Portugal win second Nations League title after shootout success over Spain
Portugal picked up their second Nations League title after beating holders Spain 5-3 in a penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw in Sunday's final.
Cristiano Ronaldo's 138th international goal took the final to a shootout in Munich, before Spain forward Alvaro Morata's miss proved costly and Ruben Neves struck the winning spot kick.
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Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Craig Bellamy insists Wales' World Cup qualifying hopes alive despite dramatic defeat to Belgium
Wales lost a seven-goal thriller in Brussels after fighting back from a 3-0 deficit, only for Kevin De Bruyne to deliver a gut punch two minutes from time. It was Bellamy's first defeat in 10 games in charge and Wales were also knocked off top spot in Group J by North Macedonia, 1-0 winners in Kazakhstan. Belgium are three points behind Wales with two games in hand, and will visit Cardiff in October for the return fixture. The group winners will qualify automatically for next summer's finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States, with Wales almost certainly guaranteed a play-off place through their Nations League results. Wales manager Bellamy said: 'I think I read something from the Belgium media - 'an easy way to the USA'? 'There's a lot of life in this group and today I saw a lot of life in this team. We aren't going anywhere. 'I will have a couple of weeks now of recharging but I'm beyond proud and really excited about the future.' Belgium led 3-0 inside 27 minutes through Romelu Lukaku - a controversial penalty awarded after De Bruyne's shot hit the hand of Brennan Johnson - Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku. Harry Wilson gave Wales hope from the penalty spot ahead of the break before Sorba Thomas, with his first Wales goal, and Johnson put the visitors back on level terms. Bellamy said: 'I don't like losing. I understand the game but how you lose is more important. ADVERTISEMENT 'Who are you as a person? Who is your team? I see that and I'm beyond proud. We're a good team. 'To come to a top-eight team and can we play the way we want to play? I think the Belgium players saw it as well. I won't tell you what we discussed.' Bellamy had promised to go on the attack in Brussels before the game and not sit back and defend against opponents ranked eighth in the world. He said: 'I understand results, I really do. But football means more to me than that. It always has done. 'I'd rather try something great and fail than do nothing and succeed. I've always been that way. 'I might not be great at anything but I'll try to be. It means more. I liked that. 'I said I wasn't coming to sit back, it's not in my nature, don't do it ... it's not our culture, it's not who we are. 'So for me it was, 'can we come to a top-eight team in the world then and come and play?'.'
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Preview: Fresh faces jostle for a chance in Luxembourg
The mere mention of Luxembourg is enough to send shivers down the spines of Republic of Ireland supporters, but the last time these countries met actually went pretty well for the Boys in Green. Goals from Shane Duffy, Chiedozie Ogbene and Callum Robinson helped Stephen Kenny' men to a 3-0 away win in their final game of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, as a rocky year ended on a genuine high. "There's more to come," Kenny declared afterwards. Alas, it proved to be one of the sweeter moments of his tenure. Kenny was always trying to escape the shadow of his lowest moment in charge: the 1-0 loss to Luxembourg at Aviva Stadium earlier in that campaign. With no supporters present due to Covid restrictions, Gerson Rodrigues lashed home the only goal of the game. That was in March 2021, four years and three years ago. Much has changed. Heimir Hallgrimsson is the man holding the reins now, and he's been happy to praise a lot of the work Kenny did; chiefly his willingness to blood young talent. "It was a big, brave decision to do that as we're benefiting from a lot of players who now have 20-plus caps for Ireland," Hallgrimsson said a couple of weeks ago. The Icelander is a cool customer. He exudes the calm of an outsider; someone not emotionally invested in the politics of Irish football and thick-skinned enough to block out the noise. He's also got enough decent results under his belt now to kindle that most delicate of flames among Ireland fans: belief. Friday's 1-1 draw against an admittedly weakened Senegal offered more positives after March's Nations League promotion/relegation play-off slaying of Bulgaria. All roads, of course, lead to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers which begin with a September double-header against Hungary (home) and Armenia (away). "Everybody's fit... everybody wants to play," Hallgrimsson confirmed yesterday. That includes Bosun Lawal who was added to the squad on Monday. The 22-year-old Stoke City man, blighted by injuries last season, can operate as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. He was called in because Josh Honohan and Jack Taylor were slight doubts after Friday's 1-1 draw against Senegal. Both players trained on Monday. Taylor, Kasey McAteer and Killian Phillips all got runouts four days ago, with Hallgrimsson promising to give other fresh faces a shot tonight. Troy Parrott sat out the Senegal game as he recovered from a bug but is in line to get some minutes, while the likes of Jake O'Brien, Evan Ferguson and Festy Ebosele will hope for involvement from the start. Meanwhile Shamrock Rovers defender Honohan and imposing Reims 21-year-old John Joe Patrick Finn are sure to be anxiously waiting for the nod to potentially make their senior debuts. Hallgrimsson has been talking up Luxembourg's threat, pointing to their 1-0 friendly win against Sweden in March. However all is not serene in the opposition camp. They were poor in a defeat 1-0 to Slovenia last Friday, but that was overshadowed by supporter protests against the selection of Rodrigues, the matchwinner in Dublin. In April, an appeals court upheld an 18-month suspended prison sentence Rodrigues on