3 days ago
Portugal beats Spain to win Nations league
Portugal defeated Spain in penalty kicks to win The Nations League final late on Sunday after both sides failed to score in extra time following a showdown that ended 2-2 in normal time.
Cristiano Ronaldo sent the match to extra time when he equalised in the 61st minute with his record-extending 138th goal for Portugal.
It came after Mikel Oyarzabal had given Spain a 2-1 halftime lead. Oyarzabal squeezed the ball past Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the 45th after Pedri played him in.
Martin Zubimendi had broken the deadlock in the 21st with a tap in when Portugal's defense failed to deal with Lamine Yamal's cross, then Nuno Mendes leveled five minutes later when he drilled a low shot inside the far post.
The 40-year-old Ronaldo went off to a standing ovation and a hug from coach Roberto Martínez in the 88th.
Earlier, Kylian Mbappé led France to third place with a 2-0 win over host nation Germany in Stuttgart.
The Real Madrid star scored one goal and set up the other for Michael Olise as France recovered from a lethargic first half.
Carlos Alcaraz rallied from two sets down and saved three match points to beat Jannik Sinner 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2) on Sunday and win the French Open title for a second straight year.
Alcaraz, who won his fifth Grand Slam tournament in as many finals, produced one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the clay-court tournament.
It was even better than his performance in last year's final , when he came back from 2-1 down to beat Alexander Zverev. This time Alcaraz emulated Novak Djokovic's feat from the 2021 FINAL at Roland Garros, when the now 24-time major winner fought back from two sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.
'I'm just proud. I'm just really, really happy,' Alcaraz said before praising Sinner: 'I know how hard you are chasing this tournament. You're going to be champion, not once, but many, many times. It's a privilege to share the court with you in every tournament, making this story with you.'
It was the first time that Sinner had lost a Grand Slam final, but the fifth time in succession he has now lost to Alcaraz, who clinched the 20th title of his career at the age of 22.
It was also the longest-ever French Open final — 5 hours, 29 minutes — in the Open Era. The sheer tightness of it reflected in the fact that Sinner won 193 points, Alcaraz 192.
For after 3 hours, 43 minutes, Sinner had his first match point. But with just over five hours since the match began, Alcaraz served for the title at 5-4 up.
Sinner made a remarkable retrieve from yet another superb Alcaraz drop shot. At the very limit he could stretch to, Sinner glided the ball over the net, with the ball landing with the softness of an autumn leaf and out of Alcaraz's reach to make it 15-40.
When Sinner won the game to make it 5-5, it was his turn to milk the applause and he was two points away from victory in the 12th game, with Alcaraz on serve and at 15-30 and at deuce.
But Alcaraz made a staggering cross-court backhand to make it 6-6 and force a tiebreaker, with the crowd going wild when Alcaraz's cross-court winner made it 4-0.
Sinner could not find a way back and Alcaraz won the tiebreaker and the match with a superb forehand pass down the line and then fell onto his back to celebrate. Then he rushed over to dance and hug the team members in his box.
'I'm very happy for you, and you deserve it, so congrats,' the 23-year-old Sinner told Alcaraz. 'It's an amazing trophy, so I won't sleep tonight very well, but it's okay."
