© EuroFootball.com
Without the friendly meeting of Mally and Lithuania, seven more friendly meetings took place in Europe on Tuesday evening, four of them in the capital of England, London. Perhaps the most intriguing duel took place between teams of the similar style Brazil and Portugal, with the latter celebrating victory.
In London's "Emirates" stadium owned by "Arsenal," Brazilians took to the field with a more experimental lineup. The majority of the match was a close contest until the 82nd minute when, after a pass from Ricardo Quaresma from the edge after a substitution, Simao Sabrosa appeared on the field and overtook his opponent Luisao to score the first goal.
In the final minute of the match, the Portuguese secured their victory with a goal scored by Ricardo Carvalho. The closest to scoring for the Brazilians was defender Lucio, hitting the crossbar. This was Brazil's first loss under the leadership of their new coach, Dunga.
In the stadium of London's "Q.P.R" team, Denmark convincingly defeated the Australian national team.
Already in the 5th minute, the new forward of "Villarreal" Jonas Dahl Tomasson scored with a deceptive shot from a distance of 25 meters, bringing the Scandinavians ahead. In the 28th minute, Daniel Jensen increased the score with a great header into the top corner, and in the 38th minute, left unattended after a pass from Dennis Rommedahl from the edge, J.D. Tomasson scored the third goal. The Australians softened the ratio twice, but both times by breaking the rules.
If in the first half, Denmark dominated the field, in the second half the representatives of the Green Continent began to press the opponents. However, they only scored one goal - in the 85th minute Brett Emerton softened the result with a technical penalty shot.
In the stadium of the "Fulham" club, the European champion Greece, after Lee Chun-Soo's goal at the end of the match, lost to South Korea.
In the home stadium of the "Brentford" club in West London, the quarterfinalist of the last World Cup Ghana crushed another African football leader, Nigeria, 4-1. The Ghanaian footballers known as the "Black Stars" impressed with three goals scored in just 20 minutes in the second half. It is interesting to note that Ghana had not beaten Nigeria in mutual matches in the last 15 years, but this victory is the largest in head-to-head matches since 1960.
In Belfast, the two national teams of Great Britain - Northern Ireland and Wales - met. Despite the huge territorial advantage of the visitors, the hosts could have snatched a victory, when in the second half Grant McCann hit the crossbar. The match ended in a draw.
In the semi-final matches of the tournament involving four teams that started in Cyprus, Bulgaria defeated Latvia, while Cyprus defeated Hungary.
Statistics:
Bulgaria 2 - 0 Latvia 14‘ [1 - 0] Pavels Surnins (own goal) 33‘ [2 - 0] Hristo Yovov
Cyprus 2 - 1 Hungary 18‘ [1 - 0] Yasoumis Yasoumi 72‘ [2 - 0] Yannis Okkas 89‘ [2 - 1] Tamaš Priskin
Northern Ireland 0 - 0 Wales
Nigeria 1 - 4 Ghana 61‘ [0 - 1] Laryea Kingston 70‘ [0 - 2] Sulley Ali Muntari 81‘ [0 - 3] Junior Agogo 85‘ [1 - 3] Taye Taiwo 90‘ [1 - 4] Sulley Ali Muntari
Australia 1 - 3 Denmark 5‘ [0 - 1] Jon Dahl Tomasson 28‘ [0 - 2] Daniel Jensen 38‘ [0 - 3] Jon Dahl Tomasson 85‘ [1 - 3] Brett Emerton
Greece 0 - 1 South Korea 78‘ [0 - 1] Lee Chun-Soo
Brazil 0 - 2 Portugal 82‘ [0 - 1] Simao Sabrosa 90‘ [0 - 2] Ricardo Carvalho
