13 October 2007, by Tom Kundert

Euro 2008: Alves and Almeida get Portugal back on track

Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal

Portugal gave their chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 a big boost with a comfortable 2-0 victory in Azerbaijan tonight. First-half goals from Bruno Alves and Hugo Almeida (pictured) proved enough to gain the three points against hosts who played for over an hour with ten men after Karimov was sent off.

It was an efficient rather than brilliant display by Portugal, guided from the touchline by Flavio Murtoso as Luiz Felipe Scolari served out the first game of his 3-match suspension. The returning Ricardo Carvalho and debutant Miguel Veloso were the eye-catching individual performers.

Simao failed to shake off a knock picked up last week while playing for Atletico Madrid and Nuno Gomes contrived to injure himself in the warm-up, paving the way for Ricardo Quaresma and Hugo Almeida to force their way into the starting XI. The match also marked the 50th appearances for the Seleccao das Quinas for both Ronaldo and Deco.

Portugal were given an early scare when a corner in their favour was cleared and the hosts rapidly broke to the other end of the pitch. Ricardo had to be alert and intercept the ball from the onrushing Imamaliyev. The Azeri striker came off the worse from the clash and was subsequently substituted.

Almeida goes close

In the 11th minute Portugal created their first opportunity to score when a fine Ronaldo cross was headed towards the net by Almeida from a tight angle, forcing the Azeri goalkeeper Valiyev into the first of several fine saves.

It was only a brief reprieve for the home team however, as from the resulting corner Bruno Alves rose high to powerfully head in Deco’s excellent delivery.

The goal settled Portugal, who started to pass the ball around confidently, and in a dominant spell Quaresma shot just over, Maniche forced the keeper into a sharp save and Deco sent a long-distance effort whistling wide.

Azerbaijan’s already difficult task then became even harder when Karimov inexplicably elbowed Ronaldo in the face near the touchline leaving the referee no option but to brandish the red card.

As so often happens, the sending off seemed to benefit the team who were reduced to ten men as Portugal proceeded to lose concentration. Hesitation between Alves and Ricardo almost resulted in the equaliser, with the latter saving at point-blank range from Subacic.

Deco hits woodwork

Play immediately switched to the other end, and a fine one-two between Ronaldo and Deco put the Barcelona playmaker clean through. His effort beat the goalkeeper but agonisingly bounced off the post.

On the stroke of half-time Portugal doubled their lead as Ronaldo slipped the ball to the overlapping Miguel, whose inviting cross was poked into the net by the sliding Almeida.

The second half began with a catalogue of missed chances for Portugal, as Hugo Almeida twice, Miguel Veloso, Ronaldo and Deco all missed very presentable chances to amplify the scoreline.

In the 70th minute Ronaldo was within a whisker of marking his 50th appearance with a goal when he burst through the middle and seemed to have rounded the keeper, but Valiyev again did brilliantly to athletically dive backwards and deflect the shot onto the post.

The final twenty minutes was played at training ground pace, with the only point of interest being the introduction of Jorge Ribeiro. The left-back came on for Miguel, making it a proud day for the family as the Boavista player joined his brother Maniche on the same pitch representing his country.

PortuGOAL man of match:
Ricardo Carvalho – The Chelsea man, who only recently recovered from injury, put in a faultless display upon his return to international action to bring tranquillity back to the Portugal defence.

Azerbaijan:
Farhad Valiyev, Aslan Karimov, Sasha Yuinisoglu, Samir Abason, Elvin Aliyev, Aleksander Chertaganov, Ilgar Gurbanov (Mammadov, 55), Emin Guliyev, Emin Imamaliyev (Zaur Hashimov, 5), Samir Aliyev (Ismayilov, 72), Branimir Subashich
Yellow Cards: Yuinisoglu
Red card: Karimov, 28

Portugal:
Ricardo, Miguel (Jorge Ribeiro, 74), Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Miguel Veloso, Deco, Maniche, Ricardo Quaresma (Nani, 69), Hugo Almeida, Cristiano Ronaldo
Yellow Cards: Jorge Ribeiro

Goals:
[0-1] Bruno Alves, 11
[0-2] Hugo Almeida, 44