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In horrendous conditions at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal have run out convincing winners against Algeria in their final match before the FIFA World Cup.
By the time it was all said and done, the European nation had three goals on the board against their struggling African opposition, who just last week went down 3-2 to Cape Verde.
The expectations about their opposition in the lead-up to the match, but the Portuguese team can still be happy with their final workout before the biggest sporting event on the planet.
In Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the national team following his successful Champions League campaign with Real Madrid, the superstar had plenty of influence up forward as Portugal dominated from the opening whistle.
Portugal had their first goal in the 17th minute through Goncalo Guedes. He would make it a double in the 55th minute, while Bruno Fernandes slotted one home in between, ensuring Portugal went into the halftime break 2-0 up in the driving rain.
The Portuguese played the game at their opponents end of the pitch, putting them under constant pressure. The Algerian defence, in a lot of ways, did a good job to only concede three goals given the pressure Ronaldo and his teammates placed them under.
The victors ended the match with 18 shots, seven of them on target and seven corners. 52 per cent possession suggests they weren’t all that dominant, but that number came down in the second half and it was about where the game was played, rather than who had possession at times.
Alongside Ronaldo and the two goal-scorers for Portugal, Jose Moutinho and Bernardo Silva were fantastic playing in the midfield, ensuring the hosts always had opportunities being created further up the pitch.
While substitutes and a loss of rhythm ruined the back-end of the game, Portugal will be impressed with their work against the African nation ahead of Football’s showpiece event.
Portugal opens their World Cup campaign against Spain in just over a week’s time, with that game likely to decide who wins Group B.
Portugal 3
Algeria 0