Portugal 1 - 1 Cymru (380503914)

Clear skies welcomed the 56605 spectators who had made their way to maccabi Arena. Ghislain Frank was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ronan Hohengasser and Robert Ståhlgren. The match took place on neutral ground. Portugal decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. They fielded: Roupeira - Gaivota, Silvano - Monsaraz, Sá, Neto, Alvites, Saudade - Caramez, Pancorbo, Gericota.

Cymru had chosen a strategic 5-4-1 formation. The following players took the field: Swabey - Carey, Clarke, Hammon, Wexell, Kyffin - Boddie, Burland, Pritchard, Sinnott - Pamic.

Cymru clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. With 10 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Cymru resulted in a counterattack that set J. Pamic free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. With 16 minutes played L. Monsaraz almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. After 17 minutes, Cymru surprised their opponents with a breakaway counter attack. The defenders had to resort to a foul to stop it. The free kick that followed was a clever indirect effort that almost succeeded, but the defence read the situation well and the intended recipient was left ruing what might have been. Portugal could have put themselves ahead after 21 minutes but J. Pancorbo missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. With 22 minutes having been played, his teammates looked on in disbelief as D. Neto thoughtlessly misplayed the ball, setting up Cymru's J. Pamic for an easy goal. 0 - 1. With 35 minutes gone, J. Pamic suddenly found himself completely free on the right wing when a counterattack by Cymru caught their opponents by surprise. Only a great save by the opposing keeper prevented him from scoring. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Portugal enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

Portugal's J. Caramez made an attempt at equalising 47 minutes into the match, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post and the defence easily cleared the rebound. There was concern in the stands when, at the 55 minute mark, Cymru's S. Boddie hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. A well placed corner kick from D. Gaivota was followed by J. Caramez's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Portugal, the score now 1 - 1. Portugal made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left S. Gericota completely alone with keeper J. Swabey, who made a spectacular block. P. Sinnott would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. U. Pardoe entered the game for Cymru as the match clock showed 77 minutes. Portugal's J. Alvites tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Good work by the Cymru defensive line after 83 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found J. Pamic alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. Under heavy pressure after 84 minutes, the inexperienced Cymru struggled to maintain their level of play. 86 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Portugal to take the lead after a good cross from the right found J. Pancorbo alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. Cymru's counterattacks created a good chance for C. Kyffin on the right after 87 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. Possession in this half belonged to Portugal, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.

Portugal's best player was J. Caramez. On the other hand, H. Saudade's play was disheartening. Cymru's top performer was clearly C. Kyffin. S. Boddie turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 1.