⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[coinlary]

Look at what Ronaldo is still doing to keep playing. And the truth is, he deserves to play a player of his legendary status who remains so hardworking and driven needs to be given playing time. According to him, the manager made a promise but failed to keep it it is simply not right to lie to such a legendary player. He is physically fit, and even just 10 or 20 minutes of playing time would satisfy him.

C'mon man,  do you think Portugal fans would choose to see Ronlado play than to win an important game? Yes he's a legendary, but everything doesn't go as planned when in action, that shouldn't be consider as a lie  i don'teven know why you comeup with that .

The coach has the power to sub and bench anyone because at the end, the fault will be on him  and not Ronaldo if the team fail to win the game. Since the game looks tough, wouldn't anyone in his right sense blame him for bringing on Ronaldo if the game eventually end as draw?

BTW, he has already apologise and also consider not retiring. And stop telling lies about his fitness

[LGD2Business]

Merino has proven beyond doubt that he's a good player and he seems to excel when he comes from the bench. In the WC,  he scored in two games to give Spain the win and now he's done the same thing. Croatia seemed to pose a threat to their opponents to the point they were getting frustrated and if it wasn't for the red card given to Ivan Perisic, which wasn't supposed to even be, it would have been hard for Spain.

If I had Merino on my team, I'd use him as a game-changer in every match too. It's moments like these that really show just how important player he is for Spain. He saved many matches for Arsenal this way too. He was a key factor in winning the Premier League.

Spain was almost losing today, but they didn't let it happen. Their unbeaten streak has now reached 42 games. Frankly even if they had lost today, that wouldn't mean much. They're already going to advance from this group, it won't matter if they weren't in first place. But they didn't let England take that away from them. This team is very strong, I believe they can win the trophy.

[yixichloro2xx]

Great performance by England and Harry Kane. A comfy 3-0 win over Czechia, who didn't make a single shot on target today. England also didn't break a record when it comes to shots attempted, but they could convert that into a convincing win.

Croatia was out of luck tonight. It looked like they were on a good way of getting a surprising win over Spain. They took an early lead, but couldn't hold it till the end. Spain equalised after an hour of play, then Croatian goal scorer, Ivan Perisic, got sent off allowing Spain to finish the job and go home with another 3 points.

Spain and Portugal are the only teams with 100% of their group-stage games won after 4 rounds.

The average number of goals per game (2.6) was much higher than yesterday, and we only had one goalless draw.

We're going to have a bit of a break as the next round is scheduled in a little over a month from now, on 12th November.

The Croatian FA needs to step in and save their national team, because it has fallen badly in terms of performance and some old players. They were totally brutalized by England last week now there losing streak continues. I couldn't believe that this was the Croatian team. When they first scored Spain I was having the feeling that Croatian might actually win this game because of how bad Spain was in the second half.

Croatia might end up relegating to the group B's, because I don't see any chance for them to win their next 2 games. One is with England, who might beat them again, they will get a free 3 points czechzia who has been underperforming.

[Pablo-wood]

Spain is just really good from behind and they keep on coming back and still cannot lose a single match. They have lost i think more then 40 games in a row and that is just insane and its no shock that they are the european and world champions. They might even be perfect in this group and win all 6 matches the main match will be surely against England.

Their game against England is the most anticipated. Spain keep getting stronger as the progress in the group stage collecting every possible 3 points available. They have two more matches to seal up the group stage. Czechia  should be a walkover for them in their upcoming fixture but England has to stop them by all means from finishing the group stage invisible.

[Adiljutt156]

I like the part I highlighted, he is a legend & the greatest player in the history of the Portugal national team, but that won't last forever, he needs to give those young players a chance. Portugal now leads Group D, with two games remaining to be played next month.

Winning or losing those two games likely won't affect Portugal position in the table, so I think they are the perfect opportunity to bring Cristiano back into the lineup, playing without risk.

Legends are always going to be remembered for a long time, but they also need to understand they are not forever. They are also like other humans and have their day off. Ronaldo is surely one of the best in the current era, but his ego and attitude are surely going to be big problems for him and Portugal because now it's time for thinking beyond him. New coach Jorge Jesus is doing an impressive job with this performance level; now confidence is also increasing in the team.

But things like these always destructive for teams because players power has never been acceptable hopefully now after this they will do some good changes and have positive start of their next round in November as they are performing I am having good expectations from them in long run but legend needs to be have his good time as he deserve.

[JoyMarsha]

Another bad game and it turned out just as we expected. Türkiye lost all 4 matches. We still can't understand why Montella hasn't resigned. He's literally staying on as head coach just to collect his compensation. How many head coaches are there who keep their jobs after such terrible results?

