Netherlands to meet Portugal in the inaugural UEFA Nations League final

Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands side will be meeting hosts Portugal in the first ever final of the UEFA Nations League after beating England 3-1 after extra time.

The hosts of this year’s Nations League, Portugal, beat Switzerland 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao, home of FC Porto, after a Cristiano Ronaldo masterclass as the 34-year-old attacker scored a hat-trick in his first ever game of the tournament to confirm their status in the final.

Both sides will meet on Sunday at the Estadio do Dragao, Koeman’s side are in search of their first trophy since their 1988 European Championship win when the boss was last playing. Portugal are the holders of the current European Championship.

Elsewhere both defeated team’s in England and Switzerland will meet up in Guimaraes hours earlier to determining who will be finishing third and fourth.

The Netherlands did go behind in the first half after the Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt fouled England striker Marcus Rashford, which the latter converted.

However, defending cost Gareth Southgate’s England as de Ligt managed to make amends for his early error. This was due to the Ajax defender beating both John Stones and Kyle Walker in the air to nod the ball past a helpless Jordan Pickford in the Three Lions net in the 73rd minute.

Away side England believed they had taken the lead after substitute Jesse Lingard put the ball in the back of the net, however, intervention from VAR ruled it out.

Minutes later VAR was in use again to determine whether Stones had handled the ball in the box, however, VAR again said no playing a crucial role in determining the correct outcome, but with that decision, the game went to extra-time.

A comedy of errors allowed the Netherlands to go ahead in this tie as Three Lions defender John Stones found himself caught in possession which allowed Lyon striker Memphis Depay, to force Pickford into a brilliant save, however, the rebound fell to Walker who bundled it into his own net following pressure from Oranje substitute Quincy Promes.

Again passing out from the back caused Southgate’s side problem’s with the hosts getting a third via Promes, as Stones played a difficult pass to Ross Barkley who got stranded in possession which allowed Depay to slot it through to a free Promes.