Cristiano Ronaldo was Portugal’s hero as his goal capped a thrilling comeback to beat Germany 2-1 in Munich and earn a place in Sunday’s Nations League final.
The hosts had gone in front early in the second half when Liverpool transfer target Florian Wirtz headed home, but Roberto Martínez’s men hit back with two goals in five minutes. Substitute Francisco Conceição levelled with a fantastic long-range strike, before Ronaldo converted from Nuno Mendes’ cross to seal victory.
There was drama before kick-off, which was delayed by 10 minutes due to a hail storm over the Allianz Arena. Ronaldo also had to deal with a young pitch invader who was grabbed by stewards as he tried to approach the Portugal captain for a selfie.
The hosts had the better of the first half, with the Portugal keeper Diogo Costa making a point-blank save to deny debutant Nick Woltemade’s fizzed effort, then getting down quickly to turn Leon Goretzka’s low shot around the post. Ronaldo spurned the visitors’ best chance, failing to find the corner of the net with a shot on the turn.
Portugal were inches away from taking the lead early in the second half as Ronaldo was just unable to connect with Nuno Mendes’ incisive cross, which agonisingly grazed the forward’s studs. Moments later, Wirtz broke the deadlock, heading home a delightful clipped ball over the defence from Joshua Kimmich, who was celebrating his 100th Germany cap.
The visitors appealed in vain for a foul, with Rúben Dias adamant he had been obstructed by Woldemate, allowing Wirtz to steer a header beyond Costa and into the far corner. The referee, Slovenia’s Slavko Vincic, reviewed the goal on a pitchside monitor but did not award either a foul or offside, and Wirtz’ opener stood.
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Inzaghi joins Al-Hilal as Fábregas plays down Inter links
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Simone Inzaghi has been appointed coach of Al-Hilal, the Saudi Pro League side announced on Wednesday. The Italian left Inter on Tuesday after the side’s humiliating 5-0 loss in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain last Saturday, and has quickly taken on another managerial job.
The Saudi club did not immediately disclose any details about Inzaghi’s contract, but Italian media reported that it could be worth up to €30m (£25.3m) per season. Inzaghi’s first task will be to take charge of Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup in the US; they will face Real Madrid on 18 June in their group opener.
Earlier on Wednesday, Cesc Fàbregas pledged his immediate managerial future to Como amid speculation that the Spaniard is Inter’s main target to replace Inzaghi.
The former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder has attracted the attention of several top clubs after leading promoted Como to 10th place in Serie A.
‘I really believe in Como’s long-term project, I arrived here as a player and I’m very, very happy because I can work here the way I want,” Fàbregas, who is also a shareholder in the club he manages, said at the SXSW (South By Southwest) conference in London. Italian media have reported that Inter want to speak to Fàbregas after Inzaghi left by mutual agreement on Tuesday. Reuters
Martínez made a triple change just before the hour mark, with Juventus winger Conceição replacing Francisco Trinçao on the right side. It was Conceição who changed the game five minutes later, cutting in from the right, driving towards goal and finding the far corner with a 25-yard effort that swerved and dipped.
That seemed like a good omen for Portugal – Francisco’s father, Sérgio, scored a hat-trick the last time they beat Germany, at Euro 2000. So it proved five minutes later as Bruno Fernandes played in Nuno Mendes, whose cross found Ronaldo just onside, six yards out, to slot past Marc-André ter Stegen for his 137th international goal.
Germany came close to an equaliser when substitute Karim Adeyemi struck the near post from a tight angle, but in the latter stages it was Portugal who looked more likely to score as Julian Nagelsmann’s team ran out of ideas.
Conceição, who was named player of the match, sent a powerful strike just wide, while Ter Stegen made a miraculous double save to deny substitute Diogo Jota and then Conceição’s shot on the rebound in the dying moments.
Still, Portugal’s work was done, and the 2019 Nations League winners advance to a final against either 2021 champions France or the current holders, Spain, at the same venue on Sunday night.
“We need to enjoy the victory – we won for the first time in a while against Germany,” Martínez said afterwards. “Tactically we were exceptional and our commitment helped … it was a team victory. Now we can recover and evaluate … we want another performance with personality in this shirt.”
“The defeat is absolutely deserved,” the Germany captain Kimmich said. “We weren’t playing well enough in the first half [and] after going 1-0 up, nothing came of it. We have to learn from this. If we’re not at 100%, we can’t beat a top European team. Today was one of our worst games, purely based on our performance.”
