Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Video replay aids Spain as Sweden foil Ronaldo

969180
969180
minus
plus

PARIS: Spain twice benefited from the use of video assistance to defeat France 2-0 on Tuesday, while Sweden rallied from two goals down to beat Portugal 3-2 and spoil Cristiano Ronaldo’s homecoming in Madeira.


Antoine Griezmann headed in what appeared to be the opening goal at the Stade de France shortly after half-time, but it was ruled out for offside after consultation with the video assistant referee.


David Silva then converted from the penalty spot after a foul by Laurent Koscielny, and the Spaniards again profited from technology as the referee reversed an offside decision that had initially negated Gerard’s Deulofeu 78th-minute effort. “The victory was not a result of the (video) refereeing but due to the excellent work and attitude of my players,” said Spain coach Julen Lopetegui.


“The (video) refereeing gave justice to this match, it resolved those two incidents fairly.”


Monaco’s teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe made his first international start and nearly struck as early as the fifth minute, with David de Gea reacting sharply to kick away the Frenchman’s attempt.


Gerard Pique hooked a header from Koscielny off the line, while Andres Iniesta twice went close in the first half before video replays were used for the first time in France.


Griezmann’s celebrations after the break were cut short when Layvin Kurzawa was shown to be in an offside position as he set up the Atletico Madrid striker.


The linesman’s flag was then raised as Deulofeu tapped in Jordi Alba’s left-wing cross, but replays indicated the on-loan AC Milan winger was marginally behind Samuel Umtiti as the ball was played into the box.


Real Madrid star Ronaldo paraded the European Championship trophy before kick-off at the Maritimo Stadium as Portugal played their first match on his home island of Madeira since 2001.


The Netherlands slumped to another defeat, losing 2-1 at home to Italy in the country’s first game since the dismissal of head coach and former Dutch international Danny Blind.


Christian Benteke scored twice for Belgium in Sochi, the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics, since converted into a football ground.


However, Russia marked the occasion of the first ever match at the Fisht Arena with a rousing comeback as the 2018 World Cup hosts recovered from 3-1 down with goals from Alexei Miranchuk and Alexander Bukharov in the final quarter hour. — AFP


International friendly results


On Tuesday:


At Tbilisi: Georgia 5 (Ananidze 18-pen, 77, Kvilitaia 32, 68, Arabidze 90) Latvia 0


At Sochi: Russia 3 (Vasin 3, Miranchuk 74, Bukharov 90+2) Belgium 3 (Mirallas 17-pen, Benteke 42, 45)


At Tallinn: Estonia 3 (Luts 1, Vassiljev 81, Zenjov 84) Croatia 0


At Elbasan: Albania 1 (Balaj 68) Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 (Dzeko 7-pen, Lulic 42)


At Skopje: Macedonia 3 (Spirovski 40, Pandev 61, 69) Belarus 0


At Hesperange, Luxembourg: Luxembourg 0 Cap Verde 2 (Gege 8, Tavares 23)


At Funchal, Portugal: Portugal 2 (Ronaldo 18, Granqvist 34-og) Sweden 3 (Claesson 57, 76, Cancelo 90+3-og)


At Dublin: Ireland 0 Iceland 1 (Magnusson 21)


At Innsbruck, Austria: Austria 1 (Arnautovic 62) Finland 1 (Jensen 76)


At Amsterdam: Netherlands 1 (Romagnoli 10-og) Italy 2 (Eder 11, Bonucci 32)


At Paris: France 0 Spain 2 (Silva 68-pen, Deulofeu 78)


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon