UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL : PORTUGAL VS SPAIN – 08/06/2025 (PHOTO – PORTUGAL LIFT THE TROPHY)

SPAIN MADE 812 PASSES, WITH A 92% PASS ACCURACY, (HAD 62% POSSESSION), AND 16 SHOTS WITH 6 ON TARGET, INCLUDING STUNNERS FROM MARTIN ZUBIMENDI AT 21 MINS. AND MIKEL OYARZABAL AT 45 MINS. PORTUGAL MADE 509 PASSES, WITH AN 86% PASS ACCURACY, AND HAD 7 SHOTS WITH 2 ON TARGET, BOTH OF WHICH THEY MADE COUNT! FIRSTLY AFTER RECEIVING PEDRO NETO’S PASS, NUNO MENDES NETTED IN SPECTACULAR FASHION FOR HIS 1ST INTERNATIONAL GOAL AT 26 MINS! (THIS MEANT THAT 2 EXCITING GOALS HAD ALREADY BEEN SCORED IN THE FIRST HALF AN HOUR!) AND WITH THE OYARZABAL GOAL AT 45 MINS. SPAIN WERE 2 – 1 UP AT HALF-TIME! BUT WHATEVER ROBERTO MARTINEZ GAVE HIS SQUAD AT HALF-TIME (ORANGE SLICES, PICKLE JUICE, OR THE HAIRDRYER TREATMENT?) CERTAINLY WORKED BECAUSE THEY CAME FLYING OUT OF THE TUNNEL AND ONTO THE PITCH WITH RONALDO LOOKING EVERY INCH LIKE “SUPERMAN” – WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HE TURNED OUT TO BE! HE GAVE HIS ABSOLUTE ALL – (EVEN SUSTAINING AN INJURY ALONG THE WAY) UNTIL HE REACHED THE BACK-OF-THE-NET WITH A SPECTACULAR GOAL, AND EQUALISING AT 61 MINS! (BELOW)

IT IS RONALDO’S 138TH INTERNATIONAL GOAL, AND, AT 40, HE IS STILL IN PEAK PHYSICAL CONDITION. (HE CHALLENGES MANY PEOPLE TO KEEP UP WITH HIM WHEN TRAINING AND THEY JUST SHAKE THEIR HEADS – JUST ASK FRANK LAMPARD!)

SO, IT WAS ALL SQUARE WITH A 2 – 2 SCORELINE AFTER 90 MINS., AND THE MATCH WENT TO EXTRA-TIME, AND WITH NO-ONE SCORING IN THOSE 30 MINUTES – ONTO PENALTIES!

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL : PORTUGAL VS SPAIN – 08/06/2025

GONCALO RAMOS WAS UP FIRST, WITH VITINHA, BRUNO FERNANDES AND NUNO MENDES ALL SUCCESSFULLY FOLLOWING ON AND NETTING SUPERB SHOTS, BUT THEN MORATA’S ATTEMPT WENT AWRY, WITH A GOOD SAVE FROM DIOGO COSTA, AND ONCE NEVES HAD SUCCESSFULLY DRIVEN HOME THE FINAL SPOT-KICK, IT WAS GAME OVER, WITH THE TROPHY GOING TO PORTUGAL!  WHICH IS ESPECIALLY NOTEWORTHY, BECAUSE PORTUGAL HAVE PLAYED AGAINST SPAIN 41 TIMES (WHERE 12 MATCHES WERE COMPETITIVE), AND RESULTED IN 6 VICTORIES FOR PORTUGAL, 18 DRAWS, AND 17 VICTORIES FOR SPAIN!

UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE FINAL : PENALTY SHOOT-OUT PORTUGAL VS SPAIN – 08/06/2025

THERE WERE TEARS FROM CRISTIANO RONALDO AFTER THE MATCH, WHEN A DELIGHTED PORTUGAL LIFTED THE TROPHY, AS THE FORMER MAN UNITED AND REAL MADRID STAR HAS NOW LED PORTUGAL TO 3 TROPHIES: EURO 2016, THE 2019 NATIONS LEAGUE AND THE 2025 NATIONS LEAGUE TRIUMPH!

A DELIGHTED ROBERTO MARTINEZ SPEAKS AFTER THE MATCH

AND SO, FOR ALL OF THIS, CRISTIANO IS THE LATEST WORTHY RECIPIENT OF THE SHAMEN’S EBENEEZER GOODE AWARD! MANY CONGRATULATIONS!

WORDS BY AMANDA WATERS