Portugal grateful for strong finish
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
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Portugal 3-1 FYROM
Porto witnessed three goals in seven frantic final minutes as the hosts finished third in Group 9, consigning the visitors to last place.
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Portugal beat the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 3-1 to leave the visitors without a win at the end of UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group 9 qualifying.
Neither side harboured any hope of reaching the play-offs and it was Portugal who started the brighter, recent Manchester United FC acquisition Bebé giving them a 23rd-minute lead. He spurned two further opportunities, while João Silva was also denied by a fine Andreja Efremov save, before Bura finally doubled Portugal's lead with a header from Ukra's corner three minutes from time.
Ukra was again the provider as Silva got in on the act two minutes into added time, with substitute Marjan Altiparmakovski scoring an even later consolation for FYROM. "My players wanted to win more than anything; that's why they were anxious and made mistakes at the start," said Portugal coach Oceano da Cruz. "But the performance was pretty positive."
