⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[Joeboy]

I don't know why Ronaldo is still playing today, that dude is old and he needs to retire as soon as possible, the Portuguese people should stop depending him and start look for his replacement, there are Portuguese players who are playing excellent football and they skilled. Even if they are no as skilled as Ronaldo, Keeping Ronaldo in the national team instead of allowing him to retire will only delay the transition to the next generation and make Portugal more dependent on him that necessary.

I agree with you.We all can testify how remarkable and excellent he has been on the pitch since the start of his football career...He has conquered football by netting the most highest goal that no players has done..He has nothing more to prove at this point, he will always be the Greatest Footballer in the history of football... But as of now, he isn't as physical and agile as he used to be...And the more he keeps playing in this condition the more folks begin to focus on this his present performance and then forgetting how great he was in the past..At my leisures, I take my time to go through come of his highlights and I would be so blown away by his outside shots and impossible goals he kept giving back to back while he was still in his prime...But right now he is old and lazy, he can't even create chances like he used to, all he does now is to wait for players to give him the ball so he can score, which isn't the Ronaldo I knew and even adore... Retirement from National football would be the right step, he can continue with club football till he completes his 1000 goals.

[liasbaa]

Did you see the goal Ronaldo missed into an empty net? I still don't understand why he insist to play. It's time for him to retire. It used to be great to watch him, but now he's hurting the team. What would have happened if Wales had scored a goal? Portugal won by a single goal, the match could have ended in a tie.

If Ronaldo had retired, he would have been remembered fondly, but now he's making headlines for mistakes like this in every game and it's damaging his reputation.

Ronaldo is no longer in the prime of his career, so don’t expect much from him. According to what I read online a few weeks back,  although I don’t know if it’s true or not that the Portuguese government doesn’t want him to retire from the national team because he is considered a national icon and his presence is seen as important for the country’s football image and younger generation. Secondly, Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation only Ronaldo’s haters are the ones who are making it seem that way. No matter how Ronaldo’s haters want to paint the story he’s still the real goat.

Ronaldo is not at the peak of his career but he is still a great player and he is very popular in his country. He has fans and they are inspired by him not only in his home country Portugal but all over the world. He still scores goals and he still has the physical ability to work hard. Even though he did not perform very well for his country in the World Cup, he is still an inspiration for the team.
Although there is no reliable information about his retirement, I think he will not make such a decision right now. He has been playing for his country's national team for a long time and is contributing to the Saudi Pro League and he will have to make a decision after touching a record in terms of number of goals. He is definitely one of the best players of all time.

[GIF-JOBS]

We kick off our Nations League campaign today with the match against France. Our defensive line will consist of Ozan and Abdülkerim. How are we going to stop players like Doué, Dembélé, Mbappé, and Olise? I’m not even sure if Ferdi can stop Olise.
If someone offered me a scenario where France wins 0–1 without us even having to play the match, I’d accept it immediately. I’m worried about suffering a heavy defeat.

This is it, France is unstoppable, and France's attack is the most dangerous and powerful, it is really difficult to stop it. And so I also think France will win this match by a big margin, I am very excited to see the great attack of Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise, they will dominate this match very well.

Last night's Norway vs Denmark match was very good. Denmark played quite well, they equalized in the 60th minute, but Erling Haaland scored his second goal in the 74th minute and made it 3-2, they won the match with this score. Before the match I thought Denmark might not be able to score more than 1 goal, but they attacked enough and scored 2 goals, but in the end Norway was the favorite to win the match, and that's what happened.

[Berry2d]

We kick off our Nations League campaign today with the match against France. Our defensive line will consist of Ozan and Abdülkerim. How are we going to stop players like Doué, Dembélé, Mbappé, and Olise? I’m not even sure if Ferdi can stop Olise.
If someone offered me a scenario where France wins 0–1 without us even having to play the match, I’d accept it immediately. I’m worried about suffering a heavy defeat.

This is it, France is unstoppable, and France's attack is the most dangerous and powerful, it is really difficult to stop it. And so I also think France will win this match by a big margin, I am very excited to see the great attack of Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise, they will dominate this match very well.

