second yellow card for a foul on Ronaldo. Interestingly, from the beginning of the game, Rog was also the only player on the field to receive a card.
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| Midfielder Ruben Dias scored twice for Portugal after Croatia only had 10 people on the field |
The game was immediately reversed. In the free kick situation that Portugal enjoyed because of Rog, Ronaldo himself launched a strong shot with the instep. The ball flies in a very uncomfortable trajectory, causing goalkeeper Livakovic to only push out. Ruben Semedo approached Ruben Dias’ head to create a tie. This is the 23-year-old midfielder’s first goal in the national jersey color after more than 20 appearances.
In the 60th minute, Portugal went ahead 2-1 after the referee’s error. Diogo Jota (Liverpool’s rising star) let the ball touch his hand quite clearly in the penalty area, but he hadn’t whistled yet so Jota freely created Joao Félix to finish off his left foot diagonally, the ball hit the ground give up the home team defense.
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| Matteo Kovacic also had a double but could not help Croatia regain points |
As mentioned, since VAR does not apply in the UEFA Nations League, the goal is counted for Portugal despite the reaction from Croatia. However, the Croatian’s frustration also soon passed when, in the 65th minute, he tied the score. Nikola Vlasic (playing for Russia) released the ball to Matteo Kovacic on the second row without anyone comfortably carrying an unstoppable stretch, bringing the game back to the starting line.
It is not clear whether coach Fernando Santos “tried to punch and eat” or Cristiano Ronaldo “keys” before he didn’t want to leave the field (Ronaldo scored 102 goals for the national team, behind only Ali Daei with 107 goals for the national team. Iranian national team in international performance. In the history of world football – PV), CR7 played the entire match despite the fact that Seleccao had exhausted his substitution (5).
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| Joao Félix (center) is Portugal’s remaining scorer |
But what “is too late is often too late.” Not only did he not get a goal like the desire to burn the ball in his veins, but even a real shot, Ronaldo could not own. Seleccao’s best chance at the end of the match came from Bernando Silva, who replaced Joao Félix, but the Man City star shot out in an empty position and the goal was wide open.
Even Bernando Silva could not believe his eyes when he saw that the ball did not hit the goal. However, in the end the final victory still belonged to the Portuguese. In the 90th minute, goalkeeper Livakovic let the ball slip from his hand as he handled a corner kick, helping Rubén Dias double to give the hosts a 3-2 victory.
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| Despite playing the game, Ronaldo could not score a goal |
Thus, although there are no goals, Portugal continues to beat Croatia as a nice goodbye to the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League, in which they are the defending champions but no longer have the opportunity to defend the throne. Everything will be even more perfect if Ronaldo scores a goal for the match.
With Croatia, despite the defeat, they remain in the A Nations League because, at the same time, Sweden lost 2-4 in France. Croatia and 3 players after 6 matches like Sweden, both tied in achievements before a direct confrontation (Croatia won 2-1 in the first leg and Sweden won 2-1 in the second leg) but Croatia had a good difference that (- 7 vs. -8) should be higher.
TEAM
Croatia XI (4-3-1-2): Dominik Livakovic; Josip Juranovic, Dejan Lovren, Mile Skoric, Domagoj Bradaric; Luka Modric, Marko Rog, Mateo Kovacic; Mario Pasalic (Brekalo 64 ‘); Nikola Vlasic (Orsic 84 ‘), Ivan Perisic.
Portugal XI (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Nelson Semedo, Ruben Dias, Ruben Semedo, Mario Rui (Cancelo 71 ‘); Joao Moutinho, Danilo Pereira (Sérgio Oliveira 77 ‘), Bruno Fernandes (Trincao 46’); Joao Félix (Bernando Silva 71 ‘), Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota (Paulinho 77’).
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