LISBON -- For Prime Minister Antonio
Guterres, Portugal's 2-2 draw against the Netherlands with two
goals in the dying minutes had all the sweetness of victory.
Top-selling sports daily Bola was even more fulsome. "God
exists," ran the headline above a picture of winger Luis Figo
whose penalty on the stroke of time completed a remarkable
fightback.
It was not clear whether Bola was elevating the world's most
expensive player to divine status or whether it was referring to
the near miraculous nature of Portugal's recovery.
With seven minutes to go, the talented Dutch were sitting on
a well-earned 2-0 lead and looked set to avenge their loss at
home to the Portuguese by the same margin last October.
But whether it was excess of confidence, as Dutch coach Luis
Van Gaal suggested, or just tiredness, the Netherlands suddenly
lost control of the game, letting the Portuguese bounce back
with two goals.
First, Bordeaux striker Pauleta beat the defence to a cross
from Porto winger Nuno Capucho to pull one back after 83
minutes, then Figo added the second after Pauleta was judged to
have been brought down in the box.
Guterres was among the 45,000-strong crowd in the Antas
stadium that erupted as the Real Madrid winger's spot kick
curled into the far left-hand corner, beyond the despairing dive
of Edwin van der Saar in the Dutch goal.
"This draw has all the sweetness of victory. It was 90
minutes of great suffering but we staged an amazing recovery,"
said the Premier, an ardent Benfica fan.
Portugal's coach Antonio Oliveira was the first to admit
that his team had enjoyed a dose of luck after being outplayed
for most of the game.
"We really did not succeed in playing how we wanted to. For
80 minutes, there is no doubt that the Netherlands was the team
that deserved to win," he said.
"In the end, a draw was a good result as the Dutch were
better collectively and individually," he added.
The Netherlands took the lead in the 17th minute, with
Chelsea's Jimmy Hasselbaink scoring from the penalty spot.
Barcelona's Patrick Kluivert, who had a fine game, made it two
shortly after halftime.
Some Portuguese commentators were surprised that when
Oliveira rang the changes in his line-up in the second half in a
bid to boost the attack, van Gaal responded in kind, giving his
side an even more attacking feel.
Deportivo Coruna frontman Roy Makaay replaced lively winger
Boudewijn Zenden and defensive midfielder Mark van Bommel gave
way to Paul Bosvelt as the Dutch went in search of a third goal
that never came.
Ireland cruises to 3-0 win over Andorra
BARCELONA -- Ireland strengthened their
bid for automatic World Cup qualification with a hard-fought 3-0
victory over Andorra on Wednesday.
A first-half penalty from Ian Harte, awarded after
goalkeeper Alfonso Sanchez had pulled down Roy Keane, was
followed by goals from Kevin Kilbane and Matt Holland in the
closing 15 minutes.
The result takes Mick McCarthy's side to the top of European
qualifying group two on 11 points from five matches, although
Portugal can reclaim the group lead with a home victory over the
Netherlands later on Wednesday.
Andorra remain bottom of the table with seven defeats from
seven games. They have now conceded 22 goals and scored just
three in the current campaign.
Estonia rallies to tie Cyprus 2-2
LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- Cyprus let slip a
two-goal lead to enable Estonia to force a 2-2 draw in their
World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
Cyprus had gone ahead in the 47th minute of the European
group two game through Michalis Constantinou after Marios
Agathocleous hit the bar.
They doubled the tally in the 65th minute from a close range
shot by Yiannakis Okkas.
But Estonia replied in the 75th minute when Marko Krystal
tapped home a pass from Andres Oper.
The unexpected equaliser arrived two minutes later when a
weak back header from Raio Piiroja went straight through the
hands of Cyprus keeper Nicos Panayiotou as he dived to save.
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