Portugal hold wasteful Spain

Spain were denied a winning start by Portugal in the Nations League on Thursday as Alvaro Morata’s first-half finish was cancelled out by a late equaliser from Ricardo Horta.

Morata side footed home at the end of a scintillating counter-attack and while Cristiano Ronaldo came on in the second half for Portugal, it was another substitute who grabbed the equaliser as Horta swept in with eight minutes left.

The Braga forward was making only his second appearance for Portugal, eight years after his first. “I feel proud,” he said. “I deserve to be here and I wanted to show that.”

A 1-1 draw means neither of the two favourites in Group A2 claim the early advantage, with games against Switzerland and Czech Republic to come. Spain play the Czechs in Prague on Sunday while Portugal are at home to Switzerland.

Both of these teams will be among those considered capable of winning the World Cup in Qatar later this year but it was Spain’s youthful side that looked the more complete in a surprisingly feisty and energetic contest at the Benito Villamarin, coming on the back of another long and draining season.

It was the 17-year-old Gavi’s run and pass that made Morata’s goal and the Barcelona midfielder was arguably the outstanding player in the game, putting in another accomplished performance that impressed Luis Enrique.

“With Gavi I have the feeling he is still unknown in Spanish football,” Luis Enrique said. “Not only does he run and fight, defensively he’s fantastic, but offensively he is good as well. He can score, shoot with both feet. He’s unique.”

Spain reached the final of last year’s Nations League, beating European champions Italy in the semis before losing to France, and they enjoyed a relatively smooth qualification for the World Cup, after collecting 19 points from a possible 24 to top Group B.

In contrast, Portugal had to go through the play-offs to qualify, beating Turkey and North Macedonia to avoid an embarrassing exit and doubts remain about Fernando Santos’ ability to find the right formula to accommodate his wealth of attacking options.