Portugal 3 Ireland 0 (FT)
We leave you with Gavin Cummiskey’s match report on what was a grim aul night for Ireland.
[ Cristiano Ronaldo signs off with two goals as Portugal outclass Ireland in AveiroOpens in new window ]
Full-time: Portugal 3 Ireland 0
Ireland finish the season getting Ronaldo-d. Thoroughly outmatched. Portugal were excellent, wide threats, Fernandes popping up in midfield and Ronaldo and Felix finishing ruthlessly in the box. A big, big reality check for this Irish side who, even though the performance wasn’t ideal, were coming into this off a high of beating Hungary.
RTÉ have given the player of the match award to Caoimhin Kelleher. Fair enough, he has been Ireland’s best player, but they have to be told to give it to an Irish player based on parochial interests. Still a weird look, though.
89 mins: That is the first time in a long time since Costa has touched the ball in the Portuguese goal. And it comes from a cross, Canon linking well with Johnston, the latter’s cross back to him intercepted by Costa.
85 mins: Sykes does well to hold onto possession and make his way into the box. He goes down under a heavy enough challenge but it looked fair. Sykes himself doesn’t bother appealing for a penalty.
82 mins: Johnston almost sends Canon through in behind with a well-weighted pass, almost for a late touch from the defender to intervene. That’s the closes Ireland have come to a chance since Canon’s own effort 20 minutes ago.
Ireland make one last change. Mark Sykes is on for Will Smallbone.
76 mins: CHANCE! Fernandes skips past Cullen and shoots from the edge of the box. O’Brien gets a deflection, one which wrong-foots Kelleher, but the ball rolls wide instead of into the far corner.
74 mins: This is a mess now. Kelleher gets caught by Ronaldo who is pressing inside the Ireland box. They end up in a tangle with Ronaldo appealing for a penalty, once again the pleas fall on deaf ears. Kelleher was very lucky not to gift a fourth goal away.
CHANCE! Seconds later, as Ronaldo gingerly gets to his feet, he remains in an advanced position to hit a cross towards the goal first time. Again, the power behind the strike is immense but the ball flies wide.
73 mins: SAVE! Fernandes lets fly from outside the box and it’s a good effort destined for the bottom corner. Kelleher dives well to his right to turn it behind for a corner. Portugal aren’t letting up.
70 mins: More changes for Ireland. Doherty and Knight on, Coleman and Szmodics off.
66 mins: For once, Ronaldo goes for the unselfish option and it costs Portugal. Taking the ball into the box after a counter attack, he tries to square it to return the favour to Jota but Scales is on hand to clear.
63 mins: End to end stuff. Semedo dispossesses Johnston and then fires, only for the shot to be blocked behind for a corner.
From the set piece, Mendes lets fly from well outside the box. Simple save for Kelleher.
62 mins: CHANCE! Ireland almost hit back immediately. Cannon, with his first touch, gets in behind chasing a long ball. His turn to beat the defender is brilliant but his second touch makes the chance difficult. He stretches to get his foot behind the ball and, despite making good contact, can only find the side netting.
GOAL RONALDO
60 mins: What a finish but Ireland will be furious with the defending. Jota could easily have been dispossessed a number of times, but he isn’t. Instead, he picks out ronaldo inside the box whose first time effort with his left once again is too good for Kelleher.
55 mins: There could be further trouble for Ireland. A foul from O’Brien was given as a free-kick, but VAR has asked the referee to check if it was inside the box.
NO FOUL! After all that, the decision is reversed for a foul on O’Brien by Jota and a free out, so to speak.
53 mins: Ireland respond to the goal with three changes. It’s an international debut for Tom Cannon, who enters the fray alongside Mikey Johnston. Parrott and Idah depart. Callum O’Dowda replaces Brady at left wing-back.
GOAL RONALDO
50 mins: Wow. Well that’s what the crowd came to see. Ronaldo takes the ball on the right edge of the box, cuts in onto his left and almost in the same movement rifles the ball into the top corner. Kelleher has no chance. Scales gave Ronaldo half a yard just inside the box and that’s all it took. Just wow.
