The salvation of Spain, the defeats from Portugal and Belgium and the luck of Ukraine: what is remembered for the second round of the League of Nations

An anniversary goal by Harry Kane helped England escape defeat in Germany, while Spain in the Czech Republic was saved by a strike by Iñigo Martinez in the 90th minute. Portugal sent four unanswered goals to Switzerland, two of which were chalked up by Cristiano Ronaldo, and Belgium, having missed the first one, upset Poland six times. France, without the injured Kylian Mbappe, failed to beat Croatia, and Ukraine pulled out a victory over Ireland thanks to a curious serve from the standard of Viktor Tsygankov. What do you remember about the second round of the League of Nations - in the material RT.

Kane's anniversary goal

In the central match of the second round of the League of Nations in Munich, Germany and England met.

The last meeting of these teams took place quite recently - last summer in the 1/8 finals of Euro 2020.

Then the Bundestim, led by Joachim Löw, suffered a painful defeat (0:2) and completed the performance.

Of course, the Germans, already under the leadership of Hans-Dieter Flick, were eager to take revenge and were very close to this.

In the first half, one goal was scored, but it was canceled due to offside by Jonas Hofmann.

At the same time, immediately after the break, the midfielder scored according to the rules, taking advantage of the excellent transfer of Joshua Kimmich.

As a result, the hosts did not have quite a bit to win.

Saved the guests from the defeat of Harry Kane.

In the end, he first failed to beat Manuel Neuer in close combat, and then earned a penalty for pushing Nico Schlotterbeck.

The striker himself confidently converted a penalty kick and scored the 50th anniversary goal in the national team.

Moreover, in the list of the best scorers of the "Three Lions" in history, he bypassed Bobby Charlton and is now second only to Wayne Rooney (53).

Unfortunately, the classics of European football were overshadowed by the outrages of English fans in Munich.

They attacked police officers, disturbed public order and drank alcohol.

Deschamps' fatal replacement

The confrontation between Croatia and France also aroused great interest.

First, they are current World Cup finalists.

Secondly, at the start of the new season, the League of Nations suffered sensational home defeats.

The "checkers" allowed themselves to be defeated by Austria - 0:3, and the tricolors lost to Denmark - 1:2.

The latter, in addition, due to injuries, lost two key performers Raphael Varane and Kylian Mbappe.

The first in the center of defense was replaced by the young William Saliba, and the second at the forefront of the attack was Alexander Golovin's partner in Monaco, Wissam Ben Yedder.

The appearance of the striker at the base fully justified itself, since at the beginning of the second half he made an assist to Adrien Rabiot.

The midfielder on the left flank left Josip Yuranovich and calmly shot into the near corner.

But the replacement of Moussa Diaby in the end with Jonathan Kloss turned out to be extremely unsuccessful.

Defender of the first touch violated the rules in his penalty area.

Andrei Kramaric converted the penalty, coolly rolling the ball in the center and allowing the hosts to recoup.

By the way, another veteran of the team, Luka Modric, held the 150th anniversary meeting for the national team that day.

A draw in a match between direct competitors benefited Denmark.

The current Euro bronze medalists defeated Austria (2:1) on the road and secured the first line of group 1 of the strongest division.

The French and Croatians have one point each and are five behind the leader.

Now, in order to get to the final four, they need to perform a miracle.

Magnificent Kuhta Match

The first round of the League of Nations as a whole turned out to be rich in sensation, because France, Croatia and England lost points in matches with rivals inferior in class.

In the second, only one unexpected result was recorded: Spain barely got away from defeat in the away match with the Czech Republic - 2:2.

In part, the result was affected by the large-scale rotation started by Luis Enrique.

The coach left in reserve Ferran Torres, Sergio Busquets, Marco Asensio, Alvaro Morata, Jordi Alba and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Despite this, the guests possessed the ball 73% of the time and delivered four times as many shots - 12:3.

However, the hosts splendidly ran into counterattacks, easily breaking through the high line of defense of the venerable opponent.

It is gratifying that Jan Kukhta has become the main character in their ranks.

Already in the third minute, the Lokomotiv forward ran to the goal with Yakub Peshek and gave him an assist.

Immediately after the break, he did not realize a one-on-one, but soon corrected himself, beautifully transferring Unai Simon.

For the striker, this is the second goal in the tournament.

Last week he upset Switzerland.

The Spaniards also compared the score at the end of each half.

In the first, the young child prodigy Gavi distinguished himself.

Along the way, he managed to become the youngest goal scorer in the national team - 17 years and 304 days.

And in the 90th minute, Inigo Martinez saved the Red Fury.

Demonstrative double Ronaldo

But Portugal, also playing in the second group of League A, did not leave a chance for Switzerland and climbed to first place.

