⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[Daniel91]

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.

I think it is too early for such predictions. Yes, Croatia recently played 2 bad games in Spain last week and against England at home and various doubts arose, from the quality of the team dropping to maybe the players boycotting the coach, etc.
Yesterday's match against Spain showed that Croatian footballers have not forgotten to play football and that Croatia can once again have a strong and competitive team for the biggest world and European competitions.
In the first half, they were the better team than Spain and missed the chance to score at least 1 more goal that would have decided the game.
In the second half, it was clear that some players from Croatia did not have enough strength and Spain started to attack harder and equalize.
Through Perisic, Croatia again had a great chance to score a goal, but unfortunately they failed.
After that, the referee gave Perisic a second yellow card too harshly and towards the end of the game he did not see that Spain's second goal was scored from offside.
Such small details, a bit of bad luck and refereeing errors in favor of Spain decided the game, but Croatia played a great game and showed its quality and strength.
I am sure that by the end of the group stage, they will beat the Czech Republic and pass Bosnia in the qualifiers (as it seems according to the predictions of the draw) and remain in the elite class of this competition.

[Futurexxx]

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.

.
It was quite a fascinating game of football that I knew wouldn't be that easy for the Spanish team because the croatia national team wouldn't want to lose by such a high margin again, so they truly learn from their mistakes.

The Spanish team only manages three short on target, which shows how good the croatia national team was last night, and to top it all, they manages five shots on target, but the red card cost them the game at the dieing minutes.

For Croatia, the time has come for Madrid to step aside from the national team.
They should opt for younger players instead.

That is necessary, in other for him to preserve his reputation, because as it stands, he is no longer close to the player he was a few years ago while at real madrid, so Luka modric calling an end to his international career is the best thing he should be doing for himself and his health.

[Agbam]

Well, of course Portugal are winning, now the are playing with 11 players on the pitch instead of 10
I have a huge respect for Ronaldo of course but he should have retired from the national team even before the World Cup. Of course he wanted to play to break another record, but I wonder how the teammates lived that situation, I would bet many of them very quite tired of him but of course they can't say it loud.

I am a big fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, and i am completely against him walking away from Portugal camp despite the disagreement between him and Jorge Jesus, because every player in a team must play by the rules of their coach. Cristiano Ronaldo was in a good shape to play for his national team in the world cup, so i completely disagree with you that he should have retired even before the world cup but however he should have retired after the world cup after it was clear his presence was no longer needed in the Portugal national team.

It’s not that his presence is no longer needed in the squad but he’s no longer expected to play all the games as he’s no longer as agile and technically skilled as he used to be. Right now he should be like a motivator, a morale boost for his teammates, a presence for the young ones to emulate but he’s putting himself above the team even when his contributions are almost zero to nothing.

He should retire, there’s actually nothing to prove anymore. We’ve seen him, we’ve watched him, we’ve enjoyed him and his achievements will last a lifetime, there’s nothing else a thousand goals would do for him.

[Cryptmuster]

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.

Perhaps this was a mistake on Bilic’s part, because Croatia actually played even better than Spain in the first half. But in the second half, it seems they opted for a more defensive approach, and against Spain that is always a bad decision. On the other hand, Croatia looked like themselves yesterday, and losing 2–1 to Spain is a perfectly respectable result.

[Solokan]

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.

It's a shame that Perisic committed a foul on Cucurella, even though he performed very well It's a shame that Perisic ultimately had to leave the field Croatia did improve in this match, but unfortunately, they couldn't beat Spain, as Spain remained stronger than Croatia. But at least Croatia has given the Croatian people a goal, even though they lost

Croatia's next match will be against England. I think it has the potential to be an exciting match because Croatia put up a good fight against Spain, so England shouldn't underestimate Croatia Who do you think will win the next match, England or Croatia? In my opinion, England has a great chance of winning, and I hope I win when I bet on that match

[swogerino]

What a catastrophic game for Albania despite them winning 2-1 in the end against San Marino who every other team has done a festival of goals against them, they were able to score against Albania and at a certain point even to score again. The odd of only 1.02 was dangerously put at stake here as only a 94th minute penalty gave Albania the victory. This shows that nothing is sure here even in sport betting as you can lose a bet even with odds lower than 1.05 and not be surprised.

