Portugal v Armenia background
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Article summary
Portugal have yet to be beaten by Armenia as the sides prepare to meet in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group I, but two home draws will give the visitors some hope.
Article top media content
Article body
As the sides meet in in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group I, Portugal are unbeaten in four previous meetings with Armenia.
Match background
• Portugal and Armenia have met four times before, with Portugal boasting the record W2 D2 L0 (W2 D0 L0 at home, W0 D2 L0 away).
• The sides first came together in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Long-serving Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky made his international debut as the the sides drew 0-0 in Yerevan on 31 August 1996, but Artur Jorge's Portugal won the return fixture 3-1, Domingos Paciência (22), Luís Figo (30) and Pedro Barbosa (53) on target for the home side in Setubal, Éric Assadourian (46) scoring Armenia's goal.
• More recently, the teams were paired in UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying. Cristiano Ronaldo (37) cancelled out Robert Arazumyan's 11th-minute opener as Ian Porterfield's Armenia held Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal 1-1 in Yerevan on 22 August 2007. Hugo Almeida scored the only goal (42) as Portugal – under Flávio Teixeira, who was covering for the suspended Scolari – beat Vardan Minasyan's Armenia 1-0 in the return fixture in Leiria on 17 November 2007.
• Only two UEFA club competition matches have been played between Armenian and Portuguese sides, CD Santa Clara beating FC Shirak 2-0 at home and then drawing 3-3 in Armenia in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup first round.
• In the 20 UEFA matches between Portuguese and Armenian sides – including club games, youth games, women's matches and futsal – 16 have ended in Portuguese victories with three draws. Armenia's sole success against Portuguese opponents came on 16 October 1996, Ara Hakobyan (63) scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win for Armenia in a UEFA European Under-16 Championship qualifying round match in Budapest, Hungary.
