Serbia 1-1 Portugal: Both sides rue missed chances
BELGRADE, March 28 (Reuters) - Serbia and Portugal fought out a 1-1 draw
in a highly entertaining Euro 2008 Group A qualifier on Wednesday.
Tiago fired Portugal into a fifth-minute lead and Bosko Jankovic put the
Serbs back on level terms in the 37th minute to the delight of a raucous
51,000 home crowd.
Both sides missed plenty of chances in a pulsating match which put them
level on 11 points from six matches along with Finland, who suffered a
1-0 setback at Azerbaijan earlier on Wednesday. All three are five points
behind group leaders Poland.
Portugal took the lead with their first meaningful venture into the Serbian
half when Tiago unleashed a swerving shot from 20 metres that sailed over
keeper Vladimir Stojkovic who was caught out of position.
The Serbs piled on the pressure and came close to drawing level through
Nemanja Vidic before Jankovic equalised with a diving close-range header
from Dejan Stankovic's corner.
The visitors nearly went ahead less than a minute later when Nuno Gomes
slid in at the near post and fired just wide while Jankovic and Milos
Krasic tormented the Portuguese defence with darting runs at the other
end.
Stojkovic denied Tiago twice after the break when he produced acrobatic
saves to keep out venomous long-range shots from the Lyon midfielder.
The keeper also did well to parry a 75th-minute free kick from Cristiano
Ronaldo, who had a quiet game on the left flank but was booked in the
first half for dissent.
Portugal coach Felipe Scolari said he was pleased with the performance
and result 'because it was achieved against a very strong team who are
in the same bracket with us in terms of quality,' he told reporters.
'This is a very tough group and it seems qualification will be won and
lost against the underdogs, who have caused quite a few upsets already.
'I think we are in a good position though because we have plenty of home
matches left and it may well make the difference at the end of the road.'
Clemente was also satisfied to come away with a point after his players
had to hang on in the closing stages.
'We were on the back foot in the second half but we played very well in
the first,' he said.
'We knew we needed to deploy more players on the flanks because that's
where Portugal usually carve up their rivals.'
,
March 28, 2007.
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