Portugal 4-2 England

UEFA U21 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Qualifying Group 7
Municipal Stadium, Rio Maior
Friday 29th March 2003

It was a tale of drama, suspense and ultimately heartbreak for England's Under-21s in Rio Maior yesterday as they went down 2-4 to a talented Portuguese team full of flair and running. It was also an eventful evening for the watching Newcastle United manager Sir Bobby Robson, who saw one of his players score twice and get sent off, another dislocate a shoulder, and a third commit the error that led the first goal.

England started the match well, retaining possession comfortably and moving forward with purpose, but were caught by a sucker-punch in the seventh minute. A mishit pass by Titus Bramble went straight to Cristiano Ronaldo, who slipped the ball to the onrushing Postiga whose powerful shot from the edge of the area found the bottom corner of Stephen Bywater's net.

England were shocked but two minutes later were level. Joe Cole gathered the ball in midfield and threaded a pass thought to Shola Ameobi. At first Moreira looked favourite to get there first, but the Newcastle United striker showed impressive pace to knock the ball past the Portuguese keeper and slot home from a tight angle.

It was breathless stuff and there was more to come. Barely 60 seconds later, Ameobi's Magpies teammate Hugo Viana took a short corner on the left to feed Quaresma, who cut inside to unleash a low shot towards the near post. Bywater appeared to have it covered until Gareth Barry stuck out a foot and deflected the ball over his despairing dive. Portugal were 2-1 ahead with only ten minutes played.

The crowd of some 4,000 enjoying the mellow evening sun were given some skilful and positive football from both teams, but had to wait a full 23 minutes before the next goal. Cole was again the provider and Ameobi again the clinical finisher. The West Ham midfielder split the Portuguese defence with another clever ball, leaving Ameobi one-on-one with Moreira. Despite a suspicion of offside the flag stayed down and the lanky striker sent the keeper the wrong way before rolling the ball into an empty net.

England were now looking confident again after twice bouncing back, and their cause appeared to be helped when Viana was carried off after dislocating his shoulder. Indeed it was the visitors who came closest towards the end of the half when a strong run by Jlloyd Samuel down the right ended in a crisply-struck cross-shot which Moreira had to stretch to palm away.

After the break Leicester City's Jordan Stewart replaced Michael Carrick for his first Under-21s cap, and his defensive qualities would be put to the test as Portugal seized the initiative straight from the restart. With Viana off the field, the play-making duties fell to wingers Ronaldo and Quaresma, who showed just why he is a reported target for Manchester United. The two wide-men provided a lethal cocktail of pace and trickery to give England's defence a torrid time in the second period.

Ronaldo was the first to be involved, exchanging passes with Postiga to set up Tiago, whose fierce drive was parried away by Bywater. Not to be outdone, on the hour Viana's replacement Carlos Martins stepped up to show his expertise from dead-ball situations. Winning a free-kick just outside the area, he curled a deftly-struck shot onto Bywater's left-hand post. The ball ricocheted to safety, but from the resulting throw-in England gave away another free-kick, this time some 25 yards out to the right. Quaresma shaped to cross, but instead laid to the ball back into the path of Martins, who opted for power over finesse, crashing in a low shot that fizzed inside the near post.

The momentum was now firmly with the hosts, and ten minutes later they doubled their lead. A quick counter-attack by Quaresma and Martins released Ronaldo, whose calm finish showed shades of his celebrated Brazilian namesake.

England had chances, namely through Cole, who flashed a shot wide from a short corner, and Ameobi, whose firm downward header was punched away by Moreira, but struggled to get a grip on the game. Their cause was not helped when with 83 minutes gone the Newcastle striker failed to respond to the referee's whistle for offside and sent a volley into the roof of the net. Instead of receiving the congratulations of his team mates, he was shown a second yellow card and his marching orders. England's most dangerous player throughout, he will now miss the Turkey match at his home ground of St. James' Park, along with club-mate Titus Bramble whose second yellow card of the campaign also makes him ineligible.

At the end, it was a case of 'what if' for England, who had matched the Portuguese in the first half only to be stretched by their pace and mobility in the second. A bitterly disappointed coach David Platt said: "On the balance of play overall I would have to concede that Portugal probably deserved to win. They were the stronger team in the second half when their individual talent shone through, especially Quaresma. We did well in the first half and at half-time I believed we could have gone on and won the game."

Platt also felt that Ameobi's sending-off had been "harsh", revealing that "Shola says that he never heard the referee's whistle. Under the Laws of the Game it is technically the correct decision but I felt that under the circumstances of the incident, with Shola already booked, it was extremely tough and effectively finished the game for us."

England now a have a crunch encounter against Turkey on the horizon, but Platt is confident that his players are resilient enough to put the disappointment of Portugal behind them and keep their foothold in Group 7.


Andrin Cooper


Portugal
MOREIRA, MARIO SERGIO, JORGE RIBEIRO, BRUNO ALVES, RICARDO COSTA (c), BOSINGWA, RICARDO QUARESMA, TIAGO, HELDER POSTIGA, HUGO VIANA, CRISTIANO RONALDO
Subs: BETO, CARLOS MARTINS, PEDRO NEVES, JOAO PAULO, CANDIDO COSTA, LOURENCO, MAKUKULA

Goals: Helder Postiga (7), Ricardo Quaresma (10), Carlos Martins (61), Cristiano Ronaldo (71)
Yellow cards: Jorge Ribeiro (71), Carlos Martins (72)
Substitutions: Martins for Viana (38), Makukula for Cristiano Ronaldo (82), Lourenco for Ricardo Quaresma (88)


England
Stephen BYWATER, Jlloyd SAMUEL, Paul KONCHESKY, Michael CARRICK, Michael DAWSON, Titus BRAMBLE, David PRUTTON, Jermain DEFOE, Shola AMEOBI, Joe COLE, Gareth BARRY (c)
Subs: Peter CLARKE, Matt MURRAY, Kevin NOLAN, Jordan STEWART, Jermaine PENNANT, Matthew ETHERINGTON, Peter CROUCH

Goals: Ameobi (9,33)
Yellow cards: Bramble (44), Ameobi (64, 83)
Red card: Ameobi (83)
Substitutions: Stewart for Carrick (46), Pennant for Prutton (70), Crouch for Bramble (86)