Last night's Norway vs Denmark match was very good. Denmark played quite well, they equalized in the 60th minute, but Erling Haaland scored his second goal in the 74th minute and made it 3-2, they won the match with this score. Before the match I thought Denmark might not be able to score more than 1 goal, but they attacked enough and scored 2 goals, but in the end Norway was the favorite to win the match, and that's what happened.

I have know doubt about France victory in that game because one of the most difficult task any team will face is trying the stop this current france unstoppable attack from scoring goals in games. All we can say is for turkiye to be determined and ready to face the task ahead of them that is if they want it to be a bit easy for them because the France i know will be ready to go home with any amount of goals the can in that game.

Norway vs Denmark was among the most interesting games a watched yesterday, it has all the challenging qualities any body could talk of in a game and ended in favour of Norway despite Denmark's determination to stop them from  going home with the complete 3 points

[Cossyblack]

I have know doubt about France victory in that game because one of the most difficult task any team will face is trying the stop this current france unstoppable attack from scoring goals in games. All we can say is for turkiye to be determined and ready to face the task ahead of them that is if they want it to be a bit easy for them because the France i know will be ready to go home with any amount of goals the can in that game.

Norway vs Denmark was among the most interesting games a watched yesterday, it has all the challenging qualities any body could talk of in a game and ended in favour of Norway despite Denmark's determination to stop them from  going home with the complete 3 points

France and turkey have yet to play,so how did you know that France will win? What makes you think that France is gonna walk away with all three points tonight. So don't jump into conclusion about this match especially since the match hasn't started yet. Anything could still happen because this is football,we should be expecting a bigger surprise from this match.

Norway Vs Denmark was a real banger because I enjoyed watching the match. Denmark did their best in the match,they were two goals down in the first but they were able to equalized by scoring in 25minutes and in the 60minutes. Norway were fortunate that they scored back again and the red card they had was when the match was about to end.

[Juicyhome]

Did you see the goal Ronaldo missed into an empty net? I still don't understand why he insist to play. It's time for him to retire. It used to be great to watch him, but now he's hurting the team. What would have happened if Wales had scored a goal? Portugal won by a single goal, the match could have ended in a tie.

If Ronaldo had retired, he would have been remembered fondly, but now he's making headlines for mistakes like this in every game and it's damaging his reputation.

Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation,  you're thr one that's expecting him to play like his under 30, you have 5o reduce your expectation on him, he has won thr major trophies with Portugal and he's in the team to contribute his quota as the legend of the team. Ronaldo is helping Portugal to sell tickets too, don't forget his thr most popular footballer in  the world and  many people are used to watch him.

Ronaldo can miss like every players,  he's still the best player in this Portugal squad,  the team is poor inspired of their qualities,  Ronaldo should  not be blamed,  the young players are not doing well as well, I know you don't like Ronaldo but you to wait a little he will retire.

[Inwestour]

Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation,  you're thr one that's expecting him to play like his under 30, you have 5o reduce your expectation on him, he has won thr major trophies with Portugal and he's in the team to contribute his quota as the legend of the team. Ronaldo is helping Portugal to sell tickets too, don't forget his thr most popular footballer in  the world and  many people are used to watch him.

Ronaldo can miss like every players,  he's still the best player in this Portugal squad,  the team is poor inspired of their qualities,  Ronaldo should  not be blamed,  the young players are not doing well as well, I know you don't like Ronaldo but you to wait a little he will retire.

Fans will keep coming to support their national team, regardless of whether Ronaldo plays or not. They supported him even before he played for the national team, and I’m sure they will continue to support him until Ronaldo eventually ends his career. But it’s true that Ronaldo is no longer as young as he used to be, so he doesn’t play as well as before. He gets caught offside more often, scores fewer goals, and because of that, I think he is also less useful to the national team now.

[Sim_card]

You are very correct because it is only your haters that will keep kicking against anything that they are aware that you are not only one benefiting from but the national team as large, so if what you red last week concerning Portuguese government enforcing that he doesn't want Christian Ronaldo to just retire from the national team is really true and within Christian Ronaldo alone he wants to retire, probably for the sake of the respect and love Christian Ronaldo has for his president and the country, i think Christina Ronaldo might reconsider the fact of still playing for his national team and not minding what his haters will be saying.

