Saving Portugal in the end
In the early game days of the League of Nations, there were enough interesting confrontations, but the Pyrenean derby Spain - Portugal stood out among them.
The teams were expected to have bright football and many goals, like at the World Cup in Russia, when they hit each other's gates three times.
This time only two goals were scored.
Luis Enrique's men had a slight advantage and had more shots on goal (12 to seven), but they only hit the target three times and rarely forced Diogo Meireles into the game.
And they managed to distinguish themselves in the counterattack.
Gavi made a great pass from his own half, cut a well-timed pass to Pablo Sarabia, who fired a cross to the lone Alvaro Morata.
However, the team of Fernando Santos escaped defeat in the end.
After the diagonal, Joao Cancelo did not miss his moment, who entered the field shortly before Ricardo Horta.
But much more discussion was caused not so much by the game itself as by the decision of the coach to seat Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.
The five-time winner of the Golden Ball was left on the bench in the national team for the first time since November 2020, when it was decided to save him in a friendly match with Andorra.
In Seville, the mentor gave him only half an hour.
Moreover, the striker in the fifth match in a row in the national team was left without goals.
After the final whistle, Santos explained his step by saying that Andre Silva in a particular meeting was more suitable for the role of a center forward, since he presses better and is hardworking.
“Cristiano can do many other things and that is why he is the best player in the world.
But that was my personal choice.
I will have a big rotation in the next three matches.
All players must be ready to enter the field, we expect this from them, ”Goal.com quotes a specialist.
Serious rotation of Italy
Another match with a bright sign Italy - Germany ended with a similar score.
However, for the Azzurra Squadra, this result is quite acceptable, because Roberto Mancini, after losing to Argentina in the Finalissima, had a serious rotation of the squad.
Alessandro Bastoni, Sandro Tonali, Davide Frattesi and Gianluca Scamacca entered the field from the first minutes.
And already in the course of the game, the headquarters threw Wilfred Nyonto, Federico Dimarco, Tommaso Runaway, Matteo Cancelleri and Samuele Ricci into battle.
However, even in such a roster, the team, with the support of the home stands, fought on equal terms with a formidable opponent.
Particularly active in front was Skamakka, who struck several blows and created the most dangerous moment in the first half - from outside the penalty area he hit the post.
And in the 70th minute the hosts took the lead.
Moreover, the effective backache on Lorenzo Pellegrini was performed by the 18-year-old debutant Nyonto, who plays for Zurich.
However, the wards of Hans-Dieter Flick instantly leveled the score.
Active actions on the flank also helped them to distinguish themselves.
If Timo Werner was not allowed to close the transfer of Jonas Hoffmann, then no one prevented Josua Kimmich from breaking through on the rebound.
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© MIGUEL MEDINA
Danish Willpower
Enough in the first round and unexpected results.
Thus, both current World Cup finalists France and Croatia suffered home defeats.
The tricolors lost to Denmark for the first time in 20 years - 1:2.
The last time they lost to her was at the group stage of the 2002 World Championship.
However, Kasper Julmann's team is very strong, as evidenced by reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and almost one hundred percent performance in the qualification of the 2022 World Cup.
And the success at the Stade de France brought her even closer to the strongest teams in the world.
And for the owners at first, nothing foreshadowed trouble.
They held the initiative and opened the scoring at the start of the second half.
Karim Benzema, after a neat heel-off by Christopher Nkunku, took out two opponents on the backswing and scored the 50th goal of the season in all competitions.
However, the guests did not give up and turned the match around.
And the perfect exit to replace Andreas Cornelius helped them.
The striker does not enjoy the trust of the headquarters and, as a rule, starts matches on the bench.
In Saint-Denis, he took advantage of his chance one hundred percent.
Barely appearing on the field, the striker closed the supply from the flank.
And in the 88th minute, he competently pushed back the defender in the penalty area with his body and shot right under the crossbar from a rather sharp angle.
Hugo Lloris also played not in the best way, who was not ready for this and did not rescue his partners.
On top of all the troubles, the French lost two leaders at once, Kylian Mbappe and Raphael Varane, due to injuries.
