Portuguese Football in English
It was a happy bunch of players and coaching staff after Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0 to clinch their spot in the knockout phase of the Qatar World Cup.
“Today we showed character,” said Pepe; “We have a very strong team, and a country that’s hungry for trophies,” said Palhinha; “We believed before we could go far, and these victories only make us stronger,” said Rúben Neves, while coach Fernando Santos talked about “a deserved victory.”
PortuGOAL rounds up all the post-match reaction.
Portugal made it back to back wins at the 2022 World Cup after a 2-0 victory against Uruguay at Lusail Iconic Stadium.
The Seleção bossed the first half but needed Diogo Costa to make an important save after Rodrigo Bentancur had surged into the box.
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with a cross that evaded both Ronaldo and Sergio Rochet.
The game opened up as Diego Alonso went for broke, Maximiliano Gómez hitting the post in the 75th minute.
Portugal held their nerve and deservedly put the game to bed in the 92nd minute when Fernandes won and converted a penalty. Fernando Santos’ side have a three point lead over Ghana with Korea Republic their final opponents in Group H.
PortuGOAL’s Matthew Marshall reports from Lusail
Portugal suffered a setback to their World Cup aspirations on Saturday as centre-back Danilo fractured three ribs and has been ruled out of action for the two remaining group games, at least. Danilo joins Otávio and Nuno Mendes on the sick list, with the Porto midfielder and PSG left-back in doubt for tomorrow’s clash against Uruguay.
Coach Fernando Santos refused to make a drama out of the situation or make any attempt to hoodwink the Seleção’s opponents when it comes to who will replace Danilo at the heart of defence, saying Pepe will start.
It was a tale of two halves at Stadium 974 as Portugal just barely scraped past Ghana with all three points intact.
It was Portugal in all of her melodramatic glory, much to the chagrin of legions of heartattack-prone supporters!
In what many supporters might describe as a thoroughly unconvincing team display, Seleção correspondent Nathan picks through the wreckage highlighting last night's key performers as well as those with the most to improve in the next match against Uruguay on Monday.
Just like in Russia 2018, the Seleção opened up their World Cup campaign in Qatar with a thrilling spectacle.
Despite recognising the difficulties caused by Ghana, the mood in the Portugal camp following the 3-2 victory over the African nation was unanimous: job done, let’s prepare for the next one.
PortuGOAL rounds up all the match reaction.
