When the moment came Cristiano Ronaldo hid his face and leant on his teammates. He scored the goal that put Portugal level in this final but had been withdrawn, exhausted, late in normal time and now, as the men left on the field lined up on the halfway line, he stood on the touchline where he could not watch but he could hear the roar as Rúben Neves scored the penalty that took Portugal to the title, and then he slipped to his knees and the tears came. It had taken a shootout but they have their second Nations League, defeating Spain in Munich.
Goals from Martin Zubimendi, Nuno Mendes and then Mikel Oyarzabal had seen Spain take a 2-1 lead before Ronaldo made it 2-2 on the hour. Now, an hour after that, it all came down to two shots: Álvaro Morata missed Spain’s fourth spot kick and Neves scored Portugal’s fifth to win 5-3 on penalties, allowing Ronaldo to collect the 34th trophy of his career, aged 40. There was a smile, a joke about its weight and then he carried it to his teammates and lifted it into the sky.
It had been a long night, and if this was a battle of the generations between him and Lamine Yamal, as it had been billed, the elder man won it. In truth, though, while the focus was on the Portugal captain and the Spanish teenager, 23 years his junior, cameras following them even when both had been withdrawn and were sitting on the bench, this was about many more men. About Oyarzabal and Zubimendi, Mendes, Rafael Leão and, in the end, Diogo Costa, who dived to his right to save from Morata. Neves then smashed hard and low, turning to see red shirts running towards him.
When it all ended, Luis de la Fuente gathered his players. Nations League winners two years ago, European champions last summer, they had been unable to make it three trophies in a row but he was proud. Spain had started well too: in fact, both times Portugal had drawn level, it had been hard to grasp, although it was also true that Spain faded badly and that Roberto Martínez’s side had been closer to avoiding the shootout.
It hadn’t been long before Lamine Yamal had been taken down by the kind of tackle that said something about his threat, although with the teenager drawing them in on the right the real danger was on the left. There, a superb long diagonal from Dean Huijsen saw Nico Williams control brilliantly, dash into the area and pull back for Pedri to side-foot just wide. From there too, Williams cut inside and whipped fractionally past the far post.
And yet it was through the middle that Spainscored the first when Oyarzabal’s lovely touch sent Zubimendi running through. He found Lamine whose chipped return wasn’t dealt with by Rúben Dias, Neves or Costa and Zubimendi put in the loose ball from close range. Portugal responded fast, Mendes stepping past opponents to hit a hard, clean low shot into the corner. But Spain reasserted themselves and Oyarzabal gave them the lead again on 45, Pedri slipping the pass through for him to turn into the net.
This was the sixteenth goal Oyarzabal has scored for Spain, his third in a final. His fourth if you include the 2020 Olympics. His was the winner against England last summer but he has though lost the other three: in the 2021 Nations League final to France, to Brazil in Tokyo 2020, and now here. Because then he appeared, which he tends to do; which he has done so, so many times.
It can seem that Ronaldo is not there at times but he always is. And when Mendes escaped Lamine Yamal and his cross took a deflection, looping up and dropping behind Marc Cucurella, there he was again, to volley in from close range. It was his 134th international goal and off he went, pointing at his chest. Spain could hardly believe it. They were not dominating as they had before, not creating either, yet nor did had they felt under threat. Now though, with Fabián Ruiz and Pedri departed, the control slipped away, even if Williams did then send a shot whistling wide.
Martínez’s side meanwhile were stepping up. The introduction of the latter changed the game. Unai Simón had to save Fernandes’s free kick right on 90 minutes and extra time brought a different flow, a different Portugal. They should have had the lead immediately when Mendes, the greatest threat with Leão, set Nélson Semedo for a startling miss from five yards. And with twenty seconds remaining Diogo Jota headed over, their mloment instead waiting for them on the penalty spot.
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