Portugal 1-1 England: Alessia Russo opener cancelled out by stunning Kika Nazareth goal in Nations League
Report as England draw 1-1 in Portugal; Alessia Russo opened the scoring but Lionesses failed to build on their lead; Kika Nazareth climbed off the bench and curled an equaliser into the top corner; England third in Group 3 of Women's Nations League
Saturday 22 February 2025 09:09, UK
England started their Women's Nations League campaign with a frustrating 1-1 draw in Portugal after Kika Nazareth's stunning strike cancelled out Alessia Russo's opener.
It looked to be business as usual when the Lionesses began their first fixture of 2025 with Russo's goal inside the first 15 minutes but to the frustration of Sarina Wiegman on the sidelines, they failed to make their dominance count.
Lauren James - in her first appearance for England since April - attempted the spectacular on several different occasions but other than her speculative efforts from long range, England rarely looked like adding to their lead.
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Momentum then shifted when Portugal boss Francisco Neto brought Nazareth on just before the hour mark - and it was not long until she had her say to the delight of the home crowd at a sold out Estadio Municipal de Portimao.
The Barcelona ace regularly had the beating of Grace Clinton and shrugged off a challenge from the midfielder before curling her equaliser into the top right corner, away from the outstretched arm of Mary Earps.
England finished with 68 per cent possession but only four shots on goal, and they now head into a tough clash against Group 3 leaders Spain on Wednesday after the World Cup winners mounted an impressive late comeback to beat Belgium 3-2 to top the group.
Wiegman: We have work to do ahead of Spain
England boss Sarina Wiegman speaking to ITV:
"It's 1-1 so it doesn't matter. Of course I'd hope to come away with more, I think we played a very good first half, I think we could have got some more goals, that would have helped.
"The second half they changed the shape, we had to adapt to that.
"Then when they started to push, we hoped to keep the ball better. What we did the last part of the second half, we want to do that better next time.
"The first moment they came through, they scored that goal really well, but on the other hand we could have done better there, we know that.
"Then we got the organisation better and pushed a little more too. Unfortunately we couldn't get another goal.
"I'm just thinking about next Wednesday. We have work to do, it's Spain, it's going to be a tough game at Wembley.
"We'll review this game tomorrow and then we take the steps to Spain and try to win that game."
