Poljut Stadium in Split opened its doors for the Nations League match between Croatia and Portugal. We got the player ratings.
The Portugal National Team had one last chance to qualify to the Nations League’s Final Four against Croatia. They visited Split for this match hoping France couldn’t win their respective match against Sweden. During the first half, Mateo Kovacic was the man who opened the can for Croatia after 30 minutes in the game. This left Portugal in a hurry to get their equalizer, which they didn’t get until the second half through Ruben Dias.
The Manchester City defender scored after a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick was deflected by the Croatia goalkeeper. Not long after that, Diogo Jota clearly used his hand before assisting Joao Felix but the ref couldn’t see it without VAR. This result was good enough to force France to win their match against Croatia so far, Ronaldo was needed in this match for Portugal’s benefit.
Dias appears instead of Ronaldo.
The last 30 minutes of the match were quite thrilling for both sides. Portugal saw how Mateo Kovacic equalized the game with a brilliant solo effort that put the locals within one goal from eliminating the Nations League champions. But in the end, Dias managed to score the winning goal after a corner kick and got his side a much-needed 3-2 victory.
It was odd not watching Cristiano Ronaldo appear with a goal for his side, they needed him throughout the whole tournament. This result wasn’t enough for Portugal to qualify to the Nations League’s Final Four, France took their spot inside the group.
Player ratings
Croatia: Livakovic (3), Lovren (7), Skoric (7), Juranovic (6), Bradaric (7), Modric (8), Perisic (7), Kovacic (9), Pasalic (7), Rog (4), Vlasic (6).
Bench: Brekalo (9), Silva (7), Joao Felix (7), Carvalho (6).
Portugal: Patricio (6), Rui (6), Semedo (5), Semedo (5), Dias (8), Moutinho (6), Pereira (6), Bruno (7), Jota (7), Ronaldo (6), Felix (7).
Bench: Trincao (7), Silva (6), Cancelo (6), Oliveira (6), Paulinho (6).
Feel free to make your pick on player’s ratings and performances using the widget below.
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