Portugal coach Santos after narrow Nations League win over Croatia

Croatia avoided relegation in Group 3 of UEFA’s Nations League, despite a 3-2 loss to defending champions Portugal in Split on Tuesday.Croatia needed to better the result of Sweden, who lost 4-2 to group-winner France in the other match.Mateo Kovacic opened the scoring for the hosts in the 29th minute and netted an equaliser in the 65th after Portugal had rallied with goals by Rubén Dias in the 52nd and João Félix in the 60th. Dias netted the winner in the 90th.

Cristiano Ronaldo was held scoreless for the second consecutive match to stay seven goals shy of the 109 scored by former Iran striker Ali Daei, the only other male soccer player to surpass the 100-goal milestone for a national team.Croatia midfielder Marko Rog was sent off with a second yellow card for a foul on Ronaldo just before Portugal's second goal.

(Image Credit: AP) 

This story has not been edited by www.republicworld.com and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.