In today's game Montella once again had the team play with a ridiculous tactical formation and player selections. What is İrfan Can still doing on this team? He's playing without a striker, he put Yunus in false 9. You can't win any big matches with this tactic. Hasn't he figured that out yet? I think he's deliberately sabotaging the team. He must be thinking, no matter how bad I manage the team, they can't fire me.

montella says all the responsibility lies with him. but i think someone who takes full responsibility should have resigned after so many failures. i don’t like people who refuse to step down from their positions whether in soccer or anywhere else. why would someone stay in their position when they know the fans don’t want them? i wonder what he’ll say now that turkey has failed to earn a single point in the group stage. we’re continuing to make fools of ourselves in front of the whole world.

A coach can't remain in a team if the management of the football team wants him out. The management of Turkiye football association haven't ask montella to resign with immediate effect, that's why he still remain as Turkiye head coach, despite the losses Turkiye has had in the past and in the present.

Unfortunately for Turkiye, Montella will remain as the Turkiye head coach till 2028. Let the fans of Turkiye continue to take heart for having a terrible coach who will take them to another Euro of 2028 since they are kicked out from this one.

[Agbamoni]

I said that Spain and England would score at least one goal in the second half and both teams did.

Merino was the star of the night. He played a big role in the win by scoring two goals for his team and helped them win the match.
We saw just how right the decision to bring Mikel Merino on was.
We also shouldn't forget that Spain played with more pressure in the second half, they did everything for to win.

Merino has proven beyond doubt that he's a good player and he seems to excel when he comes from the bench. In the WC,  he scored in two games to give Spain the win and now he's done the same thing. Croatia seemed to pose a threat to their opponents to the point they were getting frustrated and if it wasn't for the red card given to Ivan Perisic, which wasn't supposed to even be, it would have been hard for Spain.

The Arsenal boys have saved Spain's ass tonight. Croatia was proven too stubborn to break until the super sub, Mikel Merino, was subbed on, and as usual he knows how to position himself to get the ball inside the net. Mikel Merino is the reason why Spain won the World Cup, yet no attention and praise are given to the talented midfielder. Rather, Yamal, who did nothing, is given the praise.

Mikel Merino is an incredible player. He has just 69 minutes in total for Spain in the Nations League but has scored 3 goals and 1 assist. All crucial goals for Spain. Nevertheless, I also want to acknowledge the assist from Zubimendi. I see you, Zubi!

[Jasmyne]

Merino has proven beyond doubt that he's a good player and he seems to excel when he comes from the bench. In the WC,  he scored in two games to give Spain the win and now he's done the same thing. Croatia seemed to pose a threat to their opponents to the point they were getting frustrated and if it wasn't for the red card given to Ivan Perisic, which wasn't supposed to even be, it would have been hard for Spain.

Let's say the Spain coach discovered that Merino reads the game from the bench that's why he has always brought him into the game in the second half. Spain against Portugal in the world cup was where I saw Merino came in and scored the winning goal and today he didn't just score a brace for Spain he saved them from the disgrace that would have been given to them if they had lost to a team that got trashed by England.

Croatia's game play today was far better than their previous games they seems to be recovering from their poor performances because from the first half to the final game they were a big threat to Spain and despite the red card that affected them in the last minute the game would have settled in a draw. Merino is the Messiah of Spain today I hope the coach doesn't stop playing him from the bench.

[Taricoins]

Spain is just really good from behind and they keep on coming back and still cannot lose a single match. They have lost i think more then 40 games in a row and that is just insane and its no shock that they are the european and world champions. They might even be perfect in this group and win all 6 matches the main match will be surely against England.

Their game against England is the most anticipated. Spain keep getting stronger as the progress in the group stage collecting every possible 3 points available. They have two more matches to seal up the group stage. Czechia  should be a walkover for them in their upcoming fixture but England has to stop them by all means from finishing the group stage invisible.

That's close to impossible as Spain is clear on England in everything and it's a shame we won't get to see it soon as club football is coming back this weekend. Although I may say, England has been playing some good football but there is this main character energy from Spain that won't let them lose.

But coming to appreciate this international break, the got me hooked was this Yamal and Olise back performance trying to show who's the best and Olise proved he should be added to the conversation

[Jessie2121]

Merino has proven beyond doubt that he's a good player and he seems to excel when he comes from the bench. In the WC,  he scored in two games to give Spain the win and now he's done the same thing. Croatia seemed to pose a threat to their opponents to the point they were getting frustrated and if it wasn't for the red card given to Ivan Perisic, which wasn't supposed to even be, it would have been hard for Spain.

