June 02, (THEWILL) – Portugal and Spain drew 1-1 in their Nations League openers on Thursday, with Ricardo Horta scoring a late equaliser for the Portuguese.
Spain finished last year’s campaign with a final loss to France, although they qualified for the 2022 edition after four straight victories to boost their confidence as a fluid team bristling with talent and potential.
Morata gave Spain a first-half lead with his 26th goal in all competitions, making him the joint-seventh best goal-scorer in La Roja’s history. The goal had Spain coasting to victory and Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was introduced to get a result for them.
However, it was substitute Horta, who scored eight minutes from time to salvage a draw in the Group A2 opening for Portugal. The substitute converted Joao Cancelo’s whipped cross to force a share of the points. Jordi Alba had an opportunity to win it for Spain late on, but the left defender headed agonisingly wide with the goal gaping.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
