Portugal has not lost in Spain for 64 years
The Portuguese football team has only won once against the Spanish national team, in 17 matches, but he hasn’t lost a game in Spain for about 64 years, more precisely since April 14, 1958.
On that day, in Madrid, a goal by ‘Dom’ Alfredo Di Stéfano, a forward born in Buenos Aires in 1926, and who died in 2014, aged 88, sealed what is still the last triumph, and 11th, for Spain at the reception to Portugal.
After that match, five games and other draws followed, all in friendly matches: 1-1 in 1979 (Vigo), 1-1 in 1991 (Castellón), 2-2 in 1994 (Vigo), 1-1 in 2002 (Barcelona) and 0-0 in a match played last year (Madrid), on the eve of Euro2020.
As for the Portuguese victory, it happened almost 85 years agoon November 28, 1937, in Vigo, where Portugal won 2-1, with goals from Pinga and Valadas, but the game is not even recognized by FIFA, due to the Civil War (between 1936 and 1939).
The match scheduled for Thursday, in Seville, will be the 18th on Spanish soil and 10th official between the two sets, and ‘seriously’, Portugal also only won once. The only triumph other than in private matches dates from June 20, 2004day when Portugal overcame the Spaniards by 1-0, at Estádio José Alvalade, in Lisbon, on the third round of the Euro2004 group stage.
After a defeat against Greece (1-2) and a triumph over Russia (2-0), Portugal was obliged to beat the Spaniards in order not to fall in the group stage of ‘their’ European to a goal by Nuno Gomes, who beat Casillas in the 57th minute.
In what was the first of Cristiano Ronaldo, holder of the ‘AA’ team in games, the Benfica striker then became a shot in official forums of the team, in a match in which he entered only in the interval of substitution of Pauleta.
The team led by Luiz Felipe Scolari thus qualified for the quarter finals and ended up reaching the final, the first ever for the Portuguese football team, to lose again to the Greeks (0-1).
In the remaining official games, there were four draws and four Spanish triumphs. Spain won both qualifying matches for the 1934 World Cup (9-0 home and 2-1 away) and added a triumph (5-1 home) and a draw (2-2 away) in the qualifying match for the 1950 World Cup.
More than three decades later, in 1984, the two teams met for the first time, tied 1-1, in the first time, with António Sousa leading the formation of the corners and Santillana rescuing the draw.
They ended up following both of them to the semi-finals. After the title of the Portuguese triumph in 2004, Spain took revenge in the two games in the final stages, rumor to follow, by beating Portugal 1-0 in the round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup and 4-2 on penalties, after 0-0 in the 120 minutes, in the semi-finals of the 2012 European Championship.
In a game without the same importance, counting for the first round of the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, there was a three-goal draw, in Sochi, where Ronaldo shone, with a ‘hat-trick’, to cancel or bis by Diego Costa and the goal by Nacho.
Counting official and private games, Portuguese and Spanish go in a series of four straight drawsbeing that it is necessary to recover the 2010 to find victories.
Spain won 1-0 in the round of 16 of that year’s World Cup, on 29 June, in Cape Town, with a lieutenant from David Villa, and Portugal thrashed 4-0 in Luz, on 17 November, with goals from Carlos Martins, Hélder Postiga, who scored twice, and Hugo Almeida.
In global terms, the advantage is clear for the Spaniardsthat add up to 17 triumphs, against eight, and 78 goals scored, against 47, this in a duel with 16 equalities.
The 42nd meeting between Portugal and Spain, and the 10th official, is scheduled for Thursday, at Benito Villamarín Stadium, the home of Betis, in Seville, starting at 20:45 local time (19:45 in Lisbon) , with refereeing by Englishman Michael Oliver.