England beat Italy (1-2) and Portugal beat Liechtenstein (4-0) at the start of Euro 2024 qualifying.
The English achieved a prestigious triumph against the current champions, who offered two different faces in each part. In the first, he remembered the team left out at the last two World Cups more than the one that clinched the European title in 2021. For his part, Roberto Martínez made a comfortable debut as manager on the same day as Cristiano Ronaldo, becoming the most capped player in history (197).
Eurocup classification – Group c – Day 1
The Diego Armando Maradona stadium in Naples has replayed the final of the last European Championship between the two cocks from group C, a priori the group of death that also includes Ukraine. Gareth Southgate’s side, which have continued to bet on the same block of players in recent years, have been very effective. A corner kick forced by Bellingham after a great start resulted in the first goal of the game, the work of Declan Rice. The West Ham midfielder used Kane’s distraction to open the scoring.
From there the three lions tamed Italy and carried all the danger through the crossings. Just before the break, a handball from Di Lorenzo, ruled by VAR from a corner, allowed Harry Kane to make it 0-2. The England captain passed Rooney as his team’s top scorer (54).
But after the break, the panorama changed and Italy responded with more direct football. Rookie Retegui, a Tigre player in the Argentine league, closed the gap with a pass from Pellegrini. Mancini’s substitutions fueled the attack and England were left with ten for a double yellow for Shaw. However, the chicanes and demolitions of the last ten minutes were not enough and the Azzurri lost in a Eurocopa qualifying phase for the first time since 2006.
Eurocup classification – Group j – Day 1
In Group J, Portugal start as the top favorites and Liechtenstein only lasted seven minutes. Cancelo found the goal with a shot from the edge that ricocheted off a defender. Roberto Martínez’s side dominated from start to finish, despite lacking depth in the first half against their rivals. Already in the second half they managed to distance themselves with two early goals on the scoreboard. First with a left-footed shot by Bernardo Silva and then with a penalty by Cristiano Ronaldo, provoked by an always incisive Cancelo.
Cristiano celebrated the night he made history with a brace with a direct free-kick to make it 4-0 in the final.
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