UEFA Nations League:Portugal Trashes Croatia In Ronaldo's Absence, France Defeats Sweden 1-0
Badmus Abdulsobur
Defending champion and European champions Portugal made light of Cristiano Ronaldo's absence when they swept aside Croatia with a 4-1 win in their opening Nations League match today.
Portugal, in impressive form as they hit the woodwork three times before Joao Cancelo fired them ahead four minutes before halftime in the League A Group
Diogo Jota and Joao Felix added two more in the second half before Bruno Petkovic pulled one back in stoppage time and Andre Silva added a fourth with the last kick of the game.
Ronaldo, who is on 99 international goals, was ruled out with a toe infection while Croatia were missing key midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic after the federation agreed not to pick them before the start of the European club season.
Kylian Mbappe scored with France's only shot on goal in Solna to give the world champions a 1-0 victory over Sweden in the opening round of matches in the Nations League.
Mbappe picked up the ball wide of the goal in the 41st minute, squeezed past two defenders, waited for goalkeeper Robin Olsen to go down and then clipped the ball just inside the post from the narrowest of angles.
The strike was enough to give France victory in a cagey opener in Group 3 of the elite League A in the competition.
Sweden managed just three strikes on target in the 90 minutes, though one of those was a deflection off French defender Dayot Upemecano that Hugo Lloris had to save.
Antoine Griezmann had a chance to double the French lead with the last kick of the game after Anthony Martial was fouled in the box, but the Barcelona attacker blasted the penalty high.
For France's first match since they beat Albania last November, manager Didier Deschamps recalled Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot for his first appearance since he refused to serve as a standby for the 2018 World Cup.
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