Key events
Some half-time emails …
Tim Stappard: “I’m watching in a Portuguese cafe. Anyway is anyone marking Williams?”
The defenders might as well be in that cafe with you, Tim.
Peter Oh: “I’m not a Spain fan but they sure know how to move the ball into good spaces. In the build-up to the second goal I exclaimed ‘Oh yeah!’, as in the goal scorer’s name Oh-Yeah-rzabal.”
It’s not even the same name but I keep thinking of the golfer José María Olazábal whenever Oyarzabal is mentioned, Peter.
HT: Portugal 1-2 Spain
Portugal somehow found a route back into the game after some sensational football from Spain, which was capped by Martín Zubimendi’s opener, even if it did have a whiff of offside to it.
Nuno Mendes’ drilled finish was the stroke of genius Portugal needed to get themselves level, but there was little they could do about the Spanish second.
2-1 is a pretty fair representation of the first half. Spain thoroughly merit the lead after 45 minutes.
It really is wonderful midfield play from Pedri. Oyarzabal still had plenty to do, and got his toe in to poke it around Diogo Costa to restore Spain’s lead.
As two minutes are added on to this half, it’s no less than Luis de la Fuente’s team deserve. Sparkling stuff from them.
GOAL! Portugal 1-2 Spain (Oyarzabal, 45)
A cute low finish and Oyarzabal has his goal! He was found immaculately by Pedri’s ball after the midfielder burst elegantly through midfield.
44 mins: Yamal wriggles one way and then t’other … in the end it’s Ronaldo tracking back who wins it off the youngster. Spain keep knocking at the door though and it takes some sharp defending from Joao Neves to take it away from trouble, earning a Portuguese free-kick.
42 mins: Having said that about Spain, they’ve just slowed things down a bit on their past couple of attacks. Building to another crescendo?
39 mins: Neto gets his pass wrong and Spain’s speed of transition is frightening, turning defence to attack. There’s no rest again this forward line. Conceição v Cucurella round 2 is threatening to light up again, as the Spanish full back goes down holding his face.
37 mins: Portugal are at least knitting together some effective sequences now. Vitinha is seeing more of the ball in the middle.
And Neto has that ability to turn the afterburners on, which is becoming a worry for Spain’s inexperienced right-back Oscar Mingueza.
34 mins: Fabián Ruiz picks up a wholly unnecessary booking. There wasn’t any need for him to be bundling Neto over as Portugal broke there – Spain had bodies back.
32 mins: Ronaldo wasn’t even offside in the buildup to that goal, despite me and ITV’s Andros Townsend both being adamant that he was. Shows what we know etc etc.
30 mins: Nuno Mendes is a seriously talented player and looks to be one of Portugal’s most threatening attacking outlets. It’s just a shame he also has the job of shackling Lamine Yamal… that part of his game is being tested to the limit by the 17-year-old tonight.
28 mins: It’s been allowed to stand. Hmm… he looked slightly offside to me. Was it too far back in the passage of play?
No matter, it’s all square. Not sure how. Spain have been miles better.
Mendes has drilled that low and hard from the left into the far corner, after good link play involving Neto and Ronaldo. There’s a VAR check here, though, I think Ronaldo had a foot offside in the buildup.
GOAL! Portugal 1-1 Spain (Mendes, 26)
WOW! Nuno Mendes equalises for Portugal with an absolute howitzer! Where on earth did that come from?
25 mins: Good defending by Ruben Dias and my word did Portugal need him there. Cucurella again threaded a ball into the inside-left channel for Williams to chase, but the Manchester City man expertly closed the door on the Spain winger.
24 mins: This is the same kind of Spain performance they produced again and again en route to Euro 2024 glory. Can anyone live with them playing like this? England certainly couldn’t in that tournament’s final — can Portugal?
Mercy me it’s gooooood football, top drawer stuff. Oyarzabal flicks it around the corner, Zubimendi drives into space, Yamal’s cross causes chaos in the box and it drops for Zubimendi to tap home from close range.
A brief VAR check confirms the goal wll stand. There was a question over whether Oyarzabal was offside from Yamal’s cross.
GOAL! Portugal 0-1 Spain (Zubimendi, 22)
It’s all too easy for Spain to pass their way around the red shirts, with one and two-touch football drawing the men in, creating space … and bringing the opening goal. Martín Zubimendi ends up with an open goal.
20 mins: Portugal are enjoying a rare spell of possession right now, which they look to be using as a period of relief. Ronaldo’s every touch is being loudly booed by the large Spanish contingent in Munich.
An early yellow card is shown to Gonçalo Inácio for a late tackle.
18 mins: Williams again looks dangerous down the Spanish left and curls just over with a classic cut-in-and-shoot move. One of these chances will go in for La Roja.
16 mins: Delightful football from Spain, with Nico Williams finding Pedri with a perfect cutback. The Barcelona midfielder just slides his finish wide. That was Spain’s best passage so far. They’re well on top now.
15 mins: Yamal broke rank to strike the free-kick but it was blazed over by the teenager. He might not get to take the next one.
