The Portugal Under-19 Football Team qualified this Saturday for this year’s European Championship, losing 3-0 to the Czech Republic with a brace from Hugo Felix in Group 4 of the qualifying elite round.
Goals by Gabriel Bras in the fifth minute and the Benfica winger in the 49th and 81st minutes capped off the dominance shown for almost the entire match and guaranteed the Portuguese first place in the group after two games. who will play in the final stage of the competition in Malta from 3 to 16 July.
After sealing off a 1-0 victory over Sweden on Wednesday, Quinas quickly took the lead, with Porto’s centre-back appearing in response to the release. into the corner of Hugo Felix and heading from top to bottom towards the back of the grid.
With dynamics in the corridors, especially on the right, with the entry of Goncalo Estevez into the field, the team under Joaquim Milleiro threatened a second goal when Youssef Cermiti missed the final deflection by centimeters, in the 14th minute João Muniz headed, in the 17th minute Hugo Felix shot wide in the 20th minute before the match lost momentum.
Having received support in the first half hour, the Czech team expanded their ground options in the last 15 minutes of the first half in fast attacks, but were only dangerous in stoppage time, with a header over Ondrej Kricfalusi and a shot close to Filip Spatenka.
Portugal responded early in the second half, with Hugo Felix taking advantage of a misunderstanding from the Czech rear and Cermiti’s heel to isolate himself, and then scored on the rebound with “help” from Ondrej Kudek, delivering the ball to him.
The Czechs took a chance after the second conceded goal and threatened to reduce Martim Markes’s own-goal nearly-goal shot in the 50th minute and Lukas Masek’s header in the 59th minute, but the Portuguese under-19s hit the crossbar in the center, Gustavo Sa ( 54), and sealed the result in the last quarter of an hour with a shot by Hugo Felix in the upper right corner.
With six points in Group 4 and a head-to-head lead against the Czech Republic, the only team that can still tie with three, Portugal start qualifying for the final round against Croatia. The fight is scheduled for 17:00 Tuesday, again in Barcelos.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.