That has been his style to show that he's around, imagine coming from the bench 2 times to score like it's nothing, always displaying a wonderful performance and I like him better in the national team, for Arsenal he some how struggle to give Arsenal some of this performance but whichever way you see it he is a good player. At some point I thought Croatia was going to beat Spain because of how physical they were in the first half and Spain's performance wasn't as I expected, they started slow until we saw them playing a fast game before getting the first goal. For the red card i agree with you, it wasn't suppose to be, the player was avoiding Cucurella and the ref was suppose to give it as a foul without any card , that red card killed the morale of Croatia players. If you ask me, with or without the red card Spain was suppose to win the game without stress because they were the better side in the second half.

[Smartvirus]

Unfortunately for Turkiye, Montella will remain as the Turkiye head coach till 2028. Let the fans of Turkiye continue to take heart for having a terrible coach who will take them to another Euro of 2028 since they are kicked out from this one.

It even sounds a lot more terrible to hear you say it you know, as though there is actually nothing they are going to be able to do about it and might just have to go to the Euros expecting the same bad performance. It was that bad for Turkiye in this Nations League. How do such a team not have to record a win for their name!

Croatia today tried to make better their stands with England previously while playing against Spain. One would have expected yet another landslide victory for Spain, perhaps not like England but well enough to make this game a work over but, they had it a lot differently.

Croatia took the lead in less than 20minutes of game play and was able to hold that to the final whistle. Too bad Perisic got 2 yellow cards and got sent off, leaving Croatia handicapped to face a dominant Spanish team.

[laijsica]

Spain is just really good from behind and they keep on coming back and still cannot lose a single match. They have lost i think more then 40 games in a row and that is just insane and its no shock that they are the european and world champions. They might even be perfect in this group and win all 6 matches the main match will be surely against England.

Their game against England is the most anticipated. Spain keep getting stronger as the progress in the group stage collecting every possible 3 points available. They have two more matches to seal up the group stage. Czechia  should be a walkover for them in their upcoming fixture but England has to stop them by all means from finishing the group stage invisible.

The last match of the group stage against England is the most awaited one. You are right about that. The victory against Croatia was expected but Spain should have won by a relatively large margin. England won 3-0 against Czech in the group stage match. England is performing impressively with time and the next match against Croatia will be more likely to be a desired result for England. We will have to wait for the final and competitive match because Spain is ahead in terms of points difference between the two teams but it is difficult to predict which team will win the upcoming match.

[laspol65]

Croatia had plenty of chances to draw the match, but Perisic was eventually sent off for his excessive performance and fouls. Perisic's performance started to deteriorate after he was sent off, but they created plenty of scoring opportunities. However, Spain dominated the game but couldn't perform as well as they should, losing 2-1.
 However, as expected, Croatia have improved their performance this month, closing the gap to Spain.

[Solokan]

England has successfully won its 4th match against Czech with a score of 3-0 but uniquely the first goal in this match was an own goal by a Czech player. He intended to save the ball kicked by an English player but unfortunately it ended tragically because he looked like he was taking advantage of an English player's pass and finally a goal for England. In my opinion, Vladimir must have been very embarrassed because he failed to save his goal, instead he committed suicide. Harry Kane became the hero in this match because he scored 2 goals against Czech and he looked very happy. In my opinion, England's game was very good, seen from their cooperation and others and now I am curious when England plays Spain because in my opinion, the England vs Spain match will be a very exciting match because in my opinion, England and Spain are the strongest teams in group c. Now there is still a chance for England to shift Spain's position. In your opinion, will Spain continue to hold on to first place in group c?

[Barcode_]

It was kind of unexpected to see Croatia forcing Spain to put in so much effort in order to gain a victory against them. After Croatia suffered one of their worst humiliating match against England by conceding 7 goals, I initially thought that this match would be another high scoring match especially when Croatia defense are truly looking weak the moment but I guess the Croatia national squad does not want to humiliate themselves twice in front of their home fans. I believe the Croatia national squad has gotten some pride back by with their hard fought performance against Spain.

Another match that caught my attention was between Albania and San Marino in Uefa Nations League C, San Marino was always the punching bag for almost every teams in the world but they did managed to score a goal in the match and Albania even needed a penalty in additional time just to beat San Marino.

