Portuguese Football in English
Portugal 4-0 GibraltarPortugal got their U21 European Championship qualification campaign off to a winning start with a 4-0 victory against Gibraltar at the Complexo Desportivo FC Alverca.
Francisco Trincão opened the scoring, Dany Mota bagged a brace and Diogo Queirós wrapped things up a one-sided match where the result was never in doubt.
Fernando Santos has announced the Portugal squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Serbia and Lithuania.
As is his wont, the Seleção boss sprung a few surprises, principally the call-ups for Sevilla defender Daniel Carriço and Olympiakos forward Daniel Podence. Midfielder Renato Sanches, who recently transferred from Bayern Munich to Lille, has also been selected.
Onward and upwardMomentum. The mathematical description of an object’s mass and velocity working in concert. It is much harder to stop an object in motion.
Having overcame the mountainous obstacle of securing its first major championship in 2016, the Seleção have gathered velocity and hurdled the negative inertia of the shattered hopes and dreams of 1966, 2004, 2006, and 2012.
Our destiny has been fundamentally altered. It is now inexorably tilted in the direction of prestigious achievements which would have been unimaginable even just five years ago. There is a palpable sense of expansion, something building. But we are not there yet.
Portugal’s attempts to defend their UEFA U19 European Championship title in Armenia came unstuck after a 2-0 defeat against Spain at Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium. The Seleção were second best throughout and can have no complaints against a Spanish side that were dominant and claimed their eighth U19 Euro title since 2002.
A defensive mix-up allowed Ferrán to Torres volley home in the 34th minute, the Valencia winger scoring his second shortly after half time to give La Rojita an unassailable lead. Portugal’s attempts to get back into the game were thwarted by goalkeeper Arnau Tenas but they can hold their heads high after a promising campaign.
Portugal’s U19 side will compete in their third successive U19 Euro Final when they face seven-time winners Spain at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in Yerevan, Armenia. Portugal have a proud record in the tournament, winning the UEFA Youth Tournament in 1961 and the UEFA European Under-18 Championship in 1994 and 1999 after being beaten finalists in 1988, 1990 and 1992.
Since the tournament became the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2002, Portugal lost in three finals (2003, 2014 & 2017) before breaking through in 2018 when they beat Italy 4-3 in the final. The current crop of players have a unique chance to go back to back, but it won’t be easy against a Spanish side that have had a stranglehold on the competition.
