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| Wednesday, 11 August 2010 23:24 |
U21s cling to narrow victoryLithuania 0-1 Portugal Portugal are still in the hunt for a spot in Euro 2011. The national team edged out Lithuania 1-0, thanks to an Ukra goal and the goalkeeping exploits of Rui Patricio.
Portugal could still grab top spot in Group 9, but will have to win both of their remaining matches against England and Macedonia, and hope that Greece fall to the same Macedonian team. The Portuguese curently sit in third place with 10 points from six matches, one behind England and six behind group leaders Greece, but Portugal do have a game in hand. Should Greece win their final match against Macedonia and Portugal come out victorious in their next two contests, the team could still capture a play-off spot to dispute a place for the European Championships next summer in Denmark. Ukra got Portugal off to a great start when the FC Porto starlet headed in the ball from a corner kick in the 16th minute to give the visitors an early lead. Portugal looked comfortable after having grabbed the advantage and kept their shape to end the half. The second half was a different story as Portugal lost the rhythm they had established in the first frame. Chernykh (68) and Fridrikas (71) came very close to drawing the scores level, and were it not for Sporting netminder Rui Patricio, the result would have been very different, perhaps eliminating Portugal altogether. by Marco Pereira
Lithuania Cerniauskas, Iklimavicius, Fridrikas, Andriuskevicius, Krasnovskis, Eliosius, Vatikunas, Zagurskas (Brokas, 90), Papsys, Chernykh, Novikovas (Mastiancia, 82) Yellwo Cards: Krasnovskis, Fridrikas, Brokas Portugal Rui Patricio, Joao Goncalves, Andre Pinto, Daniel Carrico, Fabio Faria (Joao Aurelio, 68), Castro, Andre Santos, David Simao (Bura, 81), Ukra, Candeias (Andre Almeida, 72), Orlando Sa Yellow Cards: Fabio Faria, David Simao Goals: [0-1] Ukra, 16 |
He made some world class saves yesterday.
Btw, Rui Patricio made some excellent saves. Good for them to grind out with the 1-0 win.