Portugal Edges Netherlands to Win First UEFA Nations League Title
Three years after winning a first European trophy, Portugal has a second.
The host nation for the UEFA Nations League finals won the inaugural competition, riding Goncalo Guedes's 60th-minute goal to a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in Porto on Sunday. The win comes three years after Portugal beat France for the 2016 European championship.
Both sides had won their respective semifinals 3-1, albeit in differing circumstances. Portugal rode a hat trick from Cristiano Ronaldo, with his two late strikes snapping a deadlock and sending his side through. The Netherlands, meanwhile, benefited from a VAR decision that could've given England a late 2-1 lead in regulation and instead capitalized on two defensive blunders by the Three Lions to go through with an extra-time victory.
Portugal registered an early shout for a penalty when Bernardo Silva went down in the box in the fourth minute, but play continued without a VAR review.
Portugal looked to push forward in the ninth minute through Bruno Fernandes, but his speculative long-range blast–when it appeared he had more space in front of him with which to operate–curled well wide of the Netherlands goal.
The match was largely played in the middle third for the next 20 minutes, but Portugal forced a save from Jasper Cillessen in the 29th minute off a corner kick. Jose Fonte headed down and to the bottom right corner, but the Dutch goalkeeper made the save to keep things 0-0. Fernandes then forced another save from Cillessen with a rip from long range, with the goalkeeper making an acrobatic, flying save to his right to push it out for a corner.
Fernandes again had a look from distance in the 38th minute, as Bernardo Silva set him up from 20 yards, only for the in-demand Sporting CP midfielder curling his blast over the crossbar.
It was Ronaldo's turn to test Cillessen in the 41st minute, firing from a left-sided angle after a couple of stepovers, only for the goalkeeper to get low and make the clean save.
The Netherlands finally forced Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio into action in the 56th minute. Memphis Depay won a 1-v-1 opportunity and cut back for Georginio Wijnaldum, whose redirect was saved well and put out for a corner.
Portugal then took the lead on the other end. Again, it was Bernardo Silva leading the charge, working a wonderful combination with Goncalo Guedes. The Man City playmaker cut back a touch for his teammate, who fired a right-footed shot with power just inside the right post on the hour mark to give Portugal a 1-0 lead.
The Dutch nearly responded immediately, with Memphis directing a point-blank header on frame, only for Rui Patricio to make the stop.
Portugal saw out the threat from there, though, despite missing a couple of opportunities to put the match away with insurance strikes, and captured a trophy that will surely give the defending European champions momentum as their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 continues.
Here were the lineups for both sides:
In the third-place match earlier in the day, England outlasted Switzerland on penalty kicks, with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford scoring England's fifth goal in the shootout and making the decisive save to seal the result.
