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Portugal edged their way into the last eight with a hard-fought 1-0 victory that ended the ground-breaking run of Guatemala.
A slice of history was set to be made regardless of the victor with Portugal aiming to move beyond the Round of 16 for the first time since 1995, while Guatemala were seeking to continue their run having already gone further than any of their compatriots.
As it was, a lone penalty just seven minutes into the contest was enough to separate the teams. Nelson Oliveira cracked home his second goal of the tournament, after Cedric was needlessly brought down in the corner of the penalty area.
Portugal spurned a great chance to double their lead on 18 minutes but Caetano fired wide despite finding himself alone in the penalty area after an assist from Alex.
The Central Americans, having been under pressure, had their real shot soon after with right defender Jose Andrade attempting to curl the ball home only to see his effort clear the crossbar.
Portugal enjoyed far greater possession, but, as in previous matches, struggled to create gilt-edged openings.
On the stroke of half-time Portugal captain Nuno Reis leapt high and delivered a dangerous header that forced Roberto Padilla into a smart save.
Guatemala, knowing their tournament aspirations were on the line, started the second half in positive fashion and Jose Melgar forced Mika into an important save.
Portugal though soon had good openings of their own with firstly, Tiago Ferreira’s header going narrowly wide, and then Caetano pushing his effort wide after getting the better of his marker.
The dangerous Melgar was at it again for the Central Americans, twice hitting efforts close to Mika’s goal to rouse the locals into support of the underdog.
Seven minutes from full time came the moment for the Guatemalans. Only a stunning save from Mika denied Gabriel Navas who got on the end of a corner.
Incredibly, the Guatemalans were then denied by the width of the post when Kevin Norales’ free-kick was kept out by the woodwork, in what proved the final chance in a heroic campaign by the Central Americans.
1:0 (1:0)
NELSON OLIVEIRA (7' PEN)
Match 38 - Group Cali
Pascual GuerreroReferee: Djamel HAIMOUDI
Round of 16
Portugal - Guatemala1:0 (1:0)Match Date Time Venue / Stadium Attendance
38 09 August 2011 17:00 Cali / Pascual Guerrero 33294
Match Officials
Referee
Djamel HAIMOUDI (ALG) Assistant Referee 1
Foaad EL MAGHRABI (LBY)
Fourth Official
Noumandiez DOUE (CIV) Assistant Referee 2
Ayman DEGAISH (EGY)
Match Commissioner
Dominique MAESTRACCI (CAN)
Goals scored
NELSON OLIVEIRA (POR) 7' Penalty goal
Portugal
Line-up
[1] MIKA (GK)
[3] TIAGO FERREIRA
[4] NUNO REIS (C)
[7] NELSON OLIVEIRA
[8] CEDRIC
[11] CAETANO [Y] (-90')
[14] ALEX [Y] (-86')
[15] DANILO
[17] SERGIO OLIVEIRA
[18] RICARDO DIAS (-46' HT)
[20] MARIO RUI [Y]
Substitute(s)
[12] TIAGO MAIA (GK)
[19] LUIS RIBEIRO (GK)
[2] PELE (+46' HT)
[5] RODERICK (+90')
[6] JULIO ALVES
[9] AMIDO BALDE
[10] SANA [Y]
[13] LUIS MARTINS [Y]
[16] SERGINHO
[21] RAFAEL LOPES (+86')
Coach
Ilidio VALE (POR)Guatemala
Line-up
[1] Roberto PADILLA (GK)
[2] Jose ANDRADE
[3] Manuel MORENO
[4] Willian RAMIREZ [Y]
[5] Elias VASQUEZ (C) [Y]
[6] Jose DEL AGUILA [Y]
[7] Marvin CEBALLOS [Y]
[8] Jose CASTILLO
[14] Jose LEMUS [Y] (-24')
[16] Cristian LIMA (-56')
[20] Gerson LIMA (-37')
Substitute(s)
[12] Jose MORALES (GK)
[21] Jose GARCIA (GK) [I]
[9] Henry LOPEZ [I]
[10] Kevin NORALES (+56')
[11] Gabriel NAVAS [Y] (+37')
[13] Jose MELGAR (+24')
[15] Sixto BETANCOURT [I]
[17] Marco RIVAS [Y]
[18] Abner BONILLA [I]
[19] Walter ARRIOLA
Coach
Ever ALMEIDA (PAR)Cautions
MARIO RUI (POR) 30', ALEX (POR) 45'+3, CEDRIC (POR) 88'
Expulsions
Additional time
First Half: 3' Second Half: 5'
Portugal (POR) Statistics Guatemala (GUA)
14 Shots 17
2 Shots on goal 2
23 Fouls Committed 18
8 Corner kicks 2
0 Direct Free Kicks to Goal 1
0 Indirect Free Kicks to Goal 0
1 / 1 Penalty Kicks 0 / 0
3 Offsides 0
0 Own Goals 0
3 Cautions 0
0 Expulsions due to Second Caution 0
0 Direct Expulsions 0
60% Possession (%) 40%
33 Actual playing time 22
a.e.t.: After extra time (C): Captain PSO: Penalty Shoot-out
GK: Goalkeeper N: Not eligible to play I: Injured
Y: Yellow cards Pos: Positions A: Absent
Ever Almeida, Guatemala coach
It’s a pity to lose with a penalty in the beginning, it wasn’t what we expected. And we leave with a strange feeling, because we conceded a lot of goals in two very difficult matches. But, today, we were applauded when we lost and it was fair. We showed good football, that we deserved to be here and that we have good potential. I really don't think we deserved to lose. In the end, it was not even a matter of levelling the match, but not losing, because we played well. We are very happy with the way the supporters motivated us, but we want to come back one day and receive the same applause for even more, for a great victory for example.
Ilidio Vale, Portugal coach
We have mixed feelings. We are happy to go through, but unhappy with the way we played. We made more mistakes than we were expecting. We had the responsibility to go into attack, but, mainly in the second half, my players weren’t following my instructions. And I also think that my players weren’t humble enough. On the other hand, I don’t think Guatemala played a good match or did enough to win against us. They were only crossing the ball and that’s it. But I respect the way they play, as I respect Argentina. We fear no one and we are ready to keep playing and going through. But we definitely have to improve, correct some errors and be more competitive.
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