Portugal earn draw at Spain, Haaland scores for Norway in Nations League

BARCELONA, Spain: Portugal scored late to earn a 1-1 draw at Spain in their Nations League opener on Thursday, while Erling Haaland led Norway to a 1-0 win at Serbia.

Substitute Ricardo Horta equalized for Portugal with eight minutes remaining to cancel out Alvaro Morata’s 25th-minute opener for the hosts in Sevilla.

Cristiano Ronaldo began the game on the bench and only came on for the final half hour with Portugal trailing. Spain kept international soccer’s all-time top scorer in check but failed to keep a marker on Horta when Joao Cancelo found him all alone in the box to convert his cross.

Horta was making just his second appearance for Portugal — nearly eight years after making his international debut back in 2014.

“This feels good because Spain is a very strong team and we were playing on the road,” Portugal forward Bernardo Silva said. “This is a good result for Portugal.”

Teenager Gavi started for Spain in his hometown and helped set up the opening goal after the 17-year-old Barcelona midfielder stole a pass by Cancelo to start a counterattack. Gavi raced forward and slid a perfectly weighted pass forward for Pablo Sarabia, who squared the ball for the unmarked Morata to score.

Spain’s Carlos Soler had a chance to shoot from the top of the area four minutes later but hit it straight at goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

Rafael Leão almost leveled for Portugal in the 59th but goalkeeper Unai Simon got a foot on his shot to push it wide. Simón, however, could do little to keep out Horta’s strike.

“We failed to finish them off, but we were playing against a great team,” Morata said. “We have to keep working hard as always. There is not weak rival in this group.”

In the same group in League A, the Czech Republic beat