It’s a cliche, is a common place and a certainty. However, it is still important to mention it, underline it and repeat it: 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, this Saturday would have been unthinkable for any Portuguese footballer. This Saturday, Portugal was present for the second time in a European women’s football. This Saturday, Portugal appeared in the top wheel of women’s football for the second time. This Saturday, Portugal won for the second time the laurels of hard and long work.
After the historic participation in the 2017 European Championship, where they did not pass the group stage but recorded an unprecedented victory against Scotland, the National Team did not manage to qualify directly for the European Championship in England after losing in the play off decisive with Russia. However, thanks to FIFA’s exclusion of all Russian and Belarusian national teams from the competition following the invasion of Ukraine, Portugal was reconquered and secured its second consecutive presence in European finals.
The struggles for equal pay, the 90,000 people at the Camp Nou, the Putellas effect. What did women’s football come to here?
The problem—or one of the problems—was the group in which the Portuguese team finished. Falling directly into Group C, he crossed with Holland, current European champion, Sweden, recurring candidate to have a presence in the final, and Switzerland, the theoretically most accessible opponent. And it was precisely against Switzerland, 10 places above the National Team in the classification but also to make only the second participation in the Europeans, which Portugal debuted this Saturday in the competition.
At Leigh, in the Manchester region, Francisco Neto was unable to count on Andreia Jacinto, who was injured before the trip to England and was replaced by Suzane Pires, and also Kika Nazareth was not in the starting eleven, as the Benfica striker only had one training session in English territory due to tonsillitis. Portugal, whose squad had 14 repeaters in the competition and nine debutants, then played with Dolores, Andreia Norton and Ana Borges (who equaled Carla Couto as the most international player) in midfield and Tatiana Pinto in more direct support. by Diane Silva. and Jéssica Silva, the latter making her European debut after missing the 2017 due to injury. On the other hand, the highlight went to the captain Lia Wälti, an Arsenal player who arrived this Saturday in her 100th game, and to the scorer Ana-Maria Crnogorčević, forward of the European runner-up Barcelona.
Game ready????#BY Y #SUI with the finishing touches before his first match in #WEURO2022 pic.twitter.com/YYSIiKFAJE
— UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 9, 2022
“Without a doubt, it is a game of details and, when it is like that, you have to take advantage of the mistakes of others. We have to make as few mistakes as possible and take advantage of Switzerland’s mistakes or provoke them. Now, if it will be with the highest line, with the lowest line, with more ball, with less ball… That’s the only way we’ll know”, said the national coach in the preview of the match, highlighting that Portugal will appear in the four-match European undefeated and Switzerland without a win in five games.
The dream, however, quickly turned into a nightmare. With a totally disastrous entrance and asleep, Portugal conceded two goals in five minutes and immediately questioned any chance of their future in the competition: Coumba Sow opened the scoring, with a shot from outside the area in a play in which Inês Pereira seems to have received a strong blow (2′), and Rahel Kiwic increased the header after a free kick from the left (5′) . Suddenly, before the match had almost started, Switzerland had scored two goals from two shots on goal and left the National Team in a bad state.
Until the break, Portugal naturally had more of the ball, more presence in the opposing midfield and closer to the opposing goal. The National Team essentially bet on the speed of Jessica Silva, exploring the depth on the right of the attack, but the physical discrepancy between the Portuguese and Swiss was evident and crucial. Francisco Neto’s team failed to create a real scoring opportunity, despite the fact that both Jessica Silva and Ana Borges had dangerous situations and Dolores finished off after a corner (35′). At the end of the first half, Portugal trailed by two goals on the only shots made in the match and were struggling to win back the result, although Switzerland, almost understandably, weren’t doing more than defending either.
⏸ 45′ minutes to go around, #Let’s go with everything ! ?????????# PORSUI | 0-2 | #TeamPortugal #WEURO2022 pic.twitter.com/ufhHtoqIf6
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) July 9, 2022
Francisco Neto did not move well at the break and the logic was maintained, with Portugal having more ball and playing practically from midfield and Switzerland waiting expectantly to then respond to the counterattack. Jessica Silva had a good opportunity to close the gap, with a shot that went slightly up (52′), Bachmann came close to scoring from the other side with a low shot to the side (53′) and Diana Gomes also missed from outside the area shortly after (55′). The Seleção seemed to be improving, mainly by having a taller midfield and appearing more in the shooting zones, but the goal was still missing.
A goal that finally came before game time. After a corner from the left, Diana Gomes appeared in the small area with a header to Thalmann’s defense and reduced the deficit in the rebound (58′), relaunching the game at a time when Portugal was clearly on the rise. Less than 10 minutes later, there was a draw: In an insistent play, Tatiana Pinto took a perfect cross into the penalty area and Jessica Silva, with a sublime first touch, deflected it to beat Thalmann again (65′).
⌚️60′ FOR 1-2 SUI
?????????Diana Gomes makes her debut scoring in the final, it was the 4th goal scored by the SC Braga defense for the national team (3 goals in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup).
It was Portugal’s 4th goal in European finals:
?????????Diana Gomes
?????????Carolina Mendes (2x)
?????????Ana Leite pic.twitter.com/CXvHmT3AVH— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) July 9, 2022
⌚️68′ BY 2-2 SUI
???????Jéssica Silva debuts to score in finals.
????It was the 12th goal, the 1st against Switzerland, in 90 games with Portugal. pic.twitter.com/OIoZrbUMGP
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) July 9, 2022
After the draw, the National Team extended the ascendancy that it had been showing since the beginning of the second half and completely dominated Switzerland, exploring depth in the corridors with Joana Marchão and Catarina Amado and betting on simpler processes and with remarkable technical quality. and tall. The Swiss coach was the first to move, launching Lara Martí with just under 20 minutes to go, and Francisco Neto responded with the entry of Kika Nazareth to replace Ana Borges. In the last quarter of an hour, Portugal began to pay the bill for the physical effort of the second half and the Swiss managed to rebalance the dynamics, with Reuteler about to score with a shot on the post (80′).
Until the end, Fátima Pinto and Telma Encarnação still entered, Catarina Amado avoided Sow’s goal with an extraordinary cut (84′), Encarnação hit the post (88′) and the result did not change again. Portugal signed a second half of luxury to forget the first five minutes of a real nightmare, They managed to avoid defeat but ended up coming out of their debut in the European Championship with a draw that is not enough, considering the superiority shown after the break. Qualifying for the quarterfinals is now even more difficult, remembering that the remaining rivals are the Netherlands and Sweden, but the Seleção left a very positive image before facing the Dutch next Wednesday (8:00 p.m.).
????????? ??????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ????@jessiicasilva10 ⚽️#BY | #WEURO2022 pic.twitter.com/V9tXhIaYrB
— UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 (@WEURO2022) July 9, 2022
⏹ 90′ Recovery ????́???????????????? From Portugal! ???????????? A draw in the opening match of the @WEURO2022 who knows a little after this 2nd time ✊ # PORSUI | 2-2 | #Let’s go with everything #WEURO2022 pic.twitter.com/XGifQK5HQa
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) July 9, 2022
Source: Observadora