People are just saying what they like because assuming Ronaldo is from your country, you wouldn't support him to resign from football because he's a legend in football and can turn the game around any time. He just need that perfect moment and all these critics will turn to praises. Portugal cannot keep Ronaldo out of their national team because he's not just only a player but a motivator, a role model and a leader in the team.

[LUCKMCFLY]

Honestly every one thought Ronaldo was going to retire after that World Cup but he still insist he will be part of the squad player that will play in the nations league. Even though Ronaldo have a goal ruled out today, I still think he had a bad performance and I think it better leave the national team or better still come from the bench.

Portugal overall performance is bad, and I think it high time we start accepting that they are not that good as we are all thinking. We saw how they played disappointingly at the World Cup. Portugal is an average team and we all need to start accepting that.

Well, I honestly don't want CR7 to leave yet. I want him to reach 1,000 goals; that would make me very happy. Besides, he already said in a press conference that he's not going to retire just because some people want him to. He's staying for much longer because of those of us who actually enjoy watching him play.

I can't say that the Portuguese team is doing well. I feel the same vibe as at the World Cup. The players don't support CR7, the midfield is a disaster, and CR7 only has one or two players who actually give him space. The rest are all doing their own thing. I think they should change the whole team so that they respect what CR7 can contribute. That's the impression I got from today's game.

[KingsDen]

Tbh I don’t really know what CR7 is trying to prove again at this stage. Maybe someone should remind him he is 41 before he knows it’s time to retire. With or without World Cup, he is a legend and it’s doesn’t reduce how great he is. Even those trolling him knows.

Maybe he is hoping to win this nations league and use it to wrap up national football I don’t know.
Of course he’s my goat but I don’t see them going far In this nations competition, not because of Ronaldo but the squad general performance. Imagine struggling to beat Wales when there still tougher teams ahead.

You are right, I honestly don't know what he wants in football again after how many years of dominance. I expected Ronaldo to retire after the World cup just like Messi did, but he still insist on playing. There are other notable football legends that never won the world cup, so I don't see why he's still worried.

Ronaldo lead his team in winning two nations league already, and I see no reason for him to lead the line for Portugal again. I expected Ronaldo to start from the bench against Wales since he's not that active like before, but no, they put a 41 years old man to start a game. If Portugal continue this act of dropping younger players on the bench just to please Ronaldo, I don't see them going anywhere this time. I am not trying to insult Ronaldo here, but considering his age, he ought to start as a substitute.

[Pablo-wood]

I have know doubt about France victory in that game because one of the most difficult task any team will face is trying the stop this current france unstoppable attack from scoring goals in games. All we can say is for turkiye to be determined and ready to face the task ahead of them that is if they want it to be a bit easy for them because the France i know will be ready to go home with any amount of goals the can in that game.

Norway vs Denmark was among the most interesting games a watched yesterday, it has all the challenging qualities any body could talk of in a game and ended in favour of Norway despite Denmark's determination to stop them from  going home with the complete 3 points

Turkiye will definitely give France a though time at home but I am confident in France winning than even a draw. France aggressive attack will require beyond determination for Turkiye to withstand the attacking force and pressure from their away opponent.

Norway win against Denmark was a narrow one but yet fun to watch.  Denmark almost denied Norway their three points. Norway determination to seal their lead with their 74' winning goal gave them their earned full point, Portugal will be their next opponent lets see who goes invisible in the group stage.

[Barcode_]

After watching the superior team play between Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland in the match against Denmark, I hope that there will be a day when these two players can play in the same football club together as they seems to have great chemistry on the field. I think maybe Manchester City might have the financial means to make a transfer bid for Martin Odegaard but I don't think Arsenal would want to sell away their captain Martin Odegaard especially to their main rivals which competes with them for the title in the English Premier League.

The upcoming match between Italy and Belgium are surely going to be the match of the spotlight today, Italy had been absent for a long time from the World Cup and today will be a great chance for Italy to prove themselves once again in front of their home fans that they are still one of the best nations for football in the world. I guess it will be a low scoring match between these two teams today but Italy might be able to beat Belgium with a single goal margin.

[9ja Amaka]

Ronaldo is a living legend in Portugal and if he wants to continue to play for Portugal he will play. I still think that at this age he cannot give much on the field for Portugal only off it. They need to find a serious replacement for him soon because i think the next Euros will probobly be the last tournament he will play for Portugal. He has a lot of haters but i think he cannot score like he did in the previous years

I don't know why Ronaldo is still playing today, that dude is old and he needs to retire as soon as possible, the Portuguese people should stop depending him and start look for his replacement, there are Portuguese players who are playing excellent football and they skilled. Even if they are no as skilled as Ronaldo, Keeping Ronaldo in the national team instead of allowing him to retire will only delay the transition to the next generation and make Portugal more dependent on him that necessary.

1000 goals is the goal. Ronaldo wants to achieve this milestone before he retires. The Portuguese international doesn't want to retire from football as his mates are doing so. He said to the press that his desire to play football is that he has always had one goal, and that goal is to hit a record that no one will be able to achieve. Fortunately for him, he is closer to his goals. But honestly, if he doesn't reach the 1000 goals before next year, it will be much tougher, as age is no longer on his side. The impact of aging is showing on the pitch.

[Rruchi man]

After watching the superior team play between Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland in the match against Denmark, I hope that there will be a day when these two players can play in the same football club together as they seems to have great chemistry on the field. I think maybe Manchester City might have the financial means to make a transfer bid for Martin Odegaard but I don't think Arsenal would want to sell away their captain Martin Odegaard especially to their main rivals which competes with them for the title in the English Premier League.

Why not the other way round, that is, Arsenal making a bid for Haaland from Manchester City? We certainly have the financial power for it.

Haalands' individual record surpasses the record that he and Odegaard have in the national team. If you do the check, you get to find out that Martin Odegaard has only assisted Erling Haaland to score for Norway ten times. Haalands' record for Norway stands out: sixty-four international goals in fifty-six games, wow!!!

Imagine Haaland in a much better team, hmm! We are witnessing one who can become the most prolific goal scorer of all time.

[Slow death]

There were many games yesterday, but I focused on watching just one—a match I had included in my parlay. To be honest, I was expecting a good game, but what I saw was a strange one. I’m talking about this match:

Portugal 1 - 0 Wales

It was the debut match for coach Jorge Jesus. He has been a good manager, known for instilling a beautiful style of play in the teams he coaches, so I had high expectations for Portugal expectations I quickly realized might not be met. In my opinion, Portugal didn't play well; it seemed like every player wanted to go it alone rather than interact with their teammates. They also lacked motivation; I’m not sure if they aren't taking this competition seriously.

With João Félix scoring in the 22nd minute, it looked like they might score more goals, but it turned into an ugly match. Ronaldo even managed to score, but it was ruled offside. For the rest of the game, I mostly saw Wales playing well and squandering many good opportunities. If Wales had been a team like Norway or Denmark, I believe they would have easily beaten Portugal and scored plenty of goals. Anyone looking at this scenario:



It was a 100% sure thing that Wales would score. But then came that miss a situation where I’m asking myself: " How is this even possible? " Two players from the same team were fighting over the ball to see who would score, and in the end, neither of them did. Portugal was very lucky to play against such a weak side; that’s why they managed to win, even though they played really poorly. After the match, Jorge Jesus explained why he substituted Cristiano Ronaldo.

"The match demanded this change," Jesus stated when asked about the high-profile second-half substitution. "There were 25 minutes left and I wanted to bring on a quick player in the first defensive line, capable of pressing the two central defenders."

source: https://www.goal.com/en-qa/lists/jorge-jesus-explains-cristiano-ronaldo-substitution-portugal-wales-uefa-nations-league/blt2a17698c246d0213

I like Jorge Jesus because he doesn't hide what he thinks; he is direct. Even when he was the Al Hilal coach, he would bench Neymar. he doesn't base his decisions on a player's fame, but rather on performance.

[Somto9Light]

People are just saying what they like because assuming Ronaldo is from your country, you wouldn't support him to resign from football because he's a legend in football and can turn the game around any time. He just need that perfect moment and all these critics will turn to praises. Portugal cannot keep Ronaldo out of their national team because he's not just only a player but a motivator, a role model and a leader in the team.

