Sid Lowe was at the Estadio Benito Villamarín. His report on Spain’s draw with Portugal in tonight’s showpiece match has landed, and here it is. Enjoy, enjoy, and thanks for reading this Clockwatch. Nighty night!
Ian Baraclough speaks to Premier Sports. “It’s frustrating. We looked like a team who hadn’t played for a little while. Second half, we upped the tempo and showed a bit of bravery, pushing them back. It was a case of losing a goal from a breakaway, and that set us on the back foot. Both teams were allowed to play in their own style. At times we could press, and at times we didn’t. We’ll look forward to the Cyprus game. We’ll go to Cyprus looking to open our account.”
All tonight's results
A2
Czech Republic 2-1 Switzerland
Spain 1-1 Portugal
B2
Albania v Russia (P)
Israel 2-2 Iceland
B4
Serbia 0-1 Norway
Slovenia 0-2 Sweden
C2
Cyprus 0-2 Kosovo
Northern Ireland 0-1 Greece
C4
Bulgaria 1-1 North Macedonia
Georgia 4-0 Gibraltar
D2
Estonia 2-0 San Marino
FULL TIME: Northern Ireland 0-1 Greece
With a couple of minutes of injury time to go, can Northern Ireland snatch a draw? Nope. There’s just enough time left for Kyle Lafferty to nearly start a brawl after clambering all over Petros Mantalos, and the whistle goes. A deserved win for Gus Poyet’s Greece, and a frustrating evening for Ian Baraclough’s men.
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FULL TIME: Spain 1-1 Portugal
An entertaining game ends all square. It’s the fourth draw in a row between these European heavyweights; the fifth if you count the 0-0 draw at Euro 2012 eventually won by Spain on penalty kicks.
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GOAL! Slovenia 0-2 Sweden (Kulusevski 88). Dejan Kulusevski of Spurs secures the points for the Swedes.
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90 min: There will be three minutes of bonus time in Seville.
89 min: Guerreiro crudely checks Sarabia to the right of the Portugal box. He’s booked, and it’s a free kick in a very dangerous area. But Sarabia’s delivery isn’t up to much, and Diogo Costa claims.
GOAL! Israel 2-2 Iceland (Weissman 84). Real Valladolid forward Shon Weissman comes off the bench to salvage something for the hosts!
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86 min: Here’s another example of Spanish profligacy! Sarabia works hard down the right and whips infield. Costa punches out weakly. Jordi Alba only has to nod home from eight yards, but sends the ball sailing wide of the left-hand post!
84 min: Spain have been the better team for the most part, but now look. It’s a story that’s been told before.
GOAL! Spain 1-1 Portugal (Horta 82)
Well, well, well! Portugal had been huffing and puffing, but suddenly they take a deep breath and burst forward with purpose. João Cancelo one-twos with Gonçalo Guedes down the right and whips in low for Ricardo Horta, who sweeps home gracefully from 12 yards! A rapier thrust.
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81 min: Gavi, surely the man of the match at the ripe old age of 17, makes way for Marcos Llorente. Bruno Fernandes meanwhile is replaced by Matheus Nunes.
80 min: See 78 min. Portugal are getting a taste of their own medicine as Spain sit deep and ensure there’s no way through.
78 min: Spain are in control right now. They’re quite happy to let Portugal have it in the centre of the park, because the visitors are struggling to get any further forward.
75 min: Ronaldo takes a kitten-style swipe at Azpilicueta’s ear, then clips him on the back of the neck. You’ve seen players walk for less. The referee does nothing.
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74 min: Koke sprays a glorious diagonal pass towards Sarabia on the right wing. Sarabia turns on the jets and races infield, attempting to catch Diogo Costa out at his near post. His low shot fizzes inches wide of the bottom-right corner.
72 min: Admin corner: Raul De Tomas comes on for Alvaro Morata, Rafael Leao is replaced by Ricardo Horta, and Diego Llorente is booked for cleaning out Bernardo Silva.
