Simao fires Portugal to vital victory

Portugal 3-0 Hungary

Portugal took a massive step towards the World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Hungary at the Estadio da Luz tonight. Two goals from Simao and a third from Liedson sees Portugal leap-frog Sweden, who lost in Denmark, up into second place in the group.

A win against Malta in Guimaraes on Wednesday and the Seleccao can start preparing for the play-off matches.

Portugal 3-0 Hungary

91' Final whistle goes. A comfortable win for Portugal in the end and combined with the Sweden result it's a perfect night for Portugal who have second place practically guaranteed. A win at home against Malta on Wednesday will confirm a play-off place.

86' Portugal playing keep-ball to the sound of olés reverburating around the jubilant crowd.

83' The other goalscorer Liedson comes off and Nuno Gomes enters the fray. Liedson loves playing at the Estadio da Luz. Just ask Benfica fans...

80' Simao comes off to the mandatory and richly deserved standing ovation. Miguel Veloso comes on.

78' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Simao scores. Duda dinks over a cross to the far post where Simao smacks a volley into the corner of the net. What a memorable return to his former stamping ground for the Atletico Madrid winger. Two goals.

73' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Liedson scores. Portugal have taken a giant step towards South Africa! The ball breaks to Bruno Alves and the Porto centre-back calmly plays a perfect cross to the second post where the Levezinho thumps a header on target. Goalkeeper Babos makes a valiant effort to keep it out but the ball goes over the line and Portugal are two-up.

70' Portugal seem to be in control but while the advantage is just one goal nobody inside the Estadio da Luz can breathe easy.

64' Portugal twice close to a tension-busting goal!! First Nani then Simao force two brilliant saves out of Babos.

58' Nerves are starting to show. Portugal are enjoying most of the possession but are not creating anything in the way of chances.

51' Hungary will be out of the running for qualification if this results ends as it is and unsurprisingly the visitors are commiting more men forward, in so doing leaving space for Portugal to exploit on the break.

49' Nani breaks and shapes to shoot, only to play a disguised pass to Meireles but a promissing attack fizzles out.

46' Hungary straight on the attack at the restart. The ball circulates dangerously near the Portugal net but Eduardo snaffles the danger.

Half-time interval

45' Play switches to the other end of the pitch and Hungary come even closer. A cross is swung over, Eduardo comes out but doesn't make it and a Hungarian forward heads the ball onto the bar! Let-off for Portugal. This is far from over yet... Half-time whistle goes.

44' Portugal almost double their lead! Deco sends in a sumptuous cross and Ricardo Carvalho wins a header but the ball just goes just over the bar.

39' Hungary a whisker away from an equaliser! Balazs hits an excellent low shot that is deflected inches past the post.

36' Excellent break from Nani, who feeds Deco on the left. The Chelsea man switches the ball across the edge of the box for Meireles to try his luck. The FC Porto midfielder hits his effort first-time, but the ball flies over the bar.

32' A quiet period of play is largely restricted to midfield.

26' Setback for Portugal. Ronaldo feels a reccurence of his injury and is forced off. But 25 minutes on the pitch was enough to set up what could be the vital first goal. On comes Nani.

22' Next it's Bruno Alves who comes close, powering a header just over the bar.

20' Simao's on fire. Twice in quick succession, first on the left then on the right the former Benfica captain comes close to his and Portugal's second.

17' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Tecnical difficulties resolved just in time to report on the opening goal for Portugal!!! Ronaldo does well to get in a cross on the right, the keeper pushes it out and Simao is on hand to hammer the ball into the back of the net.

6' Danger for Portugal. Eduardo forced into a smart save.

5' Early pressure from Portugal further excites the crowd, but Hungary will not roll over easily.

1' It's the perfect start to the night for Portugal. News filters through that Denmark have beaten Sweden 1-0 in Copenhagen and a party atmosphere takes hold of the Estadio da Luz.
  

The match will kick off at almost the exact same time Sweden's game in Denmark comes to an end. Should Sweden fail to beat their Scandanavian neighbours, the Seleccao and the expected 65,000 crowd gathering here at the Estadio da Luz will be highly motivated for what could be a memorable evening - the night Portugal wrested back control of their World Cup destiny. 

But... a win for Sweden in Copenhagen hardly bears thinking of. Such a result will as good as end the hopes of Ronaldo and company making it to South Africa.


Starting line-ups

Portugal:
Eduardo, Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Duda, Pedro Mendes, Raul Meireles, Simao, Deco, Cristiano Ronaldo, Liedson

Hungary:
Babos, Bodnar, Ghyepes, Juhasz, Vanczak, Totth, Vadocz, Huszti, Gera, Dzsudzsak Torghelle

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!

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