In a game where Spain enjoyed the majority of the possession but had very little to show for it upfront in regards to creating clear-cut chances and Portugal’s impotence on goal due to Ronaldo’s inability to convert his side’s best chances, it looked like the game was destined for a 0-0 draw but all that changed when Nico Williams headed the ball towards the face of goal as it landed kindly in the path of Morata who made no mistake from close range as he scored the winner in the 88th minute.
The 1-0 victory means Spain will join Croatia, Italy and the Netherlands in the Nations League finals.
With the World Cup looming, both teams will have to up their game if they would like to salvage something meaningful in Qatar.
Spain tends to enjoy majority of the possession but having the ball more often doesn’t always have an effect on the score line but their opponent on the other hand didn’t have the guile to cut open the Spanish defense.
The inaugural Nations League winners, Portugal were more of a threat in attack, with Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Bruno Fernandes all having chances on goal in the first stanza.
With the half time team talk given, both teams showed alot of intent but perhaps lacked the cutting edge to score the opener.
Ronaldo missed a glorious chance after Jota did brilliantly to find him with just two minutes in but he fired his shot straight at the goalkeeper from close range to end the match goalless for the World’s record holder of the most international goals with 117 goals.
The Manchester United forward’s frustrating start to the season has continued and many Portuguese he will find his form soon before the Qatar World Cup kickoff this November despite struggling for game time at his club.
Ronaldo has only made one start so far this in the English Premier League for the Erik Ten Hag coached United out of 6 matches and he is yet to score for the Red devils in the league.
