World Cup Qualifiers – Portugal vs Turkey: Portugal managed to qualify to the finals of the UEFA qualifiers for the World Cup. The team did so through a rather hard-fought 3-1 win against Turkey last night in Porto.
The hosts were comfortable in the 1st half, in which they got themselves a two-goal lead. The opponent was scored by Porto’s Otávio in the 15th minute. Jota of Liverpool managed to double the hosts’ lead towards the end of the half.
The second half was, however, rather nervy for Portugal. The visitors looked threatening and managed to open the scoring in the 65th minute through Yilmaz. However, the Lille forward failed to convert a penalty, towards the end of the game.
Super-sub Matheus Nunes scored in stoppage time, to seal A Seleção a 3-1 win and a spot in the finals.
World Cup Qualifiers – Portugal vs Turkey: Match Report
Full-time Score: Portugal 3-1 Turkey
Portugal starting lineup (4-3-3): 22-Costa (GK);5-Guerreiro, 6-Fonte, 13-Danilo, 20-Dalot;8-Moutinho, 10-B Silva,11-Fernandes;16-Otavio, 7-Ronaldo, 21-Jota.
Portugal subs: 12-Sa, 1-Patricio, 13-Carvalho, 3-Djalo, 17-Guedes, 23-Felix, 15-Leao, 2-Mendes, 18-Nunes, 19-A Silva, 21-Soares, 4-Vitinha.
Bookings: Moutinho, Jota.
Scorers: Otavio 15’, Jota 42’, Nunes 90+4’.
Turkey starting lineup (4-4-2): 23-Cakir (GK); 13-Kutlu, 4-Soyuncu, 3-Demiral, 15-Kabak; 21-Akturkoglu, 10-Calhanoglu, 19-Kokcu, 2-Celik;17-Yilmaz, 7-Under.
Turkey subs: 1-Bolat, 12-Bayindir, 22-Ayhan, 5-Aziz, 6-Muldur, 11-Yazici, 20-Omur, 16-Unal, 9-Dursun, 14-Antayali, 18-Erkin, 8-Tokoz.
Bookings: Demiral, Calhanoglu, Celik.
Scorer: Yilmaz 65’.
Post-match reactions
Stefan Kuntz, Turkey coach: “I am proud of this team. Who in Turkey would be ashamed of this performance? We have a lot to learn. I haven’t spoken to Burak Yilmaz yet. He also needs to let himself go. [The penalty] was an important opportunity for the team, but sometimes you need luck, and that did not happen for us.”
Fernando Santos, Portugal coach: “I wasn’t disappointed with the team but we can’t let up. We had the game under control, we let the pressure drop a little. Players are not machines and they wanted to keep playing at that pace. We created several chances. We didn’t make it 3-0 and that happens in football and responded very well. Had that penalty gone in, it could have been difficult for us.
“We could play North Macedonia or Italy: I always said that. These games are finals. Finals are always complicated. We won the first one and now we have to win the second. That’s what we’re going to focus on. This game is over. Now we have to focus on North Macedonia, which will be a difficult game for sure. If they managed to beat Italy that means it’s going to be very difficult.”
