Portugal beat the Super Eagles of Nigeria 4-0 in a World Cup warm-up international friendly, courtesy of goals from Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario on Thursday, at the Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon.
The Super Eagles started with Terem Moffi in attack, supported by Moses Simon and Ademola Lookman on the flanks. Cristiano Ronaldo was missing from the starting line-up due to a stomach upset, which saw Andre Silva and Joao Felix upfront for Portugal.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 9th minute when Diogo Dalot step up Fernandes to tap into an empty net. Portugal then doubled its lead through Fernandes from the penalty spot in the 35th minute, after a Bernardo Silva cross struck the hand of Super Eagles defender Bright Osayi-Samuel.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos made six substitutions in the second half as he looked for fresh legs to strengthen his side’s lead.
In the 81st minute, Nigeria were awarded a penalty after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) spotted Dalot’s foul. Emmanuel Dennis stepped up for the spot kick, but his effort was saved by Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio.
Substitute Ramos then scored Portugal’s third immediately after Dennis’ penalty miss to compound a terrible night for the Nigerians.
Two minutes later, Joao Mario put the result beyond doubt with a strike into the bottom corner to the delight of home fans in the stadium to make the scores 4-0 in favour of Portugal.
Portugal will now ahead out to Qatar for the World Cup in good form after putting up a show against the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Portugal are in World Cup Group H with Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea.
For Nigeria, it was the fifth defeat in seven matches under Jose Peseiro as the Super Eagles continue to build a new team ahead of the Nations Cup in 2023.
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