Portugal failed to beat Croatia this Monday evening (1-1), during the last day of the Nations League. Discover the ratings we gave to the Seleção players.
José Sá (4) : Holder in the absence of Diogo Costa, the Wolverhampton goalkeeper was not up to par, particularly on his aerial outings. On one of them, he even injured his young teammate Tomás Araujo… He could do better on the Croatian goal. We can still highlight his double save a quarter of an hour from the end.
João Cancelo (4) : Captain in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, the Al-Hilal full-back completely missed his game. Dangerous ball losses, very few differences made, some high-class passes certainly, but too little to really make any impact. Regarding the goal, he is not exempt from all reproaches. He must squeeze his opponent more.
Nuno Mendes (6) : Aligned in the three-way defense, he still had the freedom to board. Another solid match for the Parisian. He leaves fifteen minutes from the end, visibly injured.
Renato Veiga (5.5) : Good and bad. Good side: his way of managing depth, of reading the game sometimes. Less good side: his passes, sometimes even his placement. Half fig, half grape.
Tomas Araujo (8) : First match for Tomás with the Seleção, and what a first match! He excelled in all departments. Defensively very solid, he always launches at the right time. And what can we say about his offensive contribution? The ultimate recovery defender. He has the head and feet to find his attackers in depth. It's precise. We found the perfect partner for Rúben Dias.
Nelson Semedo (5) : Overall, he was not bad, he even participated rather well in the Portuguese actions. But twice he leaves the player he is supposed to mark alone on the Croatian crosses. The first, more fear than harm. The second is a goal.
João Neves (4) : Already average against Poland, the young midfielder repeated this evening. When he has the ball, not much happens. And when he tries to press, he doesn't do it that well, and often flirts with making a mistake. We expect much better from him.
Octavio (6) : Nice match from Ronaldo's bottle holder to Al-Nassr. He knows how to do what needs to be done. Maybe a little too anonymous at times.
Vitinha (6) : Like João Neves, he makes a bit of a presence in the pressing. He sometimes tried to take the game into his own hands, but could have done better. However, he is capable of high-class gestures, like this magnificent assist for João Félix.
João Félix (7.5) : A first period close to perfection, a second where he was less visible, like almost everyone else. But when he was able to touch the ball, something systematically happened, like this opening score. It's elegant, it's beautiful to see, it's subtle, we ask for even more.
Rafael Leão (5.5) : It's a 5.5 of frustration. Even though he was dangerous in the first half, he sometimes got confused. He also disappeared after returning from the locker room, he also seemed frustrated by his role on the pitch.
Photo by Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images
