Pepe goal gives Portugal vital win

Hungary 0-1 Portugal

It was not pretty but Portugal achieved their objective of winning in Hungary to keep their World Cup hopes alive. An early goal from Pepe proved sufficient to earn all three points. 

Two victories in Portugal's final two matches and Sweden failing to win in Denmark will see the Seleccao guarantee a play-off place.

Hungary 0-1 Portugal 

 
94' Final whistle goes. Portugal get a vital three points to keep their hopes of World Cup qualification alive.

93' Yellow card for Halmosi. Surely it's all over now.

92' Poor pass from Bosingwa gives Hungary the chance to launch an attack. Eduardo pouches a harmless cross.

90' Four minutes of stoppage time given by the referee. Good possession play by Portugal whiles away the first of those...

88' Batton down the hatches. On comes FC Porto centre-back Rolando for Tiago.

86' It's backs to the wall stuff from Portugal now. Hungary are intensifying the pressure. Rolando warms up on the touchline.

83' A spell of heavy pressure from Hungary, alleviated by a good sprint down the right flank by Nani, who wins a corner. Cross plucked out of the air by the gian Babos.

82' Portugal almost score! Portugal's man-of-the-match Meireles sends over an enticing cross that Nani touches a whisker past the angle of post and bar.

81' Liedson comes off for Nani. Liedson put in the shift as you come to expect from the Levezinho, but with little impact on the game.

79' Denmark are held by Albania! Final result Albania 1-1 Denmark. Now all we need is Portugal to hold on for the final ten minutes or so. What was that Queiroz was saying about "strong emotions"?

77' Duda gives away a free-kick with a crude foul. He is shown a yellow card for his troubles with the Hungarians asking for a red. The free-kick forces Eduardo into his first save of the match. It's an ugly stop with his legs but it does the job.

75' Portugal almost double their lead. Meireles again feeds an excellent pass to Tiago, who sets up Ronaldo for a good chance. The Portugal winger hits his shot firmly but straight at Babos who makes the save.

73' Hungary are throwing more men forward. A corner is played in, Eduardo slaps the ball unconvincingly to the edge of the box, where a shot comes in that drifts wide.

70' Twenty minutes left of regulation time. Hungary are starting to show signs of turning up the pressure. Even so, Eduardo has yet to make a save.

67' Pepe is shown a yellow card for some poorly chosen words aimed at the referee.

66' Rolando, Miguel Veloso and Nani warm up on the sidelines. You know it's a poor match when the text commentator is forced to talk about what the substitutes are doing.

64' Hungary make a double substitution. Realistically the hosts need a win to stay at the races. Maybe now they'll start committing more men forward.

63' Portugal win another corner, but the tall Hungarian defence deals with the cross.

60' Spell of Portugal pressure with a couple of dangerous crosses into the box, but the Hungarian defence holds firm.

58' Ronaldo's having no joy down the right flank. Play switches to the other flank and Simao wins a corner. Alves gets his head on the cross but the ball flies well over.

55' Liedson and Meireles combine well and the latter almost plays in Tiago. A last-ditch interception saves the hosts.

53' Quite atrocious passage of play with neither team able to string together more than two accurate passes.

51' At last something like a decent move. Duda exchanges a couple of quick first-time passes and before being croweded out, earning a throw-in.

49' Liedson wins a free-kick and picks up a kick in the head for his troubles. Yellow card for Szelesi.

47' Deco picks up an ankle injury and is forced off. Simao Sabrosa comes on for the Chelsea midfielder.

46' Good news during the interval. Albania equalise against Denmark. If it finishes like that the Danes can't lose against Sweden or they risk losing first place.

Portugal go into the break one goal to the good thanks to Pepe's early header. The Seleccao are not playing with anything like the fluidity they showed against Denmark, although credit to Hungary whose aggressive approach has clearly thrown most of Portugal's most creative players off their game.

45' Half time whistle goes.

44' One minute of stoppage time of a highly forgettable half given by the referee. But Portugal are one up and Queiroz won't complain if that's the result at the end of 90 minutes.

41' Portugal, whether by chance or design, are clearly playing on the counter-attack. Liedson is completely out of the game...

40' Ronaldo is coming in for some rough treament and furiously remonstrates with the officials after a blatant kick is ignored.

38' Yet another free-kick won in a dangerous position by Hungary. Portugal's rearguard are having problems dealing with Hungary's tactics of pumping high balls into and around the box. The free-kick comes to nothing.

35' Danger in the Portugal box. First Halmosi almost wriggles through on goal. The resulting play sees an overhead kick fly over the bar.

32' Great support from the Budapest crowd who are doing their level best to lift their team. Queiroz is off the bench again, making fine adjustments and again gesturing at his team to calm their nerves.

31' Bosingwa goes on a trademark dribble and is unceremoniously brought to ground. Deco's cross is cleared.

29' Portugal close to a second!!! Meireles relieves the pressure with a superb throughball to Ronaldo. The Real Madrid star shimmies past his marker, shoots for goal, and Babos makes a sharp diving save.

28' Hungary are starting to boss the match somewhat. That man Dzsudszak again fires in another effort but it's high and wide.

27' News filters through of an early Denmark goal in Tirana. Portugal could do with the Albanians getting something from that match.

25' Another dangerous free-kick won by Dzsudszak. The same player hits a tremendous effort that flies just wide.

21' Needless fould given away by Alves. The useful looking Dzsudszak hits a powerful shot that is deflected just past the post. The corner comes to nothing thanks to an athletic headed clearance from Pepe.

19' Supersonic burst of speed from Ronaldo wins a corner. This time Babos easily claims Deco's delivery.

18' Excellent piece of skill from Dzsudszak sees him skip past Duda and cross into the box, but nobody is there to get on the end of it.

17' Eduardo hesitates for the second time in the match and grabs onto a long throughball at the second attempt with Alves screaming at the Braga number one to claim the ball.

15' Dangerous break from Hungary. A cross is headed over by the giant Gyepes.

13' Portugal continue to hog possession, but without playing the incisive passing game that we saw on Saturday - at least for now.

10' Hungary hit back straight away with a dangerous free-kick that fizzes just past the post with several Hungarian heads close to getting a lethal touch.

9' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Deco swings in a perfect cross and Pepe beats goalkeeper Babos to the ball and it's 1-0. Thirty-four shots in Copenhagen and just one goal to show for it. One effort in Budapest and Portugal are one-up!

8' Better from Portugal. Superb pass by Meireles picks out Duda on the wing. The Malaga man wins a free-kick in a dangerous position.

5' A messy period of play with neither side able to string together a cohesive move. Carlos Queiroz springs from his bench and appeals for calm.

2' Bright start for Portugal. Ronaldo puts an early cross into the box but the defence clears. Liedson then harries a defender into a mistake but gets shut out as he closes in on goal.
 

0' Carlos Queiroz hands Liedson his full debut, in place of Simao. Apart from that change it's the same line-up as against the Danes.

Starting line-ups

Hungary:

Babos, Halmosi, Gypes, Juhasz, Szelesi, Dzsudszak, Dardai, Vadocz, Buzsaki, Torghelle, Hajnal 

Portugal:

Eduardo, Bosingwa, Duda, Carvalho, Alves, Pepe, Meireles, Tiago, Deco, Ronaldo, Liedson 

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!

 Yellow Card

Red Card