46 mins: We’re back underway in Aveiro. Portugal start with the ball and have made a heap of changes. Diogo Jota, Nuno Mendes, Nelson Semedo, Danilo and Ruben Neves have all come on.
Here is the Felix goal which remains the difference between the two sides at the break. It was a clever short corner routine but Ireland’s ability to fall asleep will be incredibly frustrating for John O’Shea.
Half-time: Portugal 1 Ireland 0
Portugal start and end the half brilliantly; they could well be more than a goal up if it wasn’t for some wasteful finishing and a strong display from Kelleher in the Irish goal.
When Ireland allow them to break through the midfield, that forward axis of Felix and Ronaldo is causing havoc, while Dalot is a big problem down the right hand side. When Ireland get into their shape, things are proving trickier for the hosts.
In fact, Ireland had a 15 minute patch in the middle of that half where Smallbone and Idah once again linked well to lead to a couple of half chances. That said, Portugal have looked far more incisive and threatening. It would be a big job just to keep the gap at one, let alone get anything from the game.
45+3 mins: Idah nearly catches Pepe on the hop as he presses high up the pitch. It ends up being a race to the bouncing ball but the 41-year-old beats Idah to it.
Down the other end, Kelleher denies Ronaldo with another good save to bring the half to an end.
45+2 mins: CHANCE! Ignacio has a free header after a beautiful, curled cross from Fernandes. He can’t hit the target, though, heading the ball over the bar.
45+1 mins: Ronaldo is furious after not getting a penalty. He was chasing a cross from Felix but Brady bundles him over while trying to head clear. The crowd and Ronaldo react angrily was the referee waves away their claims.
Three minutes of added time to be played in Aveiro.
40 mins: Over the bar. Portugal react to Ireland’s purple patch by feeding Leao down the left. He continues what has been a stellar battle with Coleman, dancing in onto his right foot to shoot. The strike blazes high and wide. Fernandes, who was waiting for a ball into the box, is furious with his winger.
36 mins: CHANCE! Idah continues to cause problems. Smallbone’s through ball is a good one, allowing Idah to square it across the box. It’s deflected straight back to him, so this time the Celtic man shoots. It’s a strong effort but straight into the side netting.
35 mins: Half a chance for Ireland as Idah finds himself in possession on the edge of the box. He could shoot, but instead lays it off to Szmodics whose effort is blocked. Ireland are yet to significantly bother Costa in the Portuguese goal.
32 mins: A vital intervention there from O’Brien. His interception while tracking the run of Ronaldo prevented Felix from slipping his captain in on goal.
Ireland really are struggling to build into this game. 64 per cent possession so far for Portugal, 36 per cent for Ireland.
29 mins: CLOSE! Portugal are having lots of joy down their right hand side. Dalot catches Brady for pace, blistering past him as the ball comes in over the top. He feeds Ronaldo who in turn finds Fernandes. The Man United man fires his shot into the side netting.
24 mins: Ireland aren’t a million miles away from a chance as Brady’s good corner comes inches from O’Brien. He arguably should have made better contact to send the header goalwards, having already beaten his marker.
22 mins: OFF THE POST! Portugal so close to doubling their lead. It’s that man Ronaldo with a free-kick after Cullen was guilty of a handball. Kelleher rooted to the spot by a deflection off Idah in the wall, but the woodwork saves Ireland.
GOAL JOAO FELIX
19 mins: Portugal catch Ireland napping! A short corner routine tees up Felix on the edge of the box and this time he curls the ball into the corner where Kelleher can’t get it. Szmodics left Felix all alone in the box there as the Irish defence just switched off.
18 mins: SAVE! IT’s beautiful stuff from Ronaldo to send Dalot away down the right. He feeds Felix for a strike from the edge of the box. Kelleher is diving the wrong way but still sticks a strong leg out to make a good save.
16 mins: O’Brien and Cancelo have a bit of a coming together. The Irish defender gets away with a push and Cancelo half lashes out to trip the Lyon man on his way down. Nothing doing either way and play continues.
13 mins: Portugal are running rampant here. Fernandes gets the ball in the box, rounds Kelleher to get to the byline but Ireland’s cover gets there to stop him feeding Ronaldo for an open goal.
