Portugal 4-1 Sweden - U21
Portugal look in fine shape for this summer's UEFA European Under-21 Championship after four spectacular goals secured a comfortable friendly victory against summer rivals Sweden in Setúbal.
These two teams meet in Germany on 28 May in their opening Group B game, and on tonight's evidence Portugal - even without the likes of Tiago, Hugo Almeida, Cristiano Ronaldo and Hugo Viana - look too strong for their Scandinavian opponents.
Raul Meireles went close in the opening minute, only for Swedish goalkeeper Johan Wiland to palm over. But Wiland could do nothing about the Boavista FC player's rasping volley in the 17th minute after he pounced on a loose ball. Carlos Martins doubled the lead seven minutes later from a free-kick and left-back Jorge Ribeiro made it 3-0 on the half-hour mark as showed his own set-piece prowess with a low shot around the wall. Carlos Martins scored his second and Portugal's fourth five minutes before the break. The visitors were weakened by the absence of Andreas Isaksson, Kim Kallström and Johan Elmander and they struggled to create openings against their skilful opponents. However, Alexander Farnerud did reduce arrears from the penalty sport just before half-time, the final goal of the game.
Both sides took the opportunity to make several changes in the second half, disrupting the rhythm of the match. Portugal, though, had left no doubt that they have the ability to finally win the one UEFA youth tournament which has so far eluded them.
Source: Uefa.com