70 min: Spain continue to tippy-tap and tiki-tak. The olés come out. Too soon? Never too soon for Trane.
68 min: Everything’s slowed down in Seville. Spain are passing it around a lot, like Spain do; Portugal are holding a firm shape, like etc., and so on.
65 min: Gavi dinks a pass down the inside-right channel. Morata over-complicates things when he should hit the target at the very least.
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63 min: Both teams make a couple of changes in Seville. Spain replace Carlos Soler and Ferran Torres with Koke and Dani Olmo, while Portugal withdraw André Silva and Otávio with Gonçalo Guedes and - no surprises here - Cristiano Ronaldo.
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GOAL! Czech Republic 2-1 Switzerland (Sow og 58). The Czechs retake the lead in Prague ... or, more to the point, Djibril Sow gifts them it.
59 min: Leão has already missed one fine opportunity from ten yards; now he ruins his own good work, ending a fine dribble down the inside-left channel by blootering his shot straight at Unai Simon. On the Portugal bench, guess who’s preparing to come on?
GOAL! Israel 1-2 Iceland (Sigurdsson 53). Iceland have turned it around in Haifa! Venezia midfielder Arnór Sigurdsson with their second.
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56 min: Gavi seems to have an extra half-second on everyone else. He ponders at high speed and sends Torres into space down the right. His vicious whipped cross isn’t far away from finding Morata in the middle. Pepe intervenes and Morata applauds his team-mate’s ball in.
54 min: Gavi jinks around the centre circle and is clipped from behind by Bernardo Silva. The Portugal midfielder could so easily have seen a second yellow there. Another foul will really test the referee’s patience.
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52 min: Fernandes takes a corner and fails to beat the first man. Manchester United fans will feel Portuguese pain.
50 min: Tell you what, Portugal have got away with one here. Gavi nicks possession in the middle of the park and slips Morata into space down the right. Morata crosses. The ball pings first off Fernandes, then onto Danilo’s outstretched arm, held in a very unnatural position. The pinball effect probably saves Danilo, as the referee shows no interest. Hmm.
48 min: A fairly uninspiring start to the second half.
Spain get the second half underway in Seville. Portugal have made a wholly unsurprising substitution, replacing Joao Moutinho, who was t-t-t-tipping on the disciplinary tightrope, with Ruben Neves.
Half-time entertainment.
The 7.45pm half times
A2
Czech Republic 1-1 Switzerland
Spain 1-0 Portugal
B2
Israel 1-1 Iceland
B4
Serbia 0-1 Norway
Slovenia 0-1 Sweden
C2
Northern Ireland 0-1 Greece
GOAL! Israel 1-1 Iceland (Helgason 42). ... while 21-year-old Lecce midfielder Thórir Jóhann Helgason does the same for Iceland.
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GOAL! Czech Republic 1-1 Switzerland (Okafor 44). RB Salzburg winger Noah Okafor gets the Swiss back on terms just before the break.
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GOAL! Slovenia 0-1 Sweden (Forsberg 39 pen). Sweden captain Emil Forsberg gives his team the lead from the spot.
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GOAL! Northern Ireland 0-1 Greece (Bakasetas 39)
The game at Windsor Park had been sputtering along without much in the way of drama ... but suddenly Greek captain Tasos Bakasetas finds the corner from a pocket of space on the edge of the box.
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40 min: Now Moutinho barges into the back of Alba, and the stand-in Portugal captain has to be careful here. One more daft challenge and he could be off.
39 min: ... though you never know, it might kick off soon enough. Joao Moutinho sees yellow after sliding in on Morata, who was looking to progress down the middle ... then seconds later, Bernardo Silva goes into the book for a desperate clip at Torres’s ankle.
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36 min: Sarabia is booked for a brazen lunge on Otavio, who was making off at speed down the right. The sort of challenge that might have instigated a minor melee in a higher-stakes game.
