Bernardo and Dias help Portugal to Nations League success
Bernardo and Dias help Portugal to Nations League success
Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva were part of the Portugal team that beat Spain on penalties in Sunday's UEFA Nations League final in Munich.
Dias played the whole match at the Allianz Arena while Bernardo was replaced after 74 minutes following yet another all-action shift.
Advertisement
Spain twice took the lead in normal time, through Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Oyarzabal strikes, only to be pegged back first by Nuno Mendes and then Cristiano Ronaldo.
Having dominated early on, Spain went ahead after 20 minutes when Zubimendi followed up after Dias' last-ditch effort to deny Oyarzabal an easy tap in from Lamine Yamal's cross.
Dias put in an exemplary piece of defending a few minutes later, racing back to shut out Nico Williams as the winger looked to be closing in on goal.
That kickstarted a Portugal attack that culminated in full-back Nuno Mendes arrowing the ball across goal to level up the scores.
Advertisement
WATCH: Last night at the social club: Our 2025/26 PUMA Home kit
However, Spain were ahead just before the break as Oyarzabal latched on to Pedri's pass and slid the ball home.
Portugal responded on the hour mark through Ronaldo's prodded volley and that's the way it would remain all the way through to the end of extra time.
Spain striker Alvaro Morata was the only man to miss his penalty, leaving Al Hilal midfielder Ruben Neves to hit the winning spot kick.
It's Portugal's second UEFA Nations League triumph, having won the trophy in its inaugural edition in 2018/19.
Congratulations to Bernardo and Ruben on this achievement!
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Rodri was not part of Spain's squad for this international break.
The Ballon d'Or winner only briefly returned to the pitch in City's penultimate Premier League game of the season following a lengthy injury layoff.
Earlier in the day, France were 2-0 victors over Germany in the third place play-off with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise.
Our players will now return to the City Football Academy to prepare for the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Tom Cleverley in advanced talks to be Plymouth Argyle head coach
Plymouth Argyle are in advanced talks to appoint Tom Cleverley as their new head coach. Plymouth — who will play in League One next season following relegation from the Championship — have been seeking a replacement for Miron Muslic, who joined German second division side Schalke last month. Muslic, who led Plymouth to the FA Cup fifth round including a fourth-round victory over Liverpool, had himself only been appointed in January to replace Wayne Rooney. Advertisement In May, Cleverley parted company with Watford, his first managerial position, at the end of the 2024-25 campaign after 14 months in charge. The former midfielder won 20 of his 59 matches in charge at Vicarage Road, with the club finishing 14th in the Championship last season — 11 points off the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League and eight points clear of relegation. The 35-year-old — who was capped 13 times for England — retired from playing at the end of the 2022-23 season and had coached Watford's Under-18 team prior to coaching the first-team following the dismissal of Valerien Ismael. Cleverley made 146 appearances across seven seasons at Watford, having previously played for Manchester United, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa and Everton in the Premier League. ()
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Kevin De Bruyne joins Napoli following Manchester City exit
Napoli have confirmed the signing of Kevin De Bruyne on a free transfer following his departure Manchester City. De Bruyne announced in April that he would be leaving City at the end of the season after 10 years at the club, with his contract expiring at the end of June. The 33-year-old has now joined Napoli, who won this season's Serie A title. Benvenuto Kevin! — AurelioDeLaurentiis (@ADeLaurentiis) June 12, 2025 Antonio Conte's side, who sold Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain in January and had an approach for Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho knocked back that month, have prioritised adding creativity to their squad this summer. Napoli have won two of the last three Serie A titles, with this season's success propelled by former Premier League players Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay. The Athletic previously reported Chicago Fire were one of four MLS teams — alongside Inter Miami, NYCFC and D.C. United — to have expressed interest in recruiting De Bruyne. De Bruyne's MLS discovery rights, which are held by Miami, would not have been a barrier for another team to sign him. De Bruyne did engage in discussions with Miami, but the club's three designated player spots are already occupied by Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba. He has in the past also been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia and previously said he would be 'open to everything' whenever the next step in his career came, including remaining in the Premier League. Kevin is proud to be one of us! ✨ 💙 #ProudToBeNapoli | #ForzaNapoliSempre | #WelcomeKevin — Official SSC Napoli (@sscnapoli) June 12, 2025 De Bruyne joined City from Wolfsburg in 2015 and has helped them win six Premier League titles, as well as their maiden Champions League in 2023. The Belgian made 422 appearances for City, registering 108 goals and 177 assists. He was twice named Premier League player of the season, in 2019-20 and 2021-22, a feat only matched by three other players in the competition's history: Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nemanja Vidic. City confirmed last month they are planning to build a statue in De Bruyne's honour outside their Etihad Stadium. Analysis by Sam Lee There is an argument for De Bruyne being City's best-ever player as well as the best Premier League player. If any player of the most recent era is going to get a statue outside the Etihad to go alongside Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany, it would be him. But this is also the right decision for both him and City, because it has become clear over the past couple of months that he is no longer the player that he used to be. Advertisement The story of that should only endear him more to City fans: he played the final months of the 2022-23 season with a hamstring on the verge of rupturing, but he battled through anyway to help the team. They won the treble, his hamstring giving way in the Champions League final. It went again a couple of months later and it seems that it has changed him for good; the effort is still there, but the quality not so. It has got to the stage now that he is not starting matches and nobody queries it, but that will not be his legacy by any means. It is only because his passing ability is so good that his assists will be remembered slightly more than his goals, but he scored some belters and some vitally important ones. He arguably scored the goal that kick-started the Guardiola era, slamming home with his left foot to seal a 1-0 victory at defending champions Chelsea in September 2017, a game that gave City belief that their new brand of football could be successful. Eight years down the line City have won everything, and De Bruyne has been integral to it all.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
🌍 World Cup 2026: how are the favourites looking a year out? 🤔
🌍 World Cup 2026: how are the favourites looking a year out? 🤔 The 2026 World Cup kicks off in... a year, on June 11, 2026! Argentina, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Brazil: we're taking stock of the state of the big nations 365 days before the big day! They're on fire ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Argentina, Spain Argentina, the current world champion, is leading the qualification group in South America. Lionel Scaloni's players have been officially qualified for several weeks now, and nothing seems to be disturbing them a year before the World Cup. Advertisement On the Spanish side, the year that followed their Euro 2024 title was... almost perfect. La Roja hasn't lost a single match since March 22, 2024 (a 1-0 defeat to Colombia in a friendly), and the defeat in the Nations League final to Portugal on penalties won't plunge Lamine Yamal and his teammates into doubt. It's promising ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Portugal Vitinha, João Neves, Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leão, Rúben Dias, Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal's squad is certainly the most complete and intimidating in the world! The victory in the Nations League should give confidence to the entire team and, above all, credit to Roberto Martínez. Although not everything is perfect yet, and sometimes not pretty to watch, the last two matches against Germany and Spain are promising! It's coming together ⭐⭐⭐ Germany, England On the German and English sides, the two teams, respectively led by Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel, are in the midst of (re)building. Again, not everything is perfect, but we're starting to see where the two coaches want to go... They're raising questions ⭐⭐ France, Brazil France's post-Euro 2024 period doesn't allow us to approach the 2026 World Cup with full confidence. The defeats against Italy, in Croatia, and against Spain were worrying... just as the victories against Germany, in Italy, or against Croatia at the Stade de France were promising. Advertisement Didier Deschamps has exactly one year to get his Blues out of the fog... On the Brazilian side, the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti should help relaunch a selection that has been struggling in recent years. 📸 Ricardo Moreira - 2025 Getty Images Big danger ⭐ Italy Absent from the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Italy could miss... the 2026 one! Beaten 3-0 over the weekend in Norway, the Squadra Azzura is already lagging behind Erling Haaland's teammates in the qualifying campaign for the World Cup. Luciano Spalletti was fired, and the team is in crisis. Above all, talented players are terribly lacking. Italy's generational gap is worrying. Also read: - PSG unveils its 2025-26 home jersey Advertisement - Jersey news from last week - Euro U21 2025: our 5 players to watch This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here. 📸 Marcelo Endelli - 2025 Getty Images
