Igor Matanovic made his bow on the big stage on Thursday. The Frankfurt striker may have lost 2-1 to Portugal with Croatia in the UEFA Nations League, but he nevertheless caught the eye on his debut at the Estadio da Luz. The hosts and winners of the 2018/19 competition led 2-0 shortly after the half-hour mark thanks to Diogo Dalot and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 900th career goal, but Dalot then inadvertently flicked the ball into his net just before half-time. Matanovic, who replaced Martin Baturina in the 61st minute, made a nuisance of himself in the Portuguese penalty area in the closing stages and came within a whisker of an equaliser in the 76th minute.
Collins and Lisztes play over an hour
Youngsters Krisztián Lisztes and Nnamdi Collins also got minutes for their national teams, playing around 65 minutes for Hungary U21s and Germany U20s respectively. Hungary suffered a 2-1 defeat against Slovakia, but the German youngsters came from 2-0 down to beat Romania 3-2.
Rasmus Kristensen with Denmark and Hugo Larsson with Sweden registered wins but no appearances. The Danes won 2-0 in their opening Nations League encounter against Switzerland, while Sweden saw off Azerbaijan 3-1.