There is a saying that goes "a good dancer knows when to leave the stage". Ronaldo should not rubbish all his years of growth in football by staying too long with the national team. I know what Ronaldo is fighting for, which is one more international trophy to his name because he still feels that he hasn't achieve enough. Forget about being a motivator and all those things you said about him, we know he's a great player to history will keep remembering from time after time but how would he feel if the younger generation grows up to see the poor performances towards the end of his football career? We should speak the truth as football lovers and not with sentiments just because someone is our favourite player.

[Cryptmuster]

Turkiye will definitely give France a though time at home but I am confident in France winning than even a draw. France aggressive attack will require beyond determination for Turkiye to withstand the attacking force and pressure from their away opponent.

Norway win against Denmark was a narrow one but yet fun to watch.  Denmark almost denied Norway their three points. Norway determination to seal their lead with their 74' winning goal gave them their earned full point, Portugal will be their next opponent lets see who goes invisible in the group stage.

I think Turkey scoring against France, because Turkey have looked quite good in attack in their recent matches. Although if we look at the World Cup, there were a few games where they were honestly quite unlucky. France are obviously the favorites for this game, and I have no doubt that France will score, I also think France should beat Turkey. Turkey actually managed to beat France at home during the Euro qualifiers, I think that was more of an exception than the rule.

[MK-74]

Turkiye will definitely give France a though time at home but I am confident in France winning than even a draw. France aggressive attack will require beyond determination for Turkiye to withstand the attacking force and pressure from their away opponent.

My friend, I don't think Turkiye would do something like that, I hope Turkiye don't lose by a big margin against France tonight, but it looks like we will. The lineup France comes out with will be very important. If they play with their strongest lineup, Turkiye will have a very difficult time, my expectation for this match is that France will win by at least 2-3 goals.

[Berry2d]

I have know doubt about France victory in that game because one of the most difficult task any team will face is trying the stop this current france unstoppable attack from scoring goals in games. All we can say is for turkiye to be determined and ready to face the task ahead of them that is if they want it to be a bit easy for them because the France i know will be ready to go home with any amount of goals the can in that game.

Norway vs Denmark was among the most interesting games a watched yesterday, it has all the challenging qualities any body could talk of in a game and ended in favour of Norway despite Denmark's determination to stop them from  going home with the complete 3 points

France and turkey have yet to play,so how did you know that France will win? What makes you think that France is gonna walk away with all three points tonight. So don't jump into conclusion about this match especially since the match hasn't started yet. Anything could still happen because this is football,we should be expecting a bigger surprise from this match.

Norway Vs Denmark was a real banger because I enjoyed watching the match. Denmark did their best in the match,they were two goals down in the first but they were able to equalized by scoring in 25minutes and in the 60minutes. Norway were fortunate that they scored back again and the red card they had was when the match was about to end.

Its obvious that the game must definitely end in favour of France because the France i know is miles away from Turkey in all rectification, especially the presence of France destructive front line is a added advantage to them in that game.
Its understandable that football is filled with surprises but I don't think that can happen in this France game as they will do everything within their power to destroy Turkey in today's game.  But if you don't believe that France will win in that game, you can still stake something in favour of Turkey but make sure its something you can loss because the game i see has already ended in favour of France.

[Finebone]

Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation,  you're thr one that's expecting him to play like his under 30, you have 5o reduce your expectation on him, he has won thr major trophies with Portugal and he's in the team to contribute his quota as the legend of the team. Ronaldo is helping Portugal to sell tickets too, don't forget his thr most popular footballer in  the world and  many people are used to watch him.

Ronaldo can miss like every players,  he's still the best player in this Portugal squad,  the team is poor inspired of their qualities,  Ronaldo should  not be blamed,  the young players are not doing well as well, I know you don't like Ronaldo but you to wait a little he will retire.

Is it even possible that you can reduce your expectations on him?
Because player like him and Lionel Messi are players you expect to make things happen, so it's not that easy to start looking at both of them like every other age player. Last season at al nassr he manages to score more than 20 goals, considering his age, so fans will always have high expectations on him, even though his form has massive declined compared to the last three years.

I don't think that any right thinking person is blaming Ronaldo for the bad form of the Portuguese team because if not for him, and the fear factor he brings to the team, they would have been even worse than they were in the past years before he start playing for the national team.