[Cityhunter34]

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.

Of course, I was very confidence too, because for England to collect three points against them with a huge goal margin shows that Spain would also collect theirs. Even though football is unpredictable, it was obvious that Spain would win because they are the strongest in the group.

But it was actually a good performance from them, because it would have been more boring if they had allowed Spain to score as many goals as England did, because that's exactly what many people were expecting.

[paco92x]

For Croatia, the time has come for Madrid to step aside from the national team.
They should opt for younger players instead.

That is necessary, in other for him to preserve his reputation, because as it stands, he is no longer close to the player he was a few years ago while at real madrid, so Luka modric calling an end to his international career is the best thing he should be doing for himself and his health.

Modrić is definitely the best player Croatia has ever produced. Even in his 40s, he still plays superb football for his age, but the time has come for him to step aside—maybe play 20 to 25 minutes for the national team, and that's that. Even if the younger players aren't that good at the moment, you do more harm to the team in the long run by continuing to play Modrić in the Nations League instead of getting younger players into the game. By playing, they will get transfer moves to better clubs, prosper, and ultimately become much, much better than before.

[Wake Up]

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.

Perisic scored a goal, but after receiving a red card, he left his team shorthanded and contributed to them conceding a second goal. There is no doubt that Perisic is a very good player however, he failed to exercise the necessary caution during these matches. Perisic bears some responsibility for Croatia's defeat in this game, though it must also be said that their defensive performance was very poor as evidenced by the fact that they have conceded 14 goals so far.

[swogerino]

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.

Perisic scored a goal, but after receiving a red card, he left his team shorthanded and contributed to them conceding a second goal. There is no doubt that Perisic is a very good player however, he failed to exercise the necessary caution during these matches. Perisic bears some responsibility for Croatia's defeat in this game, though it must also be said that their defensive performance was very poor as evidenced by the fact that they have conceded 14 goals so far.

That is because teams in Nations League do not take the games as seriously as they do in other events like the Euro or World Cup. In fact Nations League was created exactly to give a chance to teams never being able to win an event like Euro or World cup to be able to do so here in the Nations League.

As for Perisic he is a great player and I don't judge him for the red card, when we all thought Spain to be the surprise result in yesterday games it was Scotland who was one of the few games that came out not as expected.

[cxtreenal]

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.

You are right that if England can score 7 goals against Croatia then why did Spain only manage 2 goals and that was in the 61st and 88th minutes of the second half. Why didn't the team score more goals is a question that many fans are asking but naturally Croatia strengthened their defense and were careful to at least maintain the respect they had against Spain after the embarrassment they suffered against England. The team lost to Spain but lost with respect. Although Spain had a lot more possession than Croatia, they had to work hard to score goals and take the lead.

[Arenga pinnata]

What a catastrophic game for Albania despite them winning 2-1 in the end against San Marino who every other team has done a festival of goals against them, they were able to score against Albania and at a certain point even to score again. The odd of only 1.02 was dangerously put at stake here as only a 94th minute penalty gave Albania the victory. This shows that nothing is sure here even in sport betting as you can lose a bet even with odds lower than 1.05 and not be surprised.

Personally, I don’t know much about the strengths of those two national teams, so I didn’t  bet on that match. But, well, in soccer, anything can happen. Surprises can even happen repeatedly. The team favored by the bookmakers can even turn out to be a bad choice.

I always stick to betting on teams whose strength is on a different level than their opponents. For example, in the England vs. Czech Republic match or the Switzerland vs. North Macedonia match. Although I did lose on the Scotland vs. Slovenia match, I thought Scotland, as the home team, should have won, but as it turned out, they lost.

[Cossyblack]

The Spanish team only manages three short on target, which shows how good the croatia national team was last night, and to top it all, they manages five shots on target, but the red card cost them the game at the dieing minutes.