multiple cases of assault against his ex-partner, former Miss Luxembourg Emilie Boland. The Luxembourg Football Federation issued a statement apologising for the removal of protest banners by stewards at Stade de Luxembourg during the game, saying: "Dialogue, listening, and transparency remain fundamental values of the federation." Further protests are expected tonight. "It's not a distraction, no," manager Luc Holtz said in a tetchy pre-match press conference. "The focus is on the pitch and everything outside the pitch does not distract the team and has not distracted the team." On the pitch it's been largely underwhelming bar that surprise win against the Swedes. Luxembourg only have two clean sheet in their their last 13 matches, and they're finding goals hard to come by too. Holtz's team have lost three of their last five home clashes so they look vulnerable here. Hallgrimsson insisted he'd value a quality performance over a positive result, though both would be ideal as Ireland look to get into the habit of winning football matches. "For all of us, it's important to win the game, even though in a friendly I would pick performance above winning," the boss added. "If we have a good performance, if we continue to improve in what we are doing, even though we are unlucky and lose the game, I would probably take that more than a win if we are continuing to develop the team." There's a growing body of evidence that these Irish players are buying into the head coach's vision. It helps that Hallgrimsson has shown himself to be canny and astute, his tactical tweaks playing to the strengths of the assets he has at his disposal. Tonight is about getting a glimpse at hungry fringe men while further honing Hallgrimsson's preferred shape. There's no more trial runs after this, as Ireland enter a condensed qualification campaign desperate for early momentum to further embolden those daring to believe something special could happen on the road to Canada, Mexico and the USA.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Just how daunting will Belgium prove for Ireland in the Women's Nations League play-offs?
If the Republic of Ireland had any designs on getting back to top tier status in the Women's Nations League, they were always going to have to run a tough gauntlet. Last week's 1-0 win over Slovenia at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which delivered a modicum of salvation for Carla Ward's side after February's crushing 4-0 away defeat in Koper, meant the Girls in Green won't be promoted from League B automatically. They can still go up to League A but to do so they must get through a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off in October. The draw for that was made on Friday and pits Ireland against a Belgium team that reside six places higher than the Girls in Green in the FIFA rankings. Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, Shelbourne midfielder and former Ireland international Rachel Graham examined the task that awaits Ward's team in four months' time against a side that have had mixed fortunes against the very elite in recent months. "No matter who we were getting in that draw, it was going to be tough but I think Belgium have made big improvements over the last number of years," she said. "They've played in League A of the Nations League the last two years. Their results have been a bit mixed within their group this year. "They lost 5-0 to England and then went on to beat them 3-2, and only narrowly lost out to Spain. They lost 3-2, conceded in the 93rd and 96th minutes, so a really late defeat for them. "But they also then went and lost 5-1 to Spain, so a bit mixed and their last result then beating Portugal 3-0. "They're definitely a top team, probably at a better level than we are at the moment. "They have some good key players like their captain up front, Tessa Wullaert. She plays for Inter Milan and she has (more than) 90 goals for Belgium which is an amazing achievement. She's definitely going to be a big threat for them." As Graham pointed out, Belgium may have never qualified for a World Cup to date, unlike Ireland, but their major tournament experience is extensive having featured at the two previous European Championships and they will be at the upcoming 2025 edition in Switzerland next month which will be broadcast across RTÉ. "We'll get to see plenty of them. In their group, they'll play Spain, Italy and Portugal so at least three really good competitive games for them and they're probably going to be in better shape going into the game in October against us, having played those competitive games," she added. "Obviously, it's going to be really tough (for Ireland). The end goal is to get to the World Cup and we're obviously going to do that through a play-off position and if we do get to League A, it'll be a bit easier. "But if we do lose the play-off and stay in League B, it's a chance to work on the possession side of our game and we will get a play-off but it would just be a bit harder. "It's going to be really tough. Ideally, we would have been away in the first leg and at home in the second leg but it's reversed around. But look, it's obviously going to prove really tough but either way we can take positives from it." Ireland will have a friendly double-header against the USA at the end of this month, with some experimentation expected given the likes of captain Katie McCabe are set to be rested. One area Graham is keen to see more stability in is right back with natural centre backs deployed there of late. "When we do come up against the better teams, we will need someone a bit more quick and dynamic in that role," she said. "Anna Patten is now suspended for the first leg against Belgium and you'd imagine Jessie Stapleton will slot back into centre half and we spoke last week about maybe getting Jamie Finn back in as soon as possible. "She's back playing for the Birmingham 19s, back fully training, so she should be definitely back by October. "It would be great if she was named in these friendlies now against USA to even just get her back around the camp, get her back training, get her minutes in the games because I think she's going to be our best option to play in there going forward."
