Russia 1-0 Portugal
The Seleção began its international break with a difficult 1-0 loss to fellow Euro 2016 qualifiers Russia at Kuban Stadium in Krasnodar.
Pinned back for long periods, especially in the first half, it looked as if Portugal might hold out until Romand Shirokov ended their resistance with a well-taken finish following an excellent team movement with one minute to go in normal time.
Even with Cristiano Ronaldo rested, Fernando Santos had declared before the match that he would not liberally experiment with the squad. Nevertheless, Santos gave Gonçalo Guedes his senior debut, and returned Nélson Oliveira to the starting lineup for the first time since 2013. André André earned only his third cap ever as the absence of João Moutinho and André Gomes cleared some space in midfield.
Russia in control
The Seleção started nervously and Russia gave the back four some problems through primary antagonist Artem Dzyuba. In the 8th minute, the Zenit St. Petersburg striker was onto a long cross over the top of the defence, but Pepe cut in front of his shot to clear the ball out for a corner. Minutes later, Portugal gave the ball away cheaply in midfield allowing Dzyuba to burst free into the left side of the penalty area and fire in a shot that Patrício deflected with his legs beyond the far post.
Portugal failed to completely clear its lines after the ensuing corner, and Dzyuba nearly made them pay when he struck the crossbar with a towering header after Samedov picked him out from the right wing. In the 26th minute, Rui Patrício got down well to smother Roman Shirokov's effort when the Spartak Moscow striker latched onto Pavel Mamayev's throughball.
It was one way traffic as Portugal struggled to carry the ball beyond midfield, but Portugal finally found a passing rhythm and Gonçalo Guedes had an excellent chance to open his international goalscoring account after good work by Nelson Oliveira sent him clean through on goal. The Benfica youngster warmed Akinfeev's mitts with a fierce shot from the edge of the penalty area. Minutes later, João Mário brought another more routine save from the Russian keeper with a scuffed near post effort after being set up by a superb chipped pass from Cédric.
Russia came storming back on the counter in the 42nd minute. Samedov should have down better after being teed up by Dzyuba, but the Lokomotiv Moscow winger blasted his effort over the crossbar as Portugal went into halftime on the back foot.
Santos made no changes to start the second half, and Russia picked up right where they left off with Shirokov dragging his shot just wide of Rui Patrício's right hand post. Mamayev then missed to the left with a half volley from outside the penalty area in the 62nd minute.
Debutants try to find their way
Cédric nearly found Nelson Oliveira with a cross from the right wing in the 70th minute. Porto's Ruben Néves then earned his first cap, coming on for André André. The youngster picked out Nani with a fine cross immediately after coming on with the Fenerbahce man heading straight at Akinfeev.
Russia had the ball in the net minutes later, but replays showed it to be the work of foul play by Smolov as the Russian winger clearly directed the ball passed Patrício with his right arm. Ricardo Pereira became the third player to make his first appearance for Portugal on the night in the 83rd minute in place of Gonçalo Guedes.
João Mário nearly found a winner four minutes from time with a shot from a tight angle that Akinfeev did well to push wide. But it would be Russia that claimed a deserved victory in the 89th minute after a slick passing movement down the left side of the pitch. Denisov played in Fedor Smolov through the left channel, and his cross was well controlled by Dzyuba for Shirokov to strike past a helpless Rui Patrício.
William had time to shoot 20 yards from goal after Akinfeev cleared a dangerous cross into the box, but his effort was dragged wide right and Russia preserved its 1-0 advantage.
If ever there is a time to say that a result is less important than the experience, it is now. Portugal again lacked a cutting edge without Ronaldo, but also struggled mightily in possession without the experience of Moutinho and Tiago. Still, there were moments of promise, and the result itself must be taken in context. Four senior side debuts were made, and Santos clearly understands the need to identify new goalscorers as evidenced by the inclusion of Lucas João, Oliveira, and Gonçalo Guedes.
Pepe's return surely reminded Portuguese fans what they have been missing as the Real Madrid man looked as fresh and composed as ever. But it is perhaps telling that he and Rui Patricio were Portugal's best players on the night.
Portugal will travel to Luxembourg for its second international friendly on Tuesday, 17 November.
by Nathan Motz
Portugal: Rui Patricio, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Cédric, Eliseu, William, João Mário (Rafa Silva, 90'), André André (Ruben Neves, 72'), Nélson Oliveira (Lucas João, 72'), Gonçalo Guedes (Ricardo Pereira, 83'), Nani
Russia: Igor Akinfeev, Oleg Kuzmin (Roman Shishkin, 45'), Sergey Ignashevich, Alexei Berezutsky, Yury Zhirkov, Pavel Mamayev (Vladislav Ignatyev, 77'), Igor Denisov, Alan Dzagoev, Roman Shirokov, Alexander Samedov (Fedor Smolov, 66'), Artem Dzyuba
Goals:
[1-0] Roman Shirokov, 89'