Did I just read that croatia were very good last night? Laughable. Stop the hyping because as far as am concerned,they were the underdogs and their performance wasn't as good as you are saying it. Croatia were oppress, dominated and out played like a  team without any experience. If you doubt it,go and take a proper look at the statistics especially their ball possessions in the first and second halves,because the way you put it, it was as if without the red card spain couldn't have defeated them. Croatia are not in form, so they would have still lost the match even without the red card.

[GIF-JOBS]

After the embarrassing defeats in the last two matches, Croatia tried to play quite well in yesterday's match, although they lost the match, I would say they reduced their weaknesses and put Spain under a lot of pressure. They basically tried to play a very strong defensive game and were mainly strong in terms of counterattacks, Spain had a lot of possession throughout the match, but Croatia was equal to them in terms of attack. Because in the last match, Spain had 3 short on target while Croatia had 4 short on target. Since Croatia scored the first goal in just the 17th minute, it seemed that they would be able to do the impossible in this match, they were resisting Spain strongly until the 60th minute of the match, Spain equalized the score in the 61st minute and then they scored another winning goal in the 88th minute. Croatia were a bit haphazard here, if they had played more defensively they could have drawn the match 1-1, or if they had somehow managed to score another goal on the attack they could have defended their points. But they tried to play much better in this match compared to their last two defeats.

[Black Mbaye]

The Spanish team only manages three short on target, which shows how good the croatia national team was last night, and to top it all, they manages five shots on target, but the red card cost them the game at the dieing minutes.

Did I just read that croatia were very good last night? Laughable. Stop the hyping because as far as am concerned,they were the underdogs and their performance wasn't as good as you are saying it. Croatia were oppress, dominated and out played like a  team without any experience. If you doubt it,go and take a proper look at the statistics especially their ball possessions in the first and second halves,because the way you put it, it was as if without the red card spain couldn't have defeated them. Croatia are not in form, so they would have still lost the match even without the red card.

Honestly, I wouldn't say Spain would have definitely beaten them had it not been for the red card. Croatia was poor, but so was Spain. We know Spain plays very well, yet they scored the winning goal only after their opponent had been sent off. That is why I believe the opponent's red card was a crucial turning point in the match.

[KTChampions]

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?

I think the result was a foregone conclusion - England has an absolutely incredible team, and the Czechs hardly stood a chance, so the specific errors made by the Czech players don't really matter. England currently has a better goal difference (+11) than Spain (+7), even though they lost the head-to-head match against Spain. Technically, only Spain has secured a spot in the playoffs so far, but I think England will be able to pick up a point in their home game against Croatia on November 12 and join them.

[Solokan]

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.

In my opinion, Ronaldo deserves to play and Jorge Jesus should give Ronaldo playing time, even if it's only for a short time, because even though he's not young anymore, he still has good strength and stamina, even though it's not as good as before, but in my opinion, Ronaldo still has good performance. Indeed, Ronaldo will not be angry without reason and if I'm not mistaken, there was an incident where Jorge Jesus told Ronaldo to warm up on the sidelines to play, but unfortunately, Jorge Jesus denied it and Ronaldo was not played, so it's natural in my opinion that Ronaldo is angry.

But yes, I hope Ronaldo can play again soon and can make peace with Jorge Jesus soon, but now Portugal is really lucky because it is in 1st place and next Portugal will face Denmark and Wales. Do you think Portugal can win in those 2 matches or not? In my opinion, Portugal has a big potential to win in that match.

[Ahli38]

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.

In my opinion, Ronaldo deserves to play and Jorge Jesus should give Ronaldo playing time, even if it's only for a short time, because even though he's not young anymore, he still has good strength and stamina, even though it's not as good as before, but in my opinion, Ronaldo still has good performance. Indeed, Ronaldo will not be angry without reason and if I'm not mistaken, there was an incident where Jorge Jesus told Ronaldo to warm up on the sidelines to play, but unfortunately, Jorge Jesus denied it and Ronaldo was not played, so it's natural in my opinion that Ronaldo is angry.

