© EuroFootball.com
The D group match between Portugal and Mexico national teams ended - with a victory of 2-1, the Portuguese took the first place in the group. The Mexican team, which finished the match with ten players, despite the failure, remained in second place and also advanced to the next stage.
Portugal 2 - 1 Mexico 6' [1 - 0] Maniche 24' [2 - 0] Simao (p. 11) 29' [2 - 1] Jose Francisco Fonseca 61' Luis Perez (Mexico) sent off Portugal: Ricardo, Miguel (61' P.Ferreira), F.Meira, R.Carvalho, M.Caneira, Petit, Maniche, L.Figo (80' L.Morte), Tiago, H.Postinha (69' N.Gomes), Simao. Mexico: O.Sanchez, R.Osorio, R.Marquez, C.Salcido, M.Mendez (80' G.Franco), L.Perez, P.Pardo, G.Pineda (69' J.Castro), F.Rodriguez (46' Zinha), O.Bravo, J.Fonseca.
In the 6th minute, Portugal took the lead - in the penalty area, Simao accurately passed the ball to Maniche, who, undisturbed, sent the ball into the net with a strong shot from eleven meters, leaving no chance for goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.
Mexico tried to equalize and two minutes later, after Pavel Pardo's pass from the flank, Omar Bravo acrobatically hit the ball, but the ball missed the goal.
In the middle of the first half, Portugal had a great opportunity to double the lead when after Luis Figo's corner kick, Rafael Marquez touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area and the Portuguese were awarded a penalty kick. The Mexican goalkeeper chose the right side of the goal, but Simao's shot was too strong for O.Sanchez to stop.
Soon after, both teams had several more opportunities to score - in the 29th minute, O.Bravo's shot was pushed away by the Portuguese goalkeeper, the ball hit the crossbar and flew out of bounds. However, Mexico managed to score in the same minute when Jose Fonseca, who was left free at the far post, sent the ball into Ricardo's goal with a header after a corner kick.
At the end of the first half, the game became lively again - in the 43rd minute, O.Sanchez had to work to push away a long-range shot from Maniche, and in the same minute, J.Fonseca dangerously struck the ball with his head.
A minute later, P.Pardo took a threatening long-range shot, but Ricardo managed to deflect the ball to a corner. After this corner, the Portuguese had to struggle before clearing the ball out of the penalty area.
At the beginning of the second half, Mexico could have equalized through penalty, as a penalty kick was awarded for a handball in the Portuguese goal. O.Bravo, who scored two goals in the match against Iran, dared to take the shot from eleven meters, but his shot was inaccurate and the ball flew over the crossbar.
A few minutes later, the situation for the Mexicans became more complicated when Luis Perez was sent off the field. The player fell in the Portuguese penalty area, and the Mexican team demanded another penalty kick, but the referee saw it as a dive and showed him the second yellow card.
Even with ten players left, Mexico posed a threat to the opponents' goal, but couldn't equalize the result. It is now clear that in the next stage, Portugal, the winner of Group D, will play against the Netherlands, while Mexico will face Argentina.
