Ronaldo on the Portuguese bench in the 1-2 loss to Croatia – Photo: AP

While coach Roberto Martinez decided to leave Ronaldo (39 years old) on the bench, Croatia still placed full trust in 38-year-old “veteran” Modric. Their faith was quickly rewarded when Modric successfully scored a penalty to help Croatia take a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute.

After that, Croatia continued to attack very well and create many dangerous opportunities. Without the talent of goalkeeper Diogo Costa, Portugal would have lost a few more goals in the first half.

Portrait of Euro champion candidate: Host Germany finds glory again?

At the beginning of the second half, coach Roberto Martinez made four changes but Ronaldo still could not play.

In the 48th minute, Portugal equalized 1-1 with Diogo Jota scoring the ball into an empty net after a clear pass from Nelson Semedo.

But Portugal’s joy only lasted 6 minutes, before Ante Budimir scored a header to increase the score to 2-1 for Croatia . The main credit for this goal belonged to Mario Pasalic when he launched a beautiful volley from outside the penalty area, the ball rebounded off the crossbar and Budimir rushed in to head in from close range.

This is also the final score of the match. According to the plan, Portugal and Ronaldo will have a final friendly match with Ireland on June 12, before leaving to attend Euro 2024 in Germany.

Barcelona cannot register 9 first team players for next season because of the financial crisis

Many Barca players cannot register to play next season due to the financial crisis – Photo: GETTY

Barcelona has been in financial turmoil over the past few years. And in recent seasons they have found various ways to raise funds and sign up new contracts to play within La Liga’s salary cap.

But next season, things are going to be difficult for Barca. According to the Spanish press, the Catalan team must earn about 130 million euros before June 30, otherwise it will face serious difficulties in adding new players to coach Hansi Flick ‘s squad in La Liga. next season. This is because they have exceeded the salary cap in the 2023-2024 season.

Not to mention, 9 players out of 25 players who played for Barca last season are still unable to register to play next season due to financial reasons. These 9 names include: Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso, Joao Cancelo, Joao Felix , Lamine Yamal…

Spain has a 5-star victory

The joy of Spanish players after scoring against Northern Ireland – Photo: TELEGRAPH

In a friendly match preparing for Euro 2024 , the Spanish team crushed Northern Ireland 5-1 at home stadium Estadi Mallorca Son Moix in the early morning of June 9.

In this match, the away team Northern Ireland suddenly scored the opening goal in the 2nd minute thanks to Daniel Ballard. But then Spain quickly equalized 1-1 thanks to Pedri ‘s goal in the 12th minute. At the end of the first half, Spain led Northern Ireland 4-1.

In the 60th minute, Mikel Oyarzabal came on as a substitute and scored the winning goal 5-1 for Spain. This is Spain ‘s last friendly match before participating in Euro 2024. Spain is considered one of the brightest candidates for the championship.