Denmark 0-1 Portugal
Fernando Santos' first competitive game as Seleção coach ended with a dramatic victory for Portugal thanks to a 95th-minute Cristiano Ronaldo header.
After a promising start for Portugal, an attritional game of few chances ensued in the driving rain in Denmark. Krohn-Dehli hit the post for the hosts, while Ronaldo missed a one-on-one.
A goalless draw looked on the cards until a magnificent cross in the dying seconds by substitute Quaresma was headed into the net by Portugal's captain to spark wild celebrations.
Santos made two changes in relation to his starting XI against France, the two Carvalhos coming into the side, Ricardo replacing Bruno Alves at centre-back and William getting the nod ahead of André Gomes.
Bright start
Portugal started positively, with William and Tiago providing solid cover in midfield and Moutinho seemingly finding his passing range to bring the mobile front three of Cristiano Ronaldo, Danny and Nani into play.
Ronaldo forced Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel (son of the legendary ex Manchester United and Sporting stopper, Peter) into a sharp save with an angled drive early on. Nani had two chances in quick succession in the 26th minute. First he scuffed his shot from 20 yards then headed over an inviting opportunity after being wonderfully set up by Ronaldo.
The Seleção failed to build on their bright start however, with the Danes enjoying the better of the final 15 minutes of the first half. The home side were desperately close to taking the lead on 34 minutes as the ball broke to Krohn-Dehli on the left of the area, and the forward's curled effort beat Patrício but came back off the post.
Denmark applied pressure until the interval without creating clear-cut chances, and Portugal were next to threaten as early in the second half Ronaldo missed the sort of chance he normally gobbles up. Danny did well to rob the ball on the edge of the box and play a neat pass to the Seleção captain who was all alone in front of Schmeichel. The young goalkeeper did well to close down CR7 quickly, but it has to go down as a bad miss.
There was no lack of commitment from either team, but the match then went into a drab spell with neither goalkeeper called into action and the crowd strangely muted.
Positive substitutions
Santos tried to inject some life into Portugal with three forward-thinking substitutions, João Mário replacing the disappointing Nani and Éder and Quaresma coming on for Danny and Tiago.
The experienced coach was rewarded for his audacity as in the very last minute Quaresma collected Moutinho's pass, ran towards the bye-line and sent over a peach of a cross that Ronaldo met perfectly to give Portugal victory and put the Seleção right back on course for Euro 2016 qualification.
Worthy of special mention was Ricardo Carvalho who rolled back the years with a master-class in the art of high-quality defending.
by Tom Kundert
Denmark:
Kasper Schmeichel, Lars Jacobsen, Simon Kjaer, Daniel Agger, Nicolai Boilesen (Simon Poulsen, 58), William Kvist, Pierre Hojbjerg, Christian Eriksen (Thomas Kahlenberg, 84), Lasse Vibe (Uffe Bech, 46), Martin Krohn-Dehli, Nicklas Bendtner
Portugal:
Rui Patrício, Cedric, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Eliseu, William Carvalho, Tiago (Quaresma, 84), João Moutinho, Danny (Éder, 77), Nani (João Mário, 68), Cristiano Ronaldo
Goals:
[0-1] Ronaldo, 95'
