Without putting in a particularly impressive display, Portugal had a decent workout as they continued their Euro 2016 preparations on a rainy and windswept night in Luxembourg.

Goals from André André and Nani gave an unfamiliar-looking Seleção side a 2-0 victory.

Nani, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, probably summed up the feelings of coach Fernando Santos at the end of the match, saying: “the coach is giving young players a chance, which is good for the future of the Seleção. It’s good that there is competition (for places).”

No stopping Rui Jorge’s men

Despite losing two of the team’s strongest players in Rúben Neves and Gonçalo Guedes, both promoted to the senior side, Portugal U21s produced two more authoritative performances to sweep aside Albania at home (4-0) and Israel away (3-0) in their qualifying campaign for the 2017 European Championship.

The young Seleção outfit thus made it five wins from five matches, and have scored the small matter of 19 goals in the process, conceding just one, to virtually ensure top spot in their group at the halfway stage of the qualifying campaign.

Russia 1-0 Portugal

The Seleção began its international break with a difficult 1-0 loss to fellow Euro 2016 qualifiers Russia at Kuban Stadium in Krasnodar.

Pinned back for long periods, especially in the first half, it looked as if Portugal might hold out until Romand Shirokov ended their resistance with a well-taken finish following an excellent team movement with one minute to go in normal time. 

Russia-Portugal preview

The old cliché that the result is the least important aspect applies perfectly to Saturday’s friendly international between Portugal and Russia in Krasnodar.

Both teams will be looking to experiment and test out options ahead of next summer’s European Championship in France.

PortuGOAL, in collaboration with the Russian Football News website, previews the game.