Paris (AFP)
France and Portugal, winners against Croatia and Sweden on Wednesday in the 4th day of the League of Nations, continue their duel from a distance, while England and Italy have lost points and the head of their groups home.
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The mano a mano France-Portugal continues at a distance
Respectively winners in Croatia (2-1) and against Sweden (3-0), France and Portugal continue to fight a hard-fought duel in Group 3 of League A, where they are tied for the lead. points.
Although having led for a long time, from the opening of the score by Antoine Griezmann (8th) to the Croatian equalizer by Nikola Vlasic (64th), France had to wait until the last minutes to win thanks to Kylian Mbappé (79th) .
The task was much easier for the Seleçao.
Against Sweden, the last in the group with zero points, Portugal did not seem affected by the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, positive for Covid-19.
A goal from Bernardo Silva (21st) and a brace from Diogo Jota (44th, 72nd) gave the Portuguese an easy victory in Lisbon.
With 10 points each, the two selections will compete in the last two days, in mid-November, for first place in the group, qualifying for the "Final Four" of this League of Nations.
Advantage Portugal, title holder, thanks to a better goal difference: +8 against +4 for the Blues.
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England stumbles, Belgium takes advantage
Surprised by Denmark at Wembley (1-0), England is no longer the leader of group B, joined by Denmark and above all overtaken by Belgium, victorious of the group's smallest, Iceland (2-1) , in Reykjavik.
The English collapsed in a few minutes: a second yellow card synonymous with expulsion for Manchester United central defender Harry Maguire (31st), and a penalty converted by Christian Eriksen in the 36th minute for his 100th selection.
At the same time, Belgium did not simplify the task in Iceland.
The opening scoring by Romelu Lukaku (9th) was quickly followed by the Icelandic equalizer, signed Birkir Saevarsson (17th).
It is a double from Lukaku, top scorer in the history of the "Red Devils" (38th, sp), who offered the victory to the visitors.
With 9 points, Belgium is recovering from its defeat Sunday in England (2-1) and takes the lead of group 2 alone, two points ahead of England and Denmark.
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Italy tramples and leaves the lead to Poland
Until then leader of group 1, Italy was hooked by the Netherlands in Rome (1-1), a goal from Donny van de Beek (25th) responding to the opening scoring of Lorenzo Pellegrini (16th) .
A draw that does business for Poland, solid and efficient against Bosnia-Herzegovina (3-0) and new leader of the group.
Silent against Italy (0-0) on Sunday, Robert Lewandowski took the opportunity to score a double, his first goals in the selection since November 2019.
The Poles now have 7 points, one more than Italy, and two more than the Netherlands.
© 2020 AFP