Spain vs Portugal. UEFA Nations League Group A2.
Benito VillamarinAttendance41,236.
Spain had to settle for a point in Seville after Ricardo Horta's late goal for Portugal earned them a point in Group A2 of the Nations League; elsewhere there were wins for Czech Republic, Sweden and Norway with Erling Haaland on target for the latter
Thursday 2 June 2022 22:27, UK
Portugal levelled late on to secure a 1-1 draw with Spain as the old rivals kicked off their Nations League campaigns in Sevilla.
Alvaro Morata's excellent goal on the counter-attack had put Spain in charge late in the first half but Ricardo Horta equalised after clever work from Joao Cancelo.
Last season's runners-up Spain were on top for long periods with Barcelona's 17-year-old wonderkid Gavi instrumental.
Indeed, Morata and Carlos Soler wasted chances to double the lead that were created by the youngster and Luis Enrique's side missed him when he was substituted.
At the other end, Andre Silva had been wasteful and it will have been noted that the turnaround came when Cristiano Ronaldo emerged from the bench. But it was not the record scorer who was the hero but a player scoring his very first goal for his country.
Horta's effort ensures that the 2019 Nations League winners do not begin this tournament with defeat.
In the other match in Group A2, Czech Republic defeated Switzerland 2-1 in Prague, the winning goal coming as a result of an own goal by Djibril Sow.
Elsewhere, Erling Haaland's first-half volley gave Norway a 1-0 win away to Serbia as they got their Group B4 campaign underway, but they needed goalkeeping heroics from Orjan Nyland to secure the win.
The visitors took the lead in the 26th minute as Martin Odegaard sliced open the defence with a beautiful pass to Marcus Pedersen who crossed for Haaland to deftly volley home from close range with the only shot on target in the first half.
Serbia dominated possession and put the Norway defence under tremendous pressure in the second half, but Nyland pulled off a string of fine saves to keep his clean sheet intact and secure the three points for his team.
In the same group, Sweden were also winners, Emil Forsberg's first-half penalty and a superb solo goal by Dejan Kulusevski getting them off to a winning start as they beat Slovenia 2-0 in a feisty clash in Ljubljana.
Sweden started strongly and they took the lead in the 39th minute when Forsberg calmly converted a spot-kick after Viktor Claesson was fouled.
Kulusevski almost doubled the Swedes' lead on the hour mark, cutting in from the right and unleashing a brilliant curling shot only to be denied by Jan Oblak. But he was not done. Breaking away late on, Kulusevski hammered the ball home from a tight angle to secure the points.
In Group B2, Israel and Iceland played out an entertaining 2-2 draw. The hosts went ahead through Celtic winger Liel Abada, but a goalkeeping error by Ofir Marciano was seized upon by Thorir Helgason and Arnor Sigurdsson scored to turn it around. Shon Weissman had the final say for Israel.
Earlier in the afternoon, there was a comfortable 4-0 win for Georgia over Gibraltar, while Estonia eased to a 2-0 victory over San Marino with both the goals coming in the first half.
Kosovo had to wait a little longer to see off Cyprus, their goals in a 2-0 win coming after the break, while it was an altogether tighter affair as Bulgaria drew 1-1 at home to North Macedonia. Kiril Despodov gave Bulgaria an early advantage but Milan Ristovski equalised in the second half.
