Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Scotland and Portugal at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland. The teams tied 0-0 on Oct. 15.Andrew Milligan/The Associated Press
Cristiano Ronaldo was held without a goal and Portugal lost its perfect record in the Nations League after a 0-0 draw at Scotland on Tuesday.
Portugal had won its first three matches in the competition but couldn’t find a breakthrough against the Scots at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Ronaldo, sitting on 133 international goals, had a few good chances to break the deadlock. He seemed upset with the referee after the game ended, leaving the field with a sarcastic applause, waving his arms and with thumbs down.
Portugal had beaten Croatia, Scotland and Poland in Group A1, which it still leads with 10 points, three more than Croatia and six more than Poland.
Last-place Scotland stayed on one point. It came into the match on a nine-match winless streak and had lost four games in a row.
“There was a lot missing for Portugal tonight,” midfielder Bernardo Silva said. “We lacked intensity, didn’t attack at the right moments. We leave here frustrated.”
The top two countries in each group will advance to the knockout stage.
Spain into quarter-finals
Álvaro Morata scored about 10 minutes after missing a penalty kick as Spain comfortably defeated Serbia 3-0 to secure a spot in the quarter-finals after its third consecutive victory in the Nations League. Morata sent his penalty over the crossbar in the 54th, then found the net for Spain’s second goal in the 65th at the Nuevo Arcangel stadium in Cordoba. “I missed a penalty but ended up scoring,” Morata said. “We are in the knockout stages again. It seems easy but it’s not, we need to give value to our achievements.” Aymeric Laporte had opened the scoring five minutes into the match for Spain, the defending champion which opened with a 0-0 draw at Serbia and then beat Switzerland and Denmark in Group A4. Spain leads the group with 10 points, three more than Denmark, which drew 2-2 at last-place Switzerland. Serbia was third with four points from the draw against Spain and a win over Switzerland, which remains winless. The Danes are in second place on seven points. Serbia played a man down from the 76th after Strahinja Pavlovic was sent off for a sliding tackle on an opponent. Álex Baena scored Spain’s third goal from the ensuing free kick.
Five-goal first half
Croatia scored three times in the first 26 minutes of a first half against Poland that featured a total of five goals. The Croatians led 3-2 going into the break in a game that ended in a 3-3 draw in Poland in Group A1. Piotr Zielinski opened the scoring for Poland five minutes into the match before the visitors took command with goals from Borna Sosa in the 19th, Petar Sucic in the 24th and Martin Baturina in the 26th. Nicola Zalewski brought Poland closer in the 45th and Szymanski levelled the match in the 68th. Croatia saw goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic sent off in the 76th for an ugly foul on Poland striker Robert Lewandowski outside the penalty area. Livakovic kicked the ball clear but kept his foot high during the follow-through and hit Lewandowski just below the knee on his standing leg. Croatia is in second place in the group with seven points, three less than Portugal. Poland is third with four points, three more than Scotland.
Elsewhere, Kosovo beat visiting Cyprus 3-0 in League C, while Romania won 2-1 at Lithuania and Belarus drew 1-1 with Luxembourg at home. Northern Ireland routed Bulgaria 5-0 at home with a hat trick by Isaac Price.
Injuries in European soccer nears $800-million, report finds
MANCHESTER, England – The rising number of injuries to top soccer players came at a cost of nearly US$800-million to teams across Europe’s leading leagues last season, according to a report published Tuesday. At a time when there are growing concerns about the number of games players are being asked to play, the Men’s European Football Injury Index found there were 4,123 injuries in the top divisions of England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France in the 2023-24 campaign. The cost of the injuries was based on the reported salaries of the players concerned and the amount of time they were sidelined for.