Portugal thrash Finland at the start of qualifying for the U-17 Euro
Nthe game of the first round of Group 4 of Liga A, as Portuguese, taking advantage of the numerical inferiority of the opponents – with one less after five minutes – to add a large result, with goals from Inês Simas (22 minutes), Leonete Correia (36 ), Maria Ferreira (67), Lara Martins (80), Cristiana Martins (86) and Ana Ferreira (90 + 4).
The Finns suffered a serious blow to their aspirations after just five minutes, with the dismissal of Aura Nyholm, who stopped, outside the area, the speedy Leonete Correia, who was going alone for goal.
With the opponent reduced to 10, Portugal clearly assumed the ascendant in the match, but as the chances of goal were scarce and they were like Finns a beneficiary of the first glaring opportunity, with Halttunen missing a deflection after an assist from Lotta Kalske (20 minutes).
The first Portuguese goal came two minutes later, but through a set piece: the ‘captain’ Inês Simas, in a direct free kick more than 25 meters from the goal, opened the scoring with a great goal.
With the Portuguese team moralized, the second natural goal came, even before the break (36), with Inês Simas in evidence in an individual play by the end line, serving for an easy conclusion by Leonete Correia.
In the second half, Portugal maintained the dominance, facing a shy and unresponsive Finland, and the difference was gradually increased until the final whistle.
The full-back Maria Ferreira scored after an assist from Leonete Correia, at 67, Lara Martins was faster than the Finnish goalkeeper to approach the ball and fired counting at 80, the newcomer Cristiana Martins put her mark on the game at 86 and , in added time, Ana Ferreira sealed the triumph of the Portuguese team (90 + 4).
Portugal returns to action against Germany (11 November), in Albufeira, and closes the group with Bosnia-Herzegovina (14 November), at Estádio Algarve.