Portugal 2-1 Belgium
The Seleção finished the international break tonight with a stirring performance against Belgium, winning 2-1 in Leiria. Nani contrasted some of his recent performances by scoring a fine goal with Ronaldo adding the second with a typical header. The display will surely complicate the selection picture for Santos, especially in defence and midfield.
Belgium, despite missing a number of star players due to injury, fielded a strong lineup with Romelu Lukaku and Nacer Chadli leading the forward line, Courtois in goal, and former Benfica playmaker Axel Witsel in midfield. Fernando Santos did make several changes to the side that lost 0-1 to Bulgaria on Friday, with Cedric, Jose Fonte, and Guerreiro complementing Pepe in defence, and the duo of André Gomes and Danilo starting in midfield. Santos also implemented a 4-4-2 formation with João Mário playing out wide.
Initially, it appeared that Belgium would settle into a rhythm and cause Portugal problems, but all of that changed as soon as Ronaldo got on the ball in the 10th minute. His back-heel pass nutmegged Denayer and found João Mário, who stung Courtois' palms with a sharp drive from the left side of the penalty area. Adrien Silva brought another fine save from the Belgian keeper with a rebound shot from 25 yards.
Incisive first half display
But Courtois' work was far from over, and minutes later he was called into action to parry Nani's header over after an excellent cross from Cedric on the right. Not to be outdone, Ronaldo brought a fingertip save from Courtois on the ensuing corner when his header was tipped onto the crossbar.
Portugal were content to wait out the Belgians as they patiently moved the ball about midfield, and found the breakthrough in the 20th minute. André Gomes caught the Belgian defensive line flat-footed with a simple throughball, and Nani's finish was dispatched with surprising aplomb into the far right corner.
Portugal continued to find opportunities on the counter as Cristiano Ronaldo broke free and unselfishly squared for João Mário, but Courtois came out quickly and pushed Mario wide of goal until the defence recovered. Rui Patricio was finally called upon to scoop up Dries Mertens shot in the 37th minute, but minutes later Portugal doubled their advantage.
João Mário continued his excellent first half play with a super cross that found Ronaldo unmarked and Portugal's captain made no mistake to score the 56th international goal of his career. It should have been three for Portugal just before the half when Gomes blazed over after another brilliant cross from João Mário on the right.
It was a dominant first half from Portugal with scintillating counterattacking play and brilliant individual quality.
Belgium hit back
Ronaldo nearly added another after the halftime break when Gillet was careless in possession, but Ronaldo's quick shot was wide of the mark. Radja Nainggolan brought the first sharp save out of Patricio with a searing free kick from 30 yards. The visitors finally halved the deficit in the 55th minute when Jordan Lukaku found his brother Romelu with a fine cross from the left wing.
A rash of substitutions broke up the flow of the game with Quaresma, Bernardo, Éder, William, and Renato Sanches coming on. Quaresma found space and sent in a weak effort in the 76' that Courtois comfortably saved. Portugal broke in the 84th minute with Bernardo Silva's cross working its way to Quaresma, but the Besiktas winger's trivela attempt was skewed wide left.
Portugal ground out the final minutes with relative ease, earning a well-deserved victory over top-ranked Belgium. There were great performances all around, especially João Mário, Cédric, Danilo, and the oft-maligned Nani. In characteristic form, the Seleção found its incisive counterattacking play to be more effective against a talented, possession-oriented side than it was against the compact defense of a lesser squad like Bulgaria. The 4-4-2 look utilized by Santos was unexpected, but extremely effective as it offered Portugal's wide players more targets in the penalty area.
On the other end of the pitch, Portugal were rarely troubled defensively in spite of the narrow scoreline. Fonte and Pepe looked strong and composed while Guerreiro and Cedric both showed their willingness to get forward in support of the attack.
Portugal will resume their preparations for Euro 2016 on 29 May against Norway.
Portugal: Rui Patricio, Cedric, Jose Fonte, Pepe, Raphael Guerreiro, André Gomes (William), Danilo (Danny), João Mário (Bernardo Silva), Adrien (Renato Sanches), Nani (Éder), Cristiano Ronaldo (Ricardo Quaresma)
Belgium: Courtois, Lombaerts, Vertonghen, Witsel, Guillaume, Fellaini, Mertens, Denayer, Nainggolan, Chadli, Lukaku
by Nathan Motz