Wards of Fernando Santos scored four unanswered goals against the guests, but they could have done more.

In the previous match with Spain, the coach decided to leave Cristiano Ronaldo in reserve, which caused a serious discussion.

This time, the five-time winner of the Golden Ball appeared from the first minutes and clearly proved that he should not fall out of the base.

He managed to directly participate in three goals.

First, after hitting a striker from a set piece and Gregor Kobel's save, William Carvalho took advantage of the rebound.

Then the seventh number issued a double within five minutes.

In the first case, he calmly shot the target after Diogo Jota's discount, and in the second, from a few meters he sent a projectile into the net.

Thus, the Manchester United striker interrupted the five-match “dry” streak in the national team and with 117 goals strengthened his leadership in the list of the most productive national team players in history.

Peaceful victory for Mancini

And in Quartet 3, Italy took the lead.

Hungary beat England in the first round, but the team did not have enough strength for the second sensation.

Yes, and Roberto Mancini, in a match with Germany, who checked the youth in business, trusted more experienced wards, with the exception of 18-year-old striker Wilfred Nyonto.

And already in the first half, the current European champions scored twice.

He opened the scoring after half an hour of the game with a magnificent blow to the far nine from the penalty line Nicolo Barella.

And shortly before the break, Matteo Politano made an excellent flank pass and helped Lorenzo Pellegrini score.

However, in the second half of the meeting, the hosts themselves helped the opponent to revive the intrigue.

After a cross into the goalkeeper's area, Gianluca Mancini cut the ball into his own goal in a tackle.

Before the final whistle, the guests had enough time to make a comeback, but rather the Italians could strengthen the advantage.

For example, Politano almost threw Denes Dybus from long range, but hit the crossbar.

Trossard's decisive exit

The Belgian national team after the defeat in the confrontation with the Netherlands (1:4) was rehabilitated before the fans in the home meeting with Poland.

Six goals flew into the gates of the guests, while they scored only once.

Surprisingly, the wards of Cheslav Mikhnevich managed to open an account in the 28th minute.

Sebastian Szymanski, who left Dynamo, made an excellent pass into the penalty area for Robert Lewandowski, who scored the 76th goal for the national team.

Shortly before the break, Axel Witsel restored the balance on the scoreboard, and after an hour of the game, Kevin De Bruyne put the Red Devils ahead, but on the whole, the opponent kept up with dignity, also thanks to the saves of Bartlemiej Drongowski.

Poles crumbled only in the end, when fresh opponent's players came to the fore.

Leandro Trossard, barely appeared on the field, designed a double.

And in stoppage time by the referee, the young debutant Lua Openda put an end to it.

Wegorst's Incredible Punch

But the Netherlands almost lost points in Cardiff.

The Welsh, after winning the final of the 2022 World Cup joints, put on the field a far from optimal line-up.

However, Louis van Gaal had a serious rotation, giving a chance to the reservists.

This did not stop the guests from opening an account at the beginning of the second half of the meeting.

Tön Kopmeiners from the penalty area neatly shot into the far bottom corner.

However, the incredible denouement came directly in stoppage time by the referee.

First, in the 92nd minute, the Welsh managed to recoup.

After a cross from the right flank, young defender Rhys Norrington-Davies outweighed the opponent in the air and sent the ball into the far corner from close range.

But on the 95th "orange", having organized the last attack, tipped the scales in their favor.

Wout Wegorst scored an even more beautiful goal.

Opening in the center of the penalty area, he freely struck his head in the fall.

Thus, van Gaal's wards won the second victory in a row and entrenched themselves at the top of the group 4 of the strongest division.

Curious ball Tsygankov

It seemed that after a disappointing defeat to Wales, Ukraine would not be able to tune in to its first Nations League match with Ireland.

Moreover, Alexander Petrakov left all the stars in reserve.

The captain and author of the fateful own goal in Cardiff, Andriy Yarmolenko, was not included in the application, and the main goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan was injured.

But Andrei Lunin, who replaced him, played a great game, playing to zero.

The goalkeeper proved that it is not in vain that he defends the colors of Real Madrid.

He acted reliably and calmly coped with all threats and numerous shelters from the flanks.

I especially remember the save in the end, when the young goalkeeper turned the projectile into the crossbar with his fingertips after hitting his head at close range.

In the attack, the Ukrainians did not show anything at first, but closer to the break they opened an account.

However, the judge, after watching the replay, canceled the beautiful ball of Taras Kacharaba due to an offside position from Artyom Dovbik, who assisted him.

But in the 47th minute, the guests distinguished themselves by all the rules thanks to the curious submission of Viktor Tsygankov from a free kick.

No one got to the ball in this episode, and, unexpectedly for the Irish goalkeeper, he darted into the net.