FARO/MUNICH: Portugal and Croatia drew 1-1 in a friendly match that the hosts faced without captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Despite the absence of the superstar striker, more than 26,000 people turned out for the contest at Algarve stadium in Faro on Thursday. The Portuguese made the brighter start, but the first goal belonged to the 2018 World Cup runners-up, who took a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute on a strike by Ivan Perisic. Led in the midfield by UEFA player of the year Luka Modric, Croatia looked set to take command of the game until Pepe equalized for Portugal in the 32nd minute with a perfect header off a corner. Perisic had a chance to reclaim the lead for Croatia early in the second half, only to head the ball straight into the hands of Portugal keeper Rui Patricio.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, looking ahead to next week’s Nations League clash with Spain, subbed out Modric and Perisic for the final 30 minutes in Faro. The Portuguese dominated from that point on and would have taken a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute if Mario Rui’s shot hadn’t bounced off the base of the post.
On the other hand, Germany and World Cup winners France battled to a 0-0 draw here in the opening UEFA Nations League match for both teams. Both teams were cautious in the early going in front of 67,000 spectators at Munich’s Allianz Arena on Thursday.
Les Bleus stuck with the defense-first approach that served then so well in Russia a few months ago, while the Germans were anxious to avoid the kind of blunders that led to their crashing out of the 2018 World Cup in the group stage.
The first shot on goal came in the 16th minute, an effort by Germany’s Timo Werner from inside the box that French keeper Alphonse Areola handled with ease.At the other end of the pitch, host keeper Manuel Neuer had to be sharp to stop Olivier Giroud’s header in the 34th minute.
The second half was livelier and French striker Antoine Griezmann created a pair of chances, testing Neuer with a shot from distance in the 64th minute before a German surge in the final 20 minutes that saw Areola make a succession of impressive saves against Marco Reus, Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller. (IANS)