But yes, I hope Ronaldo can play again soon and can make peace with Jorge Jesus soon, but now Portugal is really lucky because it is in 1st place and next Portugal will face Denmark and Wales. Do you think Portugal can win in those 2 matches or not? In my opinion, Portugal has a big potential to win in that match.

Ronaldo is still very much deserving of a spot on the Portuguese national team despite all the controversy surrounding his relationship with Jorge Jesus. He should still be quite productive even though he’s no longer in his prime. And we’ve seen recently that he’s still capable of scoring decisive goals for Al Nassr, where he’s even been named man of the match in one of their games. So I personally think that Cristiano Ronaldo still performs well and even has enough stamina to compete with the Portuguese national team. On the other hand Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly still ready to play for Portugal (Source). And I hope we’ll see him back on the field when Portugal faces Denmark later on.

[Lannakosa]

In my opinion, Ronaldo deserves to play and Jorge Jesus should give Ronaldo playing time, even if it's only for a short time, because even though he's not young anymore, he still has good strength and stamina, even though it's not as good as before, but in my opinion, Ronaldo still has good performance. Indeed, Ronaldo will not be angry without reason and if I'm not mistaken, there was an incident where Jorge Jesus told Ronaldo to warm up on the sidelines to play, but unfortunately, Jorge Jesus denied it and Ronaldo was not played, so it's natural in my opinion that Ronaldo is angry.

But yes, I hope Ronaldo can play again soon and can make peace with Jorge Jesus soon, but now Portugal is really lucky because it is in 1st place and next Portugal will face Denmark and Wales. Do you think Portugal can win in those 2 matches or not? In my opinion, Portugal has a big potential to win in that match.

Ronaldo posted his response today, and I was really curious to see what Jesus would say, we didn't have to wait long. His response was brief, he said that he had read Ronaldo’s post and was heading to his workplace at the Portuguese Football Federation to do his job. He had nothing else to say.

I think that’s a good response, if Ronaldo wants to keep playing, then let him keep playing and take care of his form. If Jesus believes Ronaldo is in good enough shape to play for the national team, then he will play. If Ronaldo is not in good form, he will sit on the bench. To me it’s all pretty clear, the coach will always do what is best for the team, not for an individual player.

[W Jr.]

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.

In my opinion, Ronaldo deserves to play and Jorge Jesus should give Ronaldo playing time, even if it's only for a short time, because even though he's not young anymore, he still has good strength and stamina, even though it's not as good as before, but in my opinion, Ronaldo still has good performance. Indeed, Ronaldo will not be angry without reason and if I'm not mistaken, there was an incident where Jorge Jesus told Ronaldo to warm up on the sidelines to play, but unfortunately, Jorge Jesus denied it and Ronaldo was not played, so it's natural in my opinion that Ronaldo is angry.

But yes, I hope Ronaldo can play again soon and can make peace with Jorge Jesus soon, but now Portugal is really lucky because it is in 1st place and next Portugal will face Denmark and Wales. Do you think Portugal can win in those 2 matches or not? In my opinion, Portugal has a big potential to win in that match.

Ronaldo is still very much deserving of a spot on the Portuguese national team despite all the controversy surrounding his relationship with Jorge Jesus. He should still be quite productive even though he’s no longer in his prime. And we’ve seen recently that he’s still capable of scoring decisive goals for Al Nassr, where he’s even been named man of the match in one of their games. So I personally think that Cristiano Ronaldo still performs well and even has enough stamina to compete with the Portuguese national team. On the other hand Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly still ready to play for Portugal (Source). And I hope we’ll see him back on the field when Portugal faces Denmark later on.

This is news that concerns not only the Portuguese but all Cristiano Ronaldo fans. After facing issues, Ronaldo made no statement indicating he was quitting the national team. We all know of his love for Portugal. I am confident that the issue will be resolved before the upcoming matches and that we will see Cristiano Ronaldo back on the pitch as captain. I certainly hope so, as Ronaldo is one of football's most talented and legendary players.