[meser#]

Croatia found the goal they were looking for in the 17th minute. Following a counter-attack, Perišić headed in the rebound after the goalkeeper had parried the initial shot, putting Croatia 1-0 ahead. It wasn't an easy goal; Simon almost managed to save it. Spain played their characteristic style of football, though the players seemed to be suffering from fatigue—perhaps because this was their fourth consecutive match.
Having evidently learned from their 7-0 defeat against England, Croatia defended very well. Spain engaged in their classic passing game but simply couldn't break through the defense.
Merino, who came on in the second half, delivered two clean strikes and secured the victory for Spain. Thus, Spain concluded this international stretch with four wins out of four, while Croatia finished with four losses out of four.

[yenerbatmaz]

With the match against the Czech Republic, Kane equaled Shilton's record of 125 caps.
The record will belong solely to Kane after the next match. Kane scored two goals in this game as well, and England defeated the Czech Republic 3–0. Kane is continuing the outstanding form he has shown since last year.
In my opinion, Kane is the only person who should win the Ballon d'Or this year.
England concluded this four-match run with three wins and one loss before the international break.

[Zackz5000]

Croatia doesn't have any hope of winning Spain, Spain is currently operating on a different frequency they will only choose not to humiliate Croatia just as England did therefore i think it's a walk over game for the World Champions.

Olise was the best player yesterday against Belgium, this is not the Belgium team I use to know there are players actually difficult to replace and I think Belgium has lost them all. France coach did excellent yesterday the changes he made in the second half gave him that wonderful comeback against Belgium, Olise contributed 3 goals 2 goals from him and 1 assist, France also perform well they dominated Belgium and still won the game.

Croatia will lose today, but the embarrassing defeat they faced in the last match may not happen today. Spain has been in great form recently, it is very difficult for any team to win against them. It is impossible to beat Spain with the form that Croatia is carrying. Who knows! Will they surprise Spain after the embarrassing defeat in the last match?

Spain finally won the game, although it was difficult for them to score as much goals as expected, Croatia was able to score first against Spain i have was even thinking they might draw Spain but at the end Spain made a comeback and won Croatia 1-2 after Perisic who open the net for Croatia was sent off by the referee.

Spain has been in a excellent form as they have played 4 games and won all, kudos to Merino he changed the game for Spain after he was brought in the second half and he scored a brace for Spain.

[kizilhare]

Croatia doesn't have any hope of winning Spain, Spain is currently operating on a different frequency they will only choose not to humiliate Croatia just as England did therefore i think it's a walk over game for the World Champions.

Olise was the best player yesterday against Belgium, this is not the Belgium team I use to know there are players actually difficult to replace and I think Belgium has lost them all. France coach did excellent yesterday the changes he made in the second half gave him that wonderful comeback against Belgium, Olise contributed 3 goals 2 goals from him and 1 assist, France also perform well they dominated Belgium and still won the game.

Croatia will lose today, but the embarrassing defeat they faced in the last match may not happen today. Spain has been in great form recently, it is very difficult for any team to win against them. It is impossible to beat Spain with the form that Croatia is carrying. Who knows! Will they surprise Spain after the embarrassing defeat in the last match?

Spain finally won the game, although it was difficult for them to score as much goals as expected, Croatia was able to score first against Spain i have was even thinking they might draw Spain but at the end Spain made a comeback and won Croatia 1-2 after Perisic who open the net for Croatia was sent off by the referee.

Spain has been in a excellent form as they have played 4 games and won all, kudos to Merino he changed the game for Spain after he was brought in the second half and he scored a brace for Spain.

It was evident that Croatia had learned from their 7-0 defeat against England.
They chose to play a controlled game against Spain. As usual, Spain dominated possession, while Croatia looked to attack on the counter. They even managed to score from one such attack, though Spain ultimately won the match, albeit with some difficulty. For Croatia, the time has come for Madrid to step aside from the national team.
They should opt for younger players instead.
Regarding the goalkeeping position, someone other than Livakovic should take over.
Many bettors opted for the "Over 3.5 goals" market for this match, but it ended with "Over 2.5 goals." It very nearly finished 1-1.

[Majestic-milf]

If I had Merino on my team, I'd use him as a game-changer in every match too. It's moments like these that really show just how important player he is for Spain. He saved many matches for Arsenal this way too. He was a key factor in winning the Premier League.

Spain was almost losing today, but they didn't let it happen. Their unbeaten streak has now reached 42 games. Frankly even if they had lost today, that wouldn't mean much. They're already going to advance from this group, it won't matter if they weren't in first place. But they didn't let England take that away from them. This team is very strong, I believe they can win the trophy.

I had so much confidence in their ability to win ngl. If England could swipe 7 goals past them, is it Spain that won't get something? It's crazy how it took Spain the whole of first half to figure out Croatia's defense but in the end, they won and the fact that their unbeaten streak has risen to 47 games just shows that they are deserving of all the titles they have now.