14 mins: Wow… that’s the first proper glimpse of Lamine Yamal’s dancing feet and it’s far too much for Portugal. Eventually he’s brought down – otherwise he’d have got a shot off. Instead it’s a good free-kick chance for Spain. Bernardo lunged in wildly.
12 mins: Can someone please explain to me why on earth one of the mega-clubs hasn’t signed Nico Williams yet? He impresses every time I watch him. Spain have control here, without much in the way of penetration.
11 mins: Spain look like Villarreal in their all-yellow kit tonight, albeit with some red piping.
Oyarzabal wins his team a corner.
9 mins: Spain haven’t really got going yet; they can’t really get their forwards into the game.
7 mins: Tell you what, that’s a decent chance for Joao Neves, who is found in the box after Bruno Fernandes’ corner. First proper opening of the game and Neves gets his volley all wrong. Portugal may rue that.
5 mins: The stands in Munich are packed to the rafters, with both sets of supporters creating a really noisy atmosphere. We’ve already had a scuffle between Conceição and Cucurella down the Portuguese right. Early histrionics from the pair.
3 mins: Spain, of course, already have their first big win of the day, with Carlos Alcaraz edging out Jannik Sinner to retain the French Open in dramatic fashion.
Will the footballers need a similarly stirring comeback this evening?
2 mins: You’d expect Spain to have more of the possession, as they always do. Their midfield is getting ticking already.
KICK OFF
We’re under way.
OK, OK, so there’s another biggish sporting event going on elsewhere in Europe today … catch the final moments with Daniel Harris here:
We’re almost ready to rock ‘n’ roll at the Allianz Arena, Munich. Where’s yer money for this one? Spain by a hair’s breadth for me, Clive.
A question has dropped into my inbox via Kurt Perleberg and of course it concerns Cristiano Ronaldo.
He writes: “Cristiano Ronaldo becomes a free agent on July 1st when his contract with Al-Nassr expires. Where will CR7 go next to continue his iconic career?
“I believe he will sign with Inter Miami in the MLS and team up with his arch rival Lionel Messi.”
I would think that unlikely, Kurt, but Ronaldo says he’s received multiple offers. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed in Saudi Arabia, albeit with a new club. Where else is there for him to conquer?
Cristiano Ronaldo has said he does not plan to play at the Club World Cup in the United States, despite being courted by clubs participating in the 32-team tournament.
Speculation over the Portugal forward’s future intensified last month when the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, said discussions were under way about Ronaldo playing despite his club side, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, failing to qualify.
More here:
He’ll just have to try and win the Nations League instead, eh?
Those two squads are absolutely stacked. The talent that managers Roberto Martínez and Luis de la Fuente have on the bench to call upon is frankly ridiculous. Rafael Leão, Joao Palhinha, Gavi, Dani Olmo … they’re walking into almost every other international team.
The battle between the two starting midfields should be fascinating in itself. Pedri and Fabián Ruiz together is a tantalising prospect for Spain, but if anyone can shackle them it’ll be Ruiz’s PSG partner-in-crime Vitinha, who anchors between the Premier League sparkle of Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.
Consider our appetites well and truly whetted.
Team news
Portugal: Costa; J.Neves, Dias, Inácio, Mendes; B.Silva, Vitinha, Fernandes; Neto, Conceição, Ronaldo.
Subs: Sá, R.Silva, Semedo, A.Silva, Dalot, Palhinha, Ramos, Félix, Veiga, Trincao, Leão, R.Neves. Gonçalves, Jota, Mora.
Spain: Simón; Mingueza, Le Normand, Huijsen, Cucurella; Pedri, Ruiz, Zubimendi; Yamal, Williams, Oyarzabal.
Subs: Raya, Remiro, Porro, Cubarsí, Vivian, Merino, Morata, Gavi, Olmo, Pino, Baena, Grimaldo, Isco, López, Aghehowa.
Elsewhere in the world of international football … (some light reading for you):
Kylian Mbappé scored his 50th international goal as France swept aside Germany 2-0 and claimed third place in the Nations League earlier today. Mbappé then set up Michael Olise for the second in Stuttgart, reminding us all that he’s still very much in the company of Lamine Yamal, Ousmane Dembele, Mo Salah and the other 2025 Ballon D’Or Contenders.
Preamble
The buildup to this game has concentrated less on the actual trophy at stake, and more on the clash between the GOATs of the past and (likely) future. It’s Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lamine Yamal! CR7 v Lamine The Dream! Oh, is that a piece of international silverware I see in the corner of my eye as well? I guess that’d be nice to win.
“I would like to take pressure off him and leave him alone,” said Ronaldo of Spain’s teenage sensation this week. Yamal, who somehow is still only 17, dubbed his opponent “a football legend”. It’s been an understandable love-in, fuelled by the fact there is so little else to talk about in the world of football right now. A rare lull such as this was always going to be filled with predictable GOAT chat.
Anyway, the action gets under way at 8pm (BST) in Munich this evening, with Spain looking to claim Nations League glory for a second successive time after their 2023 win. In fact, there’s never been a Nations League final in which one of Spain or Portugal haven’t competed. Portugal beat the Netherlands in the inaugural 2019 competition, while France edged past Spain in 2021. Let’s see who can become the tournament’s first two-time winners tonight.
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