GOAL! Serbia 0-1 Norway (Haaland 26). Manchester City are going to have one hell of a season, aren’t they.
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GOAL! Israel 1-0 Iceland (Abada 25). Celtic winger Liel Abada gives Israel the lead in Haifa.
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29 min: It should be two ... and again it’s Gavi. The 17-year-old Barcelona prodigy sashays down the left and cuts back for Soler, who tries to slam home first time from the edge of the box. Diogo Costa blocks with his feet. The ball rebounds to Soler, who hoicks over the bar. That would have been another picture-book goal.
28 min: That was one hell of a goal ... and it was Spain’s first shot on target. Gavi is going to be a very special player. It wasn’t half bad movement from Morata and Sarabia, either.
GOAL! Spain 1-0 Portugal (Morata 25)
... so having said that, Spain score from a gorgeous counter attack at speed! Gavi wriggles away from a Bernardo Silva lunge to the left of the centre circle. He storms down the flank and cuts infield, rolling a diagonal pass towards Morata, bombing down the middle. Morata leaves the ball for Sarabia to his right. Sarabia rolls it back to Morata, who slots home from ten yards. What a move! What a talent Gavi is!
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24 min: A lot of frowning and performative gurning on the pitch, though, as pass after pass fails to find its target. It’s almost as though most of these players are knackered after non-stop football for the last couple of strange years, and could do with a proper break.
21 min: A shot of Ronaldo in the Portugal dugout. To be fair to him, he’s not sitting there with a face on. He’ll be dreaming about coming on and adding to those 115 international goals, I’ll be bound.
18 min: Jordi Alba floats a chip into the Portugal area. It’s claimed easily by Diogo Costa, who bowls out long to Bernardo Silva. Portugal press Spain back, and Guerreiro works some space out on the left. He rolls infield for Leão, who really should do better from ten yards than to lean back and blaze over. He should have worked Unai Simon in the Spain goal at the very least.
15 min: It’s gone a little flat meanwhile in Seville, as both teams probe gingerly. Nobody yet of a mind to take a risk.
GOAL! Czech Republic 1-0 Switzerland (Kuchta 11). In the other Group A2 game, being played at Slavia Prague’s Sinobo Stadium, Jan Kuchta has given the Czechs the lead.
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11 min: Portugal start pinging it around a bit. The home crowd keep the volume up.
9 min: Andre Silva makes good ground down the right wing and is cynically brought to a halt by Busquets. No yellow card, though you’ve seen them given. You’ve seen them not given to Busquets, too, so here we are.
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8 min: Portugal enjoy a bit of possession for the first time in the game. They don’t really go anywhere, but that’s not the point, as they find their feet and slow the hosts down.
6 min: Sarabia strides down the left and slips a cute ball infield for Gavi, who is storming down the channel in plenty of space. Just as he reaches the area, Gavi loses the run of his legs and trips over them in the frantic style. A promising situation for Spain goes to waste.
4 min: Portuguese hearts in mouths as Azpilicueta takes a shot that’s blocked. The ball pings to Gavi, who nearly buries a shot from the edge of the box. It’s deflected inches wide right, then at the corner Portugal keeper Diogo Costa flaps hysterically. He’s fortunate to get a second chance to claim the ball.
2 min: Azpilicueta and Morata try to combine crisply down the right, but Pepe is having none of it. He snaffles possession and clears up.
Portugal get the game underway in Seville. A rare old atmosphere as you’d imagine.
The teams are out! We’ll be off in a minute or two, with Spain-Portugal very much front and centre of this blog. “The Spain team’s official Tweet is a bit overenthusiastic (EQUIPAZO!) but fair enough, a bit of oomph before you start never goes amiss (until later maybe). But the eye-catching thing is our old friends Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets still being in the team. Combined age probably in three figures. Perhaps there is hope for us all yet,” writes Charles Antaki, 99.
