Scotland boss Steve Clarke has declared that his side "deserved something" from their Nations League clash with Portugal after losing 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo goal.
Scott McTominay gave Scotland an early lead after seven minutes, but Portugal fought back through goals from Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo to take all three points in Group A1.
Ronaldo's goal came in the 88th minute and was his 901st career goal.
It leaves Scotland on their longest-ever winless run as they remain without a win in their last eight competitive games in all competitions, but Clarke feels they should not have left Lisbon empty-handed.
"I'm disappointed to lose a game where it looked, for a large period, we would get something from it," he told the BBC.
"I'm really disappointed for my players because I think they deserved to get something from the game.
"If you ignore the results, [there are a lot of positives], but we're professional, so it's disappointing.
"We played well in these two games, but we don't have anything to show for it. I've told the players not to be too hard on themselves. They have to understand the work that we're doing."
Scotland did well to prevent Portugal from getting any further sight at goal, defending a total of 26 shots during the match with seven ending up on target.
The 16 shots the Scots had to defend in the opening 45 minutes were the most they have faced in a first-half since October 2012 when Belgium also let loose 16 efforts.
"With the amount of balls that go into the box, you know one of them can go in the back of the net and that's what happened to us," added Clarke.
"When you bring quality players from the bench like Roberto [Martinez] can do, you always know there's a risk, but I felt we handled it well.
"We'll go away and analyse these games, and hopefully, we can give the lads a few pointers for the games next month, which don't get any easier."
Gamechanger Ronaldo was brought on at half-time by Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, a move that was well thought through and had the desired effect.
"Ronaldo did 17 sprints against Croatia. He is the player who made the most sprints. So we need to protect the players. One more game in 72 hours is impossible to have a physical performance [equal]," Martinez explained.
"The question was whether Ronaldo played the first half and left or came in and finished the game. That was the decision.
"He is an asset to the national team. When he comes in, if the [team] needs goals, Cris gives energy and a feeling to the fans. The stadium is different.
"If Cris leaves, it's the opposite and facilitates what the opponent would like to do when playing away from home in Portugal."
Nagelsmann aiming to rediscover Germany's ruthless streak despite Bosnia win
Julian Nagelsmann believes his Germany side should have been more ruthless after downing Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 in the Nations League on Friday.
Deniz Undav continued his scoring streak for the national side, with his brace enough to see Germany over the line despite Edin Dzeko halving the deficit in the 70th minute.
Nagelsmann's side sit top of Group A3 after three games ahead of facing the Netherlands on Monday, a side they drew 2-2 with last month.
But the Germany head coach wants to see an improvement in front of goal after dominating for large parts at the Stadion Bilino Polje against Bosnia.
The visitors ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.81 from their 12 shots, eight of which were on target, while also creating five big chances.
Germany also finished the game with 73.1% possession, though Nagelsmann said his players must find their clinical edge when they face the Netherlands.
"We didn't start so well and kept the ball on one side too much in the first ten minutes," Nagelsmann said.
"When we adjusted that, it was good and we were dominant. Given our superiority, we could have scored more goals.
"Regarding the goal we conceded, Edin Dzeko shouldn't have been that free inside the box. But the team kept control after that. We didn't want to take many risks."
Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz echoed Nagelsmann's thoughts, acknowledging his side's wastefulness in front of goal.
Wirtz impressed on Friday, creating more chances (four), playing more passes into the final third (36) and having more touches in the opposition box (six) than any of his team-mates.
"I think we made it difficult for ourselves. We could have won by a bigger margin," Wirtz said.
"Against the Netherlands we expect long balls to the striker.
"Bosnia did something similar today, but of course it will be even more difficult on Monday.
"The quality of the Dutch team is even higher."
Wales will benefit from Iceland collapse in long term, says Bellamy
Wales will benefit from the experience of Friday's Nations League draw with Iceland despite squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, believes boss Craig Bellamy.
Bellamy's reign began with a positive return of four points from Nations League matches against Turkiye and Montenegro, but they suffered their first major setback under him on Friday.
Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson scored to give Wales a 2-0 half-time lead at Laugardalsvollur, only for Logi Tomasson's strike and Danny Ward's own goal to earn Iceland a point.
Despite Iceland registering the most shots they have ever recorded in a Nations League match (20), Bellamy was not too disheartened by the result.
"It was good, I enjoyed it. It was what I expected to be honest, I said going out second half that this would be tough," Bellamy told S4C.
"We'll benefit so much from that 45 minutes, it's so good for us. In the long run this will be beneficial.
"Obviously to be 2-0 up and draw is disappointing, but it was a pleasing performance. It was about me learning about the players and them learning from us.
"It's never good to concede, I don't like it, we'll look at it again. I felt momentum played a big part. It's about us understanding when to take the sting out the game, which will come.
"Overall, I'm pleased with the performance, we've had two yellows which will mean a change on Monday, but it's predictable due to different styles of refereeing. It is what it is."
Despite a frustrating second half, Bellamy is the first manager in Wales' history to go unbeaten through his first three competitive games at the helm, with one win and two draws.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-2 Germany: Undav double secures second Nations League win
Deniz Undav netted twice in the space of six first-half minutes as Germany held on for a 2-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Nations League match at the Stadion Bilino Polje.
The Stuttgart striker found the back of the net in the 30th and 36th minutes to pull Julian Nagelsmann’s side into a two-goal lead, but captain Edin Dzeko’s goal for the hosts after restart set up a tense ending to the game which the Germans navigated.
Florian Wirtz ran onto a lofted ball from Robert Andrich before laying it back for Undav to open the scoring at the half-hour mark in the League A Group 3 fixture, but Bosnia-Herzegovina were unfortunate not to equalise in an instant.
Ermedin Demirovic broke free on a counter just four minutes later and beat German goalkeeper Alexander Nubel with his shot only to see it brush the top of the crossbar on its way out.
It proved to be a costly miss as Undav turned in a low cross from Maximilian Mittelstadt a couple of minutes later to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Undav thought he had his hat-trick in the 58th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside before Dzeko halved the deficit for Sergej Barbarez’s side heading home a Benjamin Tahriovic corner with 20 minutes left to play.
But the hosts failed to find an equaliser as group toppers Germany preserved their unbeaten start and went two points clear of the Netherlands with their second win. Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, sit bottom with only one point from three matches.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
