Spain held by Portugal in UEFA Nations League tie

 

Spain and Portugal held each other to a draw for the fifth consecutive time after their 1-1 draw on Thursday evening in a UEFA Nations League clash in Seville.

Both teams are in Group 2 of League A alongside Czech Republic and Switzerland. The game is the third time since their epic 3-3 draw at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia that the team will be facing each other.

However, that six-goal thriller in Sochi and Thursday evening in Sevilla is part of five games consecutive games that ended as draws between both sides.

Spanish side Alvaro Morata put the La Roja in the lead with a 25th-minute strike, but despite being 8 minutes away from a victory, Spain were pegged back by a player who was making his first national team appearance since his debut 8 years ago.

Braga’s Ricardo Horta made his Portuguese national team debut as a 19-year-old in 2014, but after an 8-year absence, he was able to find the back of the net off a Joao Cancelo’s pass for his first international goal.

The fixture has failed to see any winner in its last five settings in over seven years.

Portugal won the 2019 edition of the competition, but the Les Blues of France are the defending champions.

Meanwhile, their group opponents Czech Republic defeated Switzerland 2-1 to go top of the group. Spain will be the Czech Republic’s opponent on Sunday, while Portugal will host Switzerland.

In other Nations League matches, Isreal and Iceland played a 2-2 draw while Norway beat Serbia 1-0, with Erling Haaland scoring the winner in the first half.

Sweden’s Emile Forsberg and Dejan Kulusevski scored in the first and second half, respectively.

On Friday, France will play Denmark while Belgium will host the Netherlands, and Croatia will play Austria.

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu