Portugal Clinches Perfect Euro 2024 Qualifying Record

A score of 10 out of 10 for Portugal. Roberto Martinez’s men calmly beat Iceland on Sunday in Lisbon, during the 10th day of Group J of qualifying for Euro 2024 (2-0). Thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes (37th) and Ricardo Horta (66th), they ended their campaign with a perfect record of ten victories which they were able to celebrate with their supporters. Iceland will count on a performance from Ukraine against Italy to obtain a place in the play-off.

With qualification and first place in the group in his pocket for a month, the Seleçao coach still carried out a few tests but also fielded a very solid starting eleven. His men, however, began the debates calmly despite a cross from Otavio which ended up on the opposing crossbar (7th).

Bruno Fernandes resolves the situation

Well organized and determined, the Icelanders were able to slowly gain confidence and try to shake up these Portuguese who were not sharp enough. Arnor Sigurdsson thus placed a curling shot from the right right next to Diogo Costa’s cage (17th). This alert also awakened the locals who used their technical qualities to appear more dangerous. After a series of set pieces, including one for Gonçalo Ignacio’s narrowly off-target header (25th), Bruno Fernandes found the fault with a perfect cross strike following an inspired backheel from Bernardo Silva (1-0, 37th).

The Manchester United player now has 18 international goals, including 6 in these qualifiers. Scorer last Thursday in Liechtenstein (0-2 victory), Joao Cancelo wanted to be active but also messy at left-back. In front of him, Joao Felix, another Barcelonan, delighted with a few gestures or feints but only intermittently.

Ronaldo is tight

Masters of the ball against the limited Icelanders, the Portuguese sometimes tended to slow down even if Bernardo Silva’s left shot flirted with the target (59th). Icelandic goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson deflected Joao Felix’s goal from the left but the incoming Horta followed at six meters to push the ball into the back of the net and make the break (2-0, 66th).

The Seleçao managed calmly afterwards and Cristiano Ronaldo ran out of ammunition to improve his record by 10 goals in these qualifications. He did not finish top scorer of the campaign because Romelu Lukaku finished very strongly by scoring a quadruple with Belgium against Azerbaijan a little earlier (5-0) and posted 14 goals.

This does not prevent Portugal from concluding these qualifications with 36 goals scored and the best attack. Enough to present yourself at the Euro with seeded status and real ambitions. For its part, Iceland, which waited for added time to react with a huge double opportunity and a shot from Arnor Traustason on the bar (90th + 3), hopes to be drafted for the play-offs thanks to its good performance in the Champions League. Nations.

2023-11-19 22:42:00
#Euro #Qualifiers #Portugal #concludes #flawless #performance #success #Iceland