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06.06.2014 » Mexico 0-1 Portugal. A late Bruno Alves header decides the friendly!
There's not much time left for the FIFA World Cup to kickoff by now, but while that day doesn't arrive, every national team that will be competing in the tournament seems to still be looking for the perfect formula to approach this summer's great challenge. Portugal is no exception to that as they went through their second straight game without Cristiano Ronaldo, this time Paulo Bento's men managed to pull off a win against Mexico, despite a reasonably poor performance in Boston. The winning goal arrived in the 92nd minute of the game following a terrific header by Bruno Alves, but only after the Mexican side had already wasted several clear-cut goal-scoring opportunities.
Mexico 0-1 Portugal goals and highlights video:
Cristiano Ronaldo injury's concerns are raising day after day and as we get closer to the World Cup kick off, no one knows yet if the Real Madrid star will be fit to take on Germany on June 16. It's with that anxiety in mind that Paulo Bento has prepared Portugal's last two games and after a disappointing goalless draw against Greece last week, this Friday the "Selecção" finally finished the game with a victory. Nevertheless, the Portuguese group couldn't help but to leave the impression that there's something else missing in this team beyond the obvious absence of their best player Cristiano Ronaldo...
Paulo Bento tried out a few new things against Mexico, starting with a new position assigned to Fábio Coentrão. The Real Madrid left-back was moved forward on the pitch and played in the midfield together with João Moutinho and Miguel Veloso. At the back, André Almeida took the left wing, João Pereira the right, and Bruno Alves formed the central block with Neto. In the attack, the wings were delivered to Nani and Vieirinha, while the centre forward position was taken by Éder. Having in mind that Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and Raúl Meireles might still recover in time for the game against Germany, this team is still expected to improve a lot as the World Cup tournament progresses and injured players pick up their best form.
Unlike what had happened in the goalless draw against Greece, tonight's friendly was prone in delivering great scoring chances for both teams. However and either due to the lack of proficiency in front of goal or simply because the goalkeepers were performing their jobs without flaws, the 0-0 result dragged almost until the referee's final whistle. Mexico did create the best chances in the game, but they couldn't help but to bump against a very inspired Eduardo in Portugal's goal, a goalkeeper who may have earned his starting spot against Germany after these two clean sheets and great performances he has had against Greece and especially Mexico.
The scoreless tie was only broken late in the second-half, and it happened when we were already inside the 92nd minute of the game. The assist came in from a perfect free-kick taken by João Moutinho close to the right side-line of the pitch, but a good share of the credit must be given to Bruno Alves, who went to his opponent's box to jumped and hang in the air like a pro basketball player, to then brilliantly head the ball into the back of the net, with a perfect accuracy and sheer power.
The positive result is probably the best thing that Portugal takes from this friendly against Mexico, as they now will start preparing the last friendly before the World Cup adventure begins. The Portuguese Team faces the Republic of Ireland next Tuesday (June 10) and even though there's no official confirmation yet, Cristiano Ronaldo should once again be spared, in hope that the Real Madrid forward may recover in time for the "Selecção" debut in the World Cup against Germany, on June 16.
Portugal line-up vs Mexico:
Goalkeeper: Eduardo
Defenders: André Almeida, Bruno Alves, Neto, João Pereira
Midfielders: Miguel Veloso, Fábio Coentrão, Moutinho
Attackers: Vieirinha, Nani, Éder.
| Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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Mexico
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Portugal
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Goals |
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Shots |
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Shots on goal |
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Corner kicks |
- |
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Fouls commited |
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Yellow cards |
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Red cards |
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Ball possession |
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Cristiano Ronaldo next game will be a friendly for Portugal against Ireland, on June 10 of 2014. You can watch Juventus live stream, Portugal vs Ireland, Spain vs El Salvador, England vs Honduras, and Argentina vs Slovenia, all matches provided from our soccer free live streaming pages.
Portugal next game:
Portugal vs Ireland kick-off time (10-06-2014):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 06:45
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+2: 01:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+1: 04:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-3: 20:45
New York (United States) | GMT-4: 19:45
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-7 16:45
Beijing (China) | GMT+8: 07:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / bostonglobe.com / yahoo.com
