England 0-1 Portugal
The Seleção got off to a winning start in their quest to become European U21 champions with a hard-fought 1-0 win over a surprisingly well organised and technically adept young England side, with João Mario's 57th minute winner being the difference between two evenly matched sides.
Meeting in the tidy little Stadion Miroslav Valenty, an 8,000 capacity ground in the city of Uherske Hradiste in South Moravia, home to Czech club Slovacko, the match was seen as an opportunity to see how players young in years but long in experience would fare in tournament football.
With Portugal lining up William Carvalho, João Mario, Raphael Guerreiro and Bernardo Silva and England starting with the prolific Harry Kane of Spurs upfront and the prospect of him being joined by new Liverpool signing Danny Ings later in the game, hopes were high for a quality event.
The two sides lined up thus:
England: Butland, Jenkinson, Moore, Gibson, Garbutt, Carroll, Ward-Prowse, Chalobah, Redmond, Kane, Lingard
Portugal: José Sá, Ricardo Esgaio, Paulo Oliveira, Tiago Ilori, Raphael Guerreiro, William, Sérgio Oliveira, João Mário, Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Pereira, Ivan Cavaleiro
With Italy already defeated by Sweden in the opening game of the tournament, Portugal took nothing for granted, despite having the stronger side on paper. Indeed, it was England that had the better start and by half time had enjoyed the clearest chances to take the lead. There were two that stood out, the first a strong shot from Kane bringing a good save from the hursuite José Sá and the second an effort by Lingard that whistled just wide of the 'keeper's far post.
Despite this, Jack Butland in the England goal was also made to work, with an early one-handed reaction save from Ricardo Esgaio's cross that had been knocked goalwards by defender Moore, particularly important.
The opening exchanges were proving robust, swift and lively.
With Manchester United's Lingard and Norwich City starlet Nathan Redmond showing up well, exchanges in midfield were crisp and fast, England's numbers succeeding in blotting out any attempt at fluidity on the part of the Portuguese middle orders, despite the presence of Silva and Carvalho.
Second-half improvement
With half time bringing a blank scoreline, Portugal had been slightly fortunate not to concede, but an improvement was about to arrive. They could also point to chances of their own, particularly one where João Mario slipped over when well placed inside the box to put Portugal ahead. The right sided face-off between the raiding Esgaio and Everton left-back Luke Garbutt had been one of the most entertaining clashes up to then.
Suddenly - as the second half began - there was more possession, more forward thrust for Portugal and a solid contribution from the hitherto slightly underwhelming William Carvalho. Despite this the first chances once again fell to England with Redmond smacking a shot in from the right wing, which was well saved by Sá, then a freekick by Ward Prowse flew just wide. With England showing up more aggressively, Portugal took the lead.
Having worked their way into the box with Bernardo Silva's trickery proving vital, the little Monaco flier's side foot hit the post and bounced back across the space behind the prone Butland, leaving João Mario with a simple right foot finish to put Portugal one-up.
Soon after a cross shot from Raphael Guerreiro flew past the far post, as Portugal continued to press, infused now with the confidence an opening goal can give.
A rash of substitutions broke up the fluidity of the game somewhat and England's frustration at having let the game slip away began to be more obvious with a number of freekicks and bookings, as the clock ticked by.
Late pressure
With Danny Ings and Will Hughes on, England began to press again towards the end and came close through a suddenly reawakening Kane and Chalobah. Portugal, boosted by the arrival of substitutes Carlos Mané, Rúben Neves and the lively Iuri Medeiros, held on and, but for a couple of late scares as England pressed, saw out the game with relative comfort.
It had been a good test for the young players, with Gareth Southgate's England posing a serious and prolonged threat. However, Rui Jorge's young charges, containing enough big time experience to see them through, managed to dig out a victory from a game that might easily on another occasion have only delivered a single point, leaving them with a fine platform to build on later in the week against an Italy side needing to win, after their own poor start to the tournament.
By Simon Curtis