The first suffered a knee injury and was replaced at half-time, and the second pulled the back of the thigh.
Failed Croatia game
And Croatia without a chance devastatingly lost to Austria - 0:3.
Former head of Lokomotiv sports and development Ralph Rangnick, who was severely criticized for his failures at Manchester United, made a magnificent debut in his new post.
Moreover, the German is the first specialist in the history of this national team in 20 years, who achieved a dry victory in the starting match for himself.
The coach should be thanked for this by opponents who had an extremely unsuccessful meeting.
The hosts, although they had more possession of the ball, created practically nothing at the opponent's goal.
Guests also regularly organized dangerous counterattacks, two of which eventually ended in goals.
At the end of the first half, Marko Arnautovic accurately shot into the far corner, and immediately after the break, Michael Gregorich closed the cross from the flank.
And after only three minutes, Ivica Ivusic, who was playing only the fourth game for the national team, was not ready for a long-range shot by Marcel Zabitzer in the near one.
Then the Austrians were more likely to increase the advantage than the "checkers" - to close the gap.
Even replacing Luka Modric did not help.
After such an unsuccessful fight, the team's coach Zlatko Dalic was even forced to apologize to the fans.
And Rangnik, who felt self-confident, noted that his wards could have scored more.
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© Davor Javorovic/Pixsell/MB Media
The unexpected defeat of Belgium
The current bronze medalists of the World Cup, the Belgians, who sensationally defeated the Netherlands at home - 1:4, supported the unpleasant tradition.
The very success of the "orange" did not come as a surprise, because after the return of Louis van Gaal, they caught the courage and do not lose ten matches.
However, meetings with neighbors usually do not go very well for the team.
For example, the last victory over them was recorded in 1997.
Competent decisions of the coach helped to achieve the long-awaited success.
He saturated the center of midfield, which helped his wards turn on the pressure in a timely manner.
And right after tackles, they delivered the ball to Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay.
This tactic worked.
The first opened the scoring with a beautiful long-range shot, and the second scored a double and crossed the mark of 40 goals in the national team.
The striker has 41, and he is only nine behind the record holder for this indicator, Robin van Persie.
The Belgians, however, played in the attack in many ways broke the injury of Romelu Lukaku, who had to be replaced already in the 27th minute.
Without him, they were content with the ball of prestige in stoppage time by the referee, authored by Micha Batshuayi.
Sensational defeat for England
But the away misfire of England in Hungary became a real sensation, because the British last lost to this opponent in 1962.
And last year's meeting of the teams here, at the Puskas Arena, ended with the defeat of the hosts - 0:4.
This time they managed to take revenge.
The guests played one of the worst games in 2022.
They never found a way to break open the saturated defense of the opponent and hit the target a few times, creating almost no chances.
And after an hour of confrontation Rhys James made a blunder.
In his own penalty area, the defender did not keep track of Zsolt Nagy and was forced to knock him down.
The referee without hesitation awarded a penalty, which Dominik Soboslai converted.
The match was also remembered for another scandal involving local fans.
Due to the manifestations of racism during Euro 2020, only children under the age of 14 were present in the stands.
However, even they booed the British kneeling in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
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© Visionhaus
Good start for Armenia
The Armenian national team is no stranger to successfully starting major tournaments.
For example, in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, she started with three wins, but scored the same number of points in the remaining matches.
So in the second most important division of the League of Nations, she made her debut successfully, at home being stronger than Ireland - 1:0.
It was possible to beat an opponent superior in class primarily thanks to reliable defense.
Although the guests had possession of the ball 65% of the time, they only hit the target twice.
Of the dangerous moments, I recall the removal of Hovhannes Hambardzumyan from the "ribbon" after the opponent's blow.
But the wards of Joaquin Caparros in the second half hit the gates of Kevin Kelleher twice.
First, Tigran Barseghyan scored a magnificent twisted shot into the far top corner, but the referee, after watching the replay, canceled the goal due to a clear offside position from his partner, who was performing an assist.
But Eduard Spertsyan's goal was scored according to all the rules in the 74th minute.
The midfielder of "Krasnodar" from 30 meters sent a projectile into the near corner with a rebound from the bar.