Portugal's Simao celebrates his goal against
Serbia (¿Getty Images)
A last-gasp equaliser from Branislav Ivanovic denied Portugal
second place in Group A and kept alive Serbia's hopes of reaching UEFA
EURO 2008T.
Sublime free-kick
Portugal could have closed to within two points of leaders Poland with
a victory and they appeared on course when Simao fired them in front after
eleven minutes but Ivanovic stunned the home crowd with an 88th-minute
leveller to leave Serbia just a point behind their opponents. The home
side made the perfect start as Simao's precise free-kick, awarded after
Nenad Kovacevic had fouled Cristiano Ronaldo, found the target.
Portugal pressure
The Portuguese had Petit to thank for preserving their lead after he produced
a fantastic block minutes later to deny Zdravko Kuzmanovic's goalbound
effort. Then Nuno Gomes headed Bosingwa's inviting cross against a Serbia
post and Maniche blasted the rebound straight at goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.
Ronaldo went close with two further efforts as Portugal searched for a
telling second goal.
Late leveller
Serbia became more composed as the second half progressed and Kovacevic
wasted a glorious chance to restore parity by firing a half-volley over
the crossbar following Ricardo's poor punch. The real drama came late
on, however, as with two minutes to play, Dejan Stankovic's free-kick
caused panic in the Portugal penalty area and Ivanovic was able to turn
the ball in from close range.
Tight group
There was still time for Ivica Dragutinovic to receive a red card in added
time but Serbia had done enough to earn the draw. Group A could not be
much tighter ahead of October and November's qualifiers, with Poland and
Finland on 21 and 19 points respectively, Portugal two points further
back in third, and Serbia a point behind them in fourth - with the latter
two countries each having a game in hand.
,
12 September 2007
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