Portugal's captain Ronaldo was silent, but thanks to goals from Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, Portugal still defeated Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-0 in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Goals: Bernardo Silva 44', Fernandes 77' & 90'+3
Cristiano Ronaldo played the full match at home in Da Luz on June 17th. However, the Al Nassr striker did not perform as well as in the previous two wins against Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. In the 23rd minute, Ronaldo headed the ball into the net against Bosnia & Herzegovina. However, the referee ruled it offside and disallowed the goal.
Ronaldo (right) remains silent against the Bosnia & Herzegovina defense during the match at the Da Luz stadium in Lisbon on June 17. Photo: EPA
Portugal faced considerable difficulties against Bosnia & Herzegovina's defensive counter-attacking style of play. Towards the end of the first half, the visitors nearly opened the scoring. Edin Dzeko broke through, but couldn't beat goalkeeper Diogo Costa.
In the 44th minute, with the first half about to end 0-0, Portugal unexpectedly scored. Bernardo Silva received a pass from Bruno Fernandes and simply finished past goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic, who had rushed out.
At the start of the second half, Portugal continued to dominate, with the ball almost exclusively in Bosnia's half. However, the home team still struggled to get close to goalkeeper Sehic's goal. It wasn't until the 77th minute that Portugal scored their second goal. Substitute Ruben Neves crossed the ball to Fernandes, who headed it past Sehic.
Not content with a two-goal lead, Portugal continued to press until the end of the match. In the third minute of added time, Fernandes completed his brace. The Manchester United midfielder volleyed a beautiful shot into the top right corner of the net, sealing a 3-0 victory.
Bruno Fernandes celebrates the goal that sealed the 3-0 victory at the end of the match. Photo: LUSA
Portugal won all three of their opening matches in Group J of the Euro 2024 qualifiers. In their two previous games, they thrashed Luxembourg 6-0 and Liechtenstein 4-0. Portugal leads the group with nine points, two points ahead of second-placed Slovakia and five points ahead of third-placed Luxembourg. They will play their final first-leg match away against Iceland on June 20th.
Each Euro qualifying group sends the top two teams to the finals. With the current gap, Portugal has a good chance of securing a place without having to play all 10 matches.
Thanh Quy
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