9 July 2007, by Marco Pereira

Portugal limp into last sixteen

Portugal 1-2 Gambia

Portugal put in a pitiful performance against Gambia, losing 2-1 but still managing to qualify for the Round of Sixteen as one of the four best third place teams of the tournament.

Needing only a draw to finish in second place in Group C, the Portuguese got off to a flying start with the opening goal by Condesso, but then fell apart as Jallow and Nyassi scored for 10-man Gambia to secure second place in the group for the Africans, who looked the more hungry and organised of the two teams.

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Portugal started with six changes to their line-up. Fabio Coentrao was suspended for the match, while Mano and Joao Pedro had picked up knocks in their last training session. Pele, on one yellow card, made way for Condesso, Zezinando was in for Pereirinha and Andre Marques replaced Antunes.

The match started with Gambia attacking as Jagne sent in a header just over Rui Patricio’s crossbar in the 3rd minute. Portugal responded five minutes later as Steven Vitoria sent a header of his own over the Gambia net. Gambia almost had a bit of luck go their way in the 11th minute as a throw-in deflected off Nuno Coelho and edged past the left post.

Condesso strikes

Then some hard work for Portugal paid off in the 20th minute as Pedro Correira sent in a cross from the right that found Condesso. The Portuguese midfielder headed the ball into the open net as Gambia goalkeeper Gomez mistimed his attempt to cut out the cross.

Guedes almost doubled Portugal’s lead four minutes later as his effort just whistled past the outside of Gambia’s left post. Gambia then went on the offensive as Nyassi and Mansally both came close on separate occasions.

Shortly before the interval Gambia were awarded a free kick inside the Portugal box, which came to nothing, but moments later the Africans earned a penalty when Paulo Renato took down the Gambian striker in the box. Jallow stepped up to convert the spot kick and made no mistake to put Gambia level.

Guedes comes close

Portugal looked to regain their lead in the second half as Guedes headed a ball over the net when well placed in the 47th minute. Then it was Bruno Gama who just missed connecting with an Andre Marques cross three minutes later.

Gambia were reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute as Jammeh was shown a straight red card for a violent tackle on Andre Marques. Jammeh was not the only player to leave the pitch as Marques had to be substituted as a result of the tackle.

However, the sending off seemed to galvanize the Gambians as they looked tighter and more organised. In the 68th minute Gambia took the lead when Mansally got the slightest of touches to Ngum’s cross to put the Africans 2-1 up.

Portugal’s response was poor as they showed no imagination to break down 10-man Gambia. To add to Portugal’s woes, the team looks set to be without their star man Bruno Gama as well as Andre Marques for the rest of the tournament after the injuries sustained in the match.

Portugal must now regroup and forget about their last two performances if they are to have any chance of advancing past Chile in Edmonton on Thursday.

Portugal:
Rui Patricio, Pedro Correira, Steven Vitoria (Joao Pedro, 63), Paulo Renato, Andre Marques (Antunes, 62), Nuno Coelho, Zezinando, Condesso, Bruno Gama (Diogo Tavares, 74), Zequinha, Guedes

Gambia:
J.Gomez, P.Gomez, Ngum, Jammeh, Bojang, Jatta (Mansally, 32), Jagne, Sohna, Jallow (Mendy, 64), Nyassi, Jaiteh
Yellow Cards: Mansally (38), Nyassi (45), Jaiteh (54)
Red Cards: Jammeh (59)

Goals:
[1-0] Condesso, 20
[1-1] Jallow, 45 (pen)
[1-2] Mansally, 68