Minutes later, Ronaldo has the ball in the back of a net after a long ball forward but the offside flag is up.
11 mins: Another chance! Cancelo and Leao combine down the right to tee up Joao Felix just outside the box. He hits it first time but a powerful strike is blocked.
9 mins: Close! Portugal break through the middle of Ireland’s midfield far too easily. Fernandes tries to feed Ronaldo in the box and Kelleher has to be alert to the danger to come out and claim. That was the most threatening Portugal have looked so far.
7 mins: That’s brilliant defending from Séamus Coleman. Leao looks to take him on down the flank. He tries to get on the outside but Coleman’s positioning is brilliant. Leao makes contact on his way through and bring him down, leading to a free-kick for Ireland.
Eventually, Szmodics is able to continue although he does have a limp which he looks to run off.
3 mins: An early concern for Ireland here. Diogo Dalot went in late on Szmodics and he takes a nasty blow to his food. It wasn’t picked up for a foul at the time but the Blackburn man needs a good few minutes of treatment here.
1 min: Anthems are done, kick-off is here. Ireland are in their away all white strip. Portugal are wearing their traditional red shirts with green shorts. Ireland kick things off and we are underway!
As we get closer to kick-off, having heard from Gavin a few times this evening, here’s his preview article ahead of this clash.
[ Ireland eye rare win against Portugal side likely to be distracted by Euro 2024Opens in new window ]
Another update from Mr Cummiskey in the ground: “The temperature has dipped to 21 degrees. The pitch is shaded and there is a nice breeze. Humidity shouldn’t be an issue.”
The Portugal team is also in. They’ve gone strong with Ronaldo, Pepe, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix all starting. Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva is on the bench.
Portugal XI: Diogo Costa; Diogo Dalot, Antonio Silva, Pepe, Goncalo Inacio, Joao Cancelo; Bruno Fernandes, Joao Neves, Rafael Leao; Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix.
A view of the stadium which is just outside Porto. Our man in Portugal, soccer correspondent Gavin Cummiskey, had this to say about his trip to the Estadio Municipal de Aveiro:
“No public transport to the ground, just a massive carpark. Another white elephant on the edge of a small, city, built for Euro 2004 (which Portugal hosted). Same as the Estadio Algarve outside Faro, a giant stadium used by a division four Portuguese club.”
The team news is in. Ireland make three changes from the side which beat Hungary last week in Dublin. Jake O’Brien makes his first Ireland start after his debut last time out. He and Liam Scales replace Shane Duffy and Matt Doherty.
Further up the pitch, Troy Parrott starts after his match winning goal. He replaces Finn Azaz.
Unfortunately, our defenders did not follow Ronaldo sufficiently closely during Ireland’s last visit to Portugal, in September 2021 for a World Cup qualifier, so Ireland went from leading 1-0 in the 89th minute to losing 2-1, thanks to a late Ronaldo double that made him the highest scorer in the history of international football.
— James McDermott
One big storyline to watch out for tonight when the teams are announced is the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo. Given his age, this could be a final international on home soil for Portugal’s most famous son.
James McDermott writes about Ronaldo and the history between the two countries below.
That Hungary game was a bizarre, turgid but ultimately successful affair. Adam Idah was Ireland’s lone source of attacking opportunities, Will Smallbone and co doing a good enough job of giving him opportunities.
The second half, though, was dominated by mediocrity on both sides. It took a breakaway goal from Troy Parrott in the dying seconds to hand Ireland a victory which neither side deserved.
That said, John O’Shea was understandably delighted to earn just his first win as an international manager. As he looks to change the FAI’s mind into taking his candidacy for the permanent job more seriously, wins are the best currency. If the FAI sticks to their public statements, though, this will be the final game of his interim tenure before someone else takes over ahead of the next game, which is against England in September.
Hello all and welcome to live coverage of the second international friendly of this summer window. After a smash and grab last week at home to Hungary, can Ireland follow up with back to back wins?
We’ll find out in close to two hours’ time. John O’Shea’s side are in Portugal, specifically the Estadio Municipal de Aveiro to take on another team which is Euros bound.
We’ll be building up to the action ahead of kick-off right here.
