MADRID: Spain and Portugal both lacked firepower as they drew 0-0 in a friendly warm up for the European Championships at the Metropolitano in Madrid on Friday.
The match was both an occasion to officially launch the two nations launching a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup and for the hosts to test out a new-look defence.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a frustrating night on his first game in Madrid since leaving Real in 2018 and came close to scoring twice and set up a good chance Diogo Jota failed to take advantage of.
Backed by Joao Felix, Ronaldo was largely neutralised by Barcelona pair Sergio Busquets and Thiago Alcantara in a tight home midfield in front of a remodelled defence.
“We can do better, I’ll be talking with the lads and we have the quality to improve.” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said.
“They gave everything and it’ll serve us well,” he said of the game.
“We have the consistency to hope to win titles,” said the boss of the defending European champions.
Alvaro Morata came closest to scoring for Spain missing two clear chances and hitting the bar in stoppage time.
Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte made his debut after opting for Spain ahead of his native France.
Some 14,743 masked fans attended at Atletico Madrid’s 68,000-seat Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
Spain continue their warm up for the Euros with a match against Lithuania on Tuesday while Portugal next take on Israel on Wednesday in Lisbon.
The match was both an occasion to officially launch the two nations launching a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup and for the hosts to test out a new-look defence.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a frustrating night on his first game in Madrid since leaving Real in 2018 and came close to scoring twice and set up a good chance Diogo Jota failed to take advantage of.
Backed by Joao Felix, Ronaldo was largely neutralised by Barcelona pair Sergio Busquets and Thiago Alcantara in a tight home midfield in front of a remodelled defence.
“We can do better, I’ll be talking with the lads and we have the quality to improve.” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said.
“They gave everything and it’ll serve us well,” he said of the game.
“We have the consistency to hope to win titles,” said the boss of the defending European champions.
Alvaro Morata came closest to scoring for Spain missing two clear chances and hitting the bar in stoppage time.
Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte made his debut after opting for Spain ahead of his native France.
Some 14,743 masked fans attended at Atletico Madrid’s 68,000-seat Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
Spain continue their warm up for the Euros with a match against Lithuania on Tuesday while Portugal next take on Israel on Wednesday in Lisbon.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsUpdate is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
