Alvaro Morata’s late goal gave Spain a 1-0 win against Portugal on Tuesday to secure first place in their group and a position in the Nations League final four. Although Portugal had the upper hand, Spain remained competitive. In the 88th minute, a long ball from Dani Carvajal into the box was headed by Nico Williams across to Morata, who slammed it into the goal to quiet the majority of the sold-out stadium. With 11 points from six games, Spain won League A-Group 2, one point better than Portugal in second place, who simply needed a draw to go to the semifinals. In the final competition next year, Spain will compete alongside Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands. “It was a challenging game, but I support the team’s mentality. We put a lot of effort into this, “Morata told the media.
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We had to leave everything on the field if we were to lose, and that is exactly what happened to us once more. We always do that when Spain is required to participate in important games. That’s how we operate, and tonight was no different. Portugal, which was led by Cristiano Ronaldo, had several chances to win, was in charge for most of the game, and looked like it was going to the final. In the 32nd minute, Diogo Jota took a long pass from Bruno Fernandes and fired a shot toward the top right corner, but Unai Simon did a great job of stopping it with one hand. This nearly gave the home team the lead. Five minutes later, Fernandes came so close to scoring that the home crowd believed he had scored when he rifled a cross shot into the side netting.
After losing to Switzerland 2-1 at home on Saturday, Spain looked lost and confused in what looked like another lacklustre game. Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, and Jordi Alba of Barcelona were left on the bench as Spain manager Luis Enrique made seven changes to his starting lineup. Spain didn’t get going until he made four replacements in the second half, and it took Morata for them to earn their first shot of the match after 70 minutes. In the 76th minute, the Atletico Madrid attacker came close to scoring when he blasted a long-range drive toward the bottom right corner that Diogo Costa brilliantly stopped with one hand. “This is an amazing sport.”
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“Winning is the finest medicine,” Luis Enrique stated following the game. Portugal has top-notch personal qualities. Although we made over 400 passes in the first half, we’d want to have more in the opponent’s half. In the second part, we fixed that. The second half will be hailed as amazing by all, but the first half was crucial. I anticipated the goal in the second half. We’re back in the final four, which is a great thrill. Let’s take advantage of it. Ronaldo made a valiant effort to score, but his play was frequently uneven and he was unable to adequately link up with his teammates. As a result, Spain was still in the game until Morata scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time. When asked who players he would take to the World Cup in November, Luis Enrique responded, “It’s not about 26 players; there are 40 who may go. Borja Iglesias and Nico Williams have both already spoken. Having so many top-notch Spanish players is a joy. That some will be left out is regrettable. It’s unfortunate that so many athletes appear to deserve it. The defeat did not affect Portugal manager Fernando Santos’ team’s confidence or World Cup preparations, where he feels Portugal “are still one of the favourites.” ” They are in Group H with South Korea, Ghana, and Uruguay.” The first half was pretty well organised by us. Despite having possession, they did not produce anything. After the 60th minute, though, we started to lose steam and intensity, Santos said at a press conference. “They expanded mostly as a result of our loss of possession of the ball. Players were unable to launch their game. Spain started to push and eventually scored a goal despite having virtually no chances. It is obvious that the script was modified in the last moments.