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Spain and Portugal are facing off at Real Betis’s Estadio Benito Villamarín. Luis Enrique has gone for Valencia’s Carlos Soler in midfield ahead of Atletico Madrid’s Koke, but the big news is made by Portugal coach Fernando Santos, who has decided to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench, with André Silva spearheading the attack instead. João Moutinho gets a go on the captain’s armband as a result.
The 21-year-old Fleetwood winger Paddy Lane starts at left wing-back for Northern Ireland tonight, as they begin their Nations League campaign at home to Euro 2004 winners Greece. Liverpool’s Conor Bradley, who turns 19 next week, lines up on the opposite flank, with 34-year-old Leicester stalwart Jonny Evans in the middle. Kyle Lafferty, fresh from winning promotion with Kilmarnock, is back in the squad for the first time since last September, and starts on the subs bench.
Bradley will be coming face to face with his Liverpool team-mate, left-back Kostas Tsimikas. Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis leads the line up front, while Sheffield United’s George Baldock, who qualifies for Greece through his grandmother, is on the bench and hoping to make his international debut.
The teams from Seville
🚨 OFICIAL | ¡¡YA TENEMOS EL ONCE DE ESPAÑA!!
— Selección Española de Fútbol (@SeFutbol) June 2, 2022
👥 Esta es la alineación que ha dispuesto @LUISENRIQUE21 para el debut de la @SeFutbol en esta edición de la #NationsLeague ante @selecaoportugal en Sevilla.
🔥 ¡¡A FUEGO DESDE YA CON VOSOTROS, EQUIPAZO!! #VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/hkgOR3Nh50
📂 O nosso primeiro 𝐗𝐈 para esta #NationsLeague! #VamosComTudo #TeamPortugal pic.twitter.com/AFW9TKTfec
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) June 2, 2022
The teams from Windsor Park
📣 Tonight's team news is in! 🙌 #GAWA #NorthernIreland pic.twitter.com/JGztdXV2BO
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) June 2, 2022
STARTING XI 🔵⚪️#matchday Ελλάδα vs Β. Ιρλανδία #NIRGRE pic.twitter.com/wV6S1YfegS
— Ethniki Omada (@EthnikiOmada) June 2, 2022
The 5pm full times
... and we’ve already had a spot of high drama this evening. With eight seconds of four extra minutes to play between Bulgaria and North Macedonia in Razgrad, with the score 1-1, the referee awarded the hosts a penalty when Martin Minchev’s speculative shot hit Visar Musliu on the elbow. VAR got involved, though, and upon second viewing the ref decided Musliu’s elbow was right by the side of his body, while there was little distance between the two players and therefore no time to react. No penalty, and Bulgaria end the evening with smoke pouring out of the old lugs.
C2
Cyprus 0-2 Kosovo
C4
Bulgaria 1-1 North Macedonia
Georgia 4-0 Gibraltar
D2
Estonia 2-0 San Marino
Preamble
Football, having barely stopped for the last two years, keeps on keepin’ on. Just when we thought the players could scoot off for a well-deserved summer holiday – long lie-ins, sunbeds by the pool, tinnies, the whole shebang – here comes the Nations League! Tonight’s big game is the Iberian showdown between Spain and Portugal, though we’ll also keep an eye on Northern Ireland versus Greece, plus all the other 7.45pm BST kick-offs.
There were a few 5pm BST kick-offs as well, and they’ll be finishing in a minute. More on them anon. But in the meantime, here’s tonight’s full card (all times BST):
A2
Czech Republic v Switzerland (7.45pm)
Spain v Portugal (7.45pm)
B2
Albania v Russia (P)
Israel v Iceland (7.45pm)
B4
Serbia v Norway (7.45pm)
Slovenia v Sweden (7.45pm)
C2
Cyprus v Kosovo (5pm)
Northern Ireland v Greece (7.45pm)
C4
Bulgaria v North Macedonia (5pm)
Georgia v Gibraltar (5pm)
D2
Estonia v San Marino (5 pm)
All the news and more as we have it. The 2022-23 Nations League: it’s on!
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