Spain and Portugal in the quarter-finals, Switzerland relegated

Today edith. New Monday 18th November 2024 04:52 PM REPORT

Guaranteed to be relegated to League B, Switzerland hoped, this evening against Spain, to leave on one last good note. As a reminder, the Nati has already lost its first three group matches before following up with two draws. On the other hand, his evening opponent is a solid leader, with a very good record of five victories and only one draw. The match therefore logically turned in favor of La Roja. After a foul by Ricardo Rodriguez on Morata, a penalty was awarded for the Spanish team (31st). The shot on goal was missed by Pedri, but Yeremy Pino, attentive, followed the ball and finished from close range (32nd, 1-0). At the break, Luis de la Fuente's men were ahead on the scoreboard, thanks to a one-sided first period, where Spain had struck a dozen times on goal compared to only four times for Switzerland.

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Showing more initiative after returning from the locker room, Switzerland scored an equalizer in the 63rd minute of play. Joel Monteiro used his technique in the area to cross a shot which ended up in the back of the net (63rd , 1-1). But the Spaniards recovered immediately. Bryan Gil picked up a lost ball in the area and deceived the Swiss goalkeeper (68th, 2-1). After a fault from Ruiz, it was the Nati's turn to be awarded a penalty, transformed a few moments later by Andi Zeqiri (85th, 2-2). The match ended with a third and final penalty, in favor of the Spaniards, which allowed them to take the advantage in added time (90th + 3, 3-2). At the end of the match, Spain remains leader of its group with 14 points.

Gvardiol grabs Portugal

In the other shock of the evening in League A, Croatia challenged Portugal. Modric's teammates occupied, before the match, second place in the group with 7 points. A draw or victory was needed to secure a place in the quarter-finals. Roberto Martinez's Portugal did not have this kind of problem. Leader of the group, the country remained on a good record of four victories and one draw. After a nice pass from Vitinha, Joao Felix opened the scoring after half an hour of play (33rd, 0-1). At the end of the first period, Rafael Leao missed a great opportunity to double the lead and brushed past the Croatian right post (45th+2).

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At the hour mark, Josko Gvardiol thought he was getting back on track but his attempt was flagged offside by the referee (62nd). But the second one was the right one. The Manchester City player equalized in the 65th thanks to a nice cross from Kristijan Jakic (1-1, 65th). This result therefore allows Croatia to maintain second place in the group with 8 points, and thus continue the adventure in the Nations League. In the other matches of the evening, Scotland defeated Poland (2-1), Serbia and Denmark, leaving with a goalless draw (0-0). Finally, also note the small feat of San Marino which won against Liechtenstein (1-3) and which rose to League C for the first time.