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Football: Switzerland to face Portugal in Nations League semis

Switzerland will face hosts Portugal for a place in the inaugural Nations League final while England will meet the Netherlands in the other semi-final after Monday's draw in Dublin.

Football: Switzerland to face Portugal in Nations League semis
Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri during his sides stunning 5-2 comeback against Belgium in November. Photo: AFP

Portugal and Switzerland will meet in Porto on June 5th with England and the Netherlands clashing in Guimaraes on June 6.

The third-place playoff and final will take place on June 9th, with the latter game being staged in Porto.

All four sides qualified for UEFA's new competition — designed to replace meaningless friendly matches with competitive internationals — by winning their three-team groups in the top tier of the Nations League.

England came from behind to late on to beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley last month and leap from bottom of a group also including Spain to the top.

The Netherlands also needed a late show to edge out world champions France by scoring twice in the final five minutes in a 2-2 draw away to Germany.

However, Switzerland arguably produced the most stunning comeback in overturning a 2-0 deficit against Belgium to win 5-2 in their final group game.

European champions Portugal were unbeaten in four games against Poland and Italy to secure their place and the honour of hosting the tournament.

There could be disappointment for some travelling fans, though, as the Dom Afonso Henriques stadium in Guimaraes holds just 30,000 with England and the Dutch both expected to bring a strong support.

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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