Portugal thrash Malta to book play-off spot

Portugal 4-0 Malta

As expected Portugal beat Malta comfortably to book their place in the play-offs for the World Cup 2010.

Goals from Nani, Simao, Miguel Veloso and Edinho gave the Seleccao a 4-0 victory. 180 minutes now separate Portugal from South Africa.

Portugal 4-0 Malta

An ultimately comfortable victory booked Portugal's place in the play-offs for the World Cup 2010. Goals from Nani, Simao, Miguel Veloso and Edinho gave the Seleccao a 4-0 victory. 180 minutes now separate Portugal from South Africa.

93' Full-time whistle goes.

89' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Edinho scores!! Excellent link-up between Moutinho and Simao to release the Malaga striker who touches the ball past Hogg, runs round the keeper and knocks the ball into the empty net.

84'  Yellow Card. Pepe crashes into a Malta defender and is booked by the referee.

83' Seconds later and Hogg again does well to stop what looked like a certain Nuno Assis goal.

82' Portugal close to a fourth! Pepe heads a corner goalwards and Hogg makes a superb diving save.

79' Moutinho is next to shoot from a long way out, but his strike flies harmlessly wide.

77'  Yellow Card for Bosignwa for a crude tackle on the half-way line. Not a clever move by the defender who will now have to avoid a yellow card in the first leg of the play-off to avoid being suspended for the return leg.

76' Edinho again in the mix, getting on the end of a Deco cross but unable to keep his header down.

75' Nuno Assis, playing in his home club stadium, tries his luck from distance, hits his shot well but the ball goes narrowly wide.

71' Moutinho comes on for Nani.

69' Nani protests after being caught offside. The Manchester United winger has to be careful as he is also on a yellow card. The attentive Queiroz has Moutinho warming up on the sidelines.

66' Edinho gets his head on the end of a cross but the keeper saves.

63' Edinho drives low past the post.

62' On come Nuno Assis and Edinho for Raul Meireles and Liedson, who were both had one yellow cards from previous matches. Another yellow and they would be out of the next match. Queiroz is already thinking about the play-off.

61' Liedson picks up a pass from Simao and shoots inches past the post.

55' Quieter period of play from Portugal.

51' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Nani is again involved crossing low where Liedson is tackled and the ball breaks to his Sporting team-mate Miguel Veloso who calmly strokes the ball into the back of the net before wheeling away on his favourite tongue-out celebration.

50' Slower start to the second half from Portugal.

46' Great atmosphere in the stadium as the second half kicks off, with a Mexican wave travelling around the packed stadium.

A highly satisfying first half for Portugal. It was one-way traffic right the way through, with Nani and Bosingwa particularly catching the eye. A two-goal lead and the victory is not in doubt. The only question is how many goals Portugal will notch up.

45' Half-time whistle goes.

44' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! The ball breaks to Simao on the edge of the box and the Atletico Madrid man fires an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net with his right foot.

41' For the umpteenth time Nani has a shot at goal, but it's high over the bar.

40' Excellent exchange of passes between Nani and Bosingwa, but the Chelsea man's low cross eludes everybody and is knocked out for a corner.

35' Portugal a whisker away from doubling their lead! Excellent wing play be Nani who beats his man and swings in a cross which Liedson heads just past the post.

32' Another good effort from Nani crashes into the side-netting.

30' Simao is dispossessed by a fine last-ditch tackle as he prepared to go one-on-one with the keeper.

28' Bosingwa finds Simao in the box whose turn and shot almost beats Hogg, who just prevents the ball from finding the back of the net with his foot.

25' Wonderful interchange of first-time passes between Meireles, Nani and Simao sees a shooting chance created for Meireles, but the Porto man wastes the chance.

22' Liedson has a great shooting opportunity close in but hesitates uncharacteristically and is crowded out.

20' Eduardo touches the ball for practically the first time to clear a long ball punted forward.

18' Raul Meireles does well to make space for himselt but fires his strike high over the bar.

13' GOAL!!!!!!!!!! Nani turns well on the edge of the box and hits a fine shot powerfully into the corner of the net. A deserved lead for Portugal and this could be a long night for the Malta defence.

12' Neat turn and shot by Liedson, but it's straight at Hogg who makes a comfortable save.

11' Excellent cross from Veloso which Nani gets to his head to but the ball again goes wide.

9' It's one-way traffic with the ball hardly touching the half of the pitch defended by Portugal.

6' Another effort by Nani but the ball goes wide.

4' Exellent run and cross from Bosingwa. Hogg plucks the ball from the air as Liedson lurks.

2' Nani fires in an effort from the edge of the box that bounces off goalkeeper Hogg's chest. Encouraging start.

1' First threat from Portugal. Simao and Nani exchange a one-two with the former shooting but it's a weak effort that is easily saved.

Welcome to Guimaraes, the founding city of Portugal. We are approaching kick-off and the Portugal line-up has been announced. Three changes in relation to the initial XI against Hungary. Centre-back Pepe comes in for Alves, Miguel Veloso comes in at left-back for Duda, and Nani takes the place of the injured Ronaldo.

Starting line-ups

Portugal:

Eduardo, Bosingwa, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Veloso, Pedro Mendes, Raul Meireles, Deco, Simao, Liedson, Nani

Malta:

Andrew Hogg, Ian Azzopardi, Keneth Scicluna, Brian Said, John Hutchinson, Roderick Briffa, Jamie Pace, Shaun Bajada, Emanuel Muscat, Andrew Cohen, Michael Mifsud.

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!

 Yellow Card

Red Card