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Portugal 'on the right path'
June 08, 2008
GROUP A favourites Portugal have made a winning start to Euro 2008, defeating Turkey 2-0 in an entertaining match in Geneva, Switzerland. Portugal defender Pepe opened the scoring after a fine attacking movement begun by Cristiano Ronaldo on the left. Pepe charged forward, exchanged passes with striker Nuno Gomes and raced into the Turkey penalty area to scuff the ball past goalkeeper Volkan Demirel in the 61st minutes. The Brazilian-born defender also headed the ball into the net in the first half, only for the goal to be disallowed for offside. Portugal wrapped up victory three minutes into injury-time, when Joao Moutinho bore down on goal before feeding substitute Raul Meireles, who knocked the ball into the net with the helpless Volkan out of his goal. "I can hardly describe the emotion I felt (when I scored), especially after the disallowed effort," Pepe said. Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said the victory meant his side were halfway towards reaching the quarter-finals. "We are on the right path," said the Brazilian. "We won the match and are 50 per cent towards qualification. "We needed six points so 50 per cent after one match is excellent." Portugal had the lion's share of chances at Stade de Geneve although Turkey regularly posed a threat to Ricardo's goal. Nuno Gomes hit the woodwork for the second time in the match when he headed on to the bar minutes after the first goal following a curling cross by Ronaldo. The dangerous Ronaldo had almost put Portugal in front in the 38th minute when his free-kick from way out on the left skidded off the turf and hit the far post. Turkey created several half-chances from fast breaks in the early stages. Tuncay Sanli went down in the Portuguese box as he chased a cross from the right but referee Herbert Fandel was quick to wave play on and admonish the forward. Early in the second half Turkey had a penalty appeal turned down when Nihat Kahveci went down under a challenge. In Portugal's next attack Simao Sabrosa was fouled by Gokhan Zan just outside the box, the ball running free for the luckless Nuno Gomes to strike the post with the net at his mercy. "It would be great if we play really well against Czech Republic (in Geneva on Wednesday) because then we will have advanced to the next phase," added Scolari. "We wanted a bit of breathing space, a bit of leeway, and that's what we got today." |
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