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| 20th June - 19.45 - Group A Match | ||||
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| 1 - 0 | ||||
| Portugal Team | Spain Team | |||
| Alexandre Ricardo Luis Miguel Jorge Andrade Alberto Ricardo Carvalho Jorge Nuno Valente Francisco Costinha Luis Figo Nuno Maniche Anderson Deco Cristiano Ronaldo Pedro Pauleta |
Iker Casillas |
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| Bulgaria Subs | Spain Subs | |||
| Joaquim Quim Jose Moreira Renato Paulo Ferreira Sousa Rui Jorge Fernando Couto Armando Petit Manuel Rui Costa Sabrosa Simao Roberto Luis Beto Cardoso Tiago Miguel Nuno Gomes Helder Postiga |
Santiago Canizares Daniel Aranzubia Joan Capdevila Ruben Baraja Fernando Morientes Alberto Luque Garcia Gabri Joseba Etxeberria Martin Cesar Hernandez Xavi Juan Carlos Valeron |
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| Match Report |
| For Portugal, no less than a win would do. For Spain, avoiding defeat would see them progress to the quarter finals. Spanish coach Saez dropped goalscorer Fernando Morientes and replaced him with Fernando Torres. Scolari gave Ronaldo a start and stuck with the out-of-form Pauleta up front.
Despite the magnintude of the game, the first half didn't develop into the fast-paced encounter that was billed. It started promisingly enough, with Figo and Ronaldo tormenting left back Raul Bravo. However, Portugal couldn't manufacture chances. Spain always seemed to get bodies in the way. The Spanish also seemed to lack a cutting edge up front. Legend Raul hadn't a goal to his name so far, and rarely looked like getting into the game. Their best chance came five minutes from half time - Torres heading over from 6 yards from a corner. Portugal countered and had the best chance of their own - Ronaldo leaping above Cassilas - but unable to flick the header on target. In an effort to spice up the attacking line-up, Scolari replaced the ineffective Pauleta with Nuno Gomes. This didn't look to have made much difference, but he sparked the game into life when he turned Helguera and placed a brilliant shot into the bottom right corner with Cassilas unable to get near the ball. Spain now knew they had to score. Rivals Greece were losing, but as things stood they would be going out on goals scored. Raul missed an easy header from a cross with keeper Ricardo stranded. Torres unluckily hit the post when he latched onto a brilliant throughball and beat the keeper. Substitute Luque was put through and lobbed Ricardo with his left foot, but Ricardo Carvalho hoofs the ball to safety. Then the crossbar was rattled when Juanito headed a corner back across goal. Nothing was going right for Spain. Portugal could have wrapped up the result with a second. Deco's clever turn gave the ball to Nuno Valente, who bent a cross to the far post where Costinha headed over a gloriously easy chance in a contendor for one of the misses of the tournament so far. Then in the dying seconds, Maniche went clear and rounded Cassilas, but Raul Bravo slid the ball off the line - sending himself crashing into the goalpost. The game ended 1-0, much to the hosts' delight. They had started with a shock defeat, but overcome the odds to top their group. They will now play second in Group B - likely to be Croatia or England. Spain go tumbling out in yet another disappointing major tournament campaign for them. They will be kicking themselves for failing to guarentee qualification by beating Greece in the previous game. |
