National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10302 (Terracing: 7727, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Stefan Greil started the match with the kick off. Ralf Beckers made an important save on a dangerous shot by Catarino Moutinho in the 8th minute. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Catarino Moutinho in the 8th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Ralf Beckers prevented the ball from getting in the gole. After 9 played minutes U21 Portugal got a freekick which was hit by Alexandre Lisboa. Ralf Beckers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Oliveira Guarda in the 11th minute of the match. In the 18th minute, U21 Portugal's Oliveira Guarda ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Ralf Beckers. Ralf Beckers yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 1-0. In the 25th minute, Oliveira Guarda ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Ralf Beckers was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-0. The audience was convinced that Stefan Greil's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Américo Fontes was relentless in the 27th minute of the game. 34 minutes into the match, Catarino Moutinho dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Ralf Beckers, 4-0. Ralf Beckers stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Oliveira Guarda's shot from short distance in the 39th minute. Oliveira Guarda received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 41st minute. Ralf Beckers tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 46 minutes had been played when some careless play by U21 Austria's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Lucas Pinho was slow to take the kick. During this time U21 Portugal's players had a chance to rest. A nice corner shot did that Lucas Pinho got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Ralf Beckers quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 4-0.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Catarino Moutinho was the one to do the kick off. Daniel Geiß hit a great freekick 51 minutes into the match. Ralf Beckers made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Afonso Fonseca in the 56th minute of play. When U21 Portugal's Catarino Moutinho in the 58th minute got a chance for a shot 58th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye U21 Austria's goalie prevented a goal. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Catarino Moutinho in the 59th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Ralf Beckers saved U21 Austria from getting behind. Ralf Beckers made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Afonso Fonseca in the 62nd minute of play. After 63 minutes of play, U21 Portugal's Oliveira Guarda made it 5-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Ralf Beckers was left in no man's land by his defense there! Catarino Moutinho received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 70th minute. Ralf Beckers tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. U21 Austria's Ralf Beckers played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nuno Henriques in the 77th minute of play. The audience thought a goal was coming when Nico-Pascal Heilek got free with Américo Fontes in the 78th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Américo Fontes made a fantastic save in the 78th minute, when Nico-Pascal Heilek sent off a good shot on target. Ralf Beckers showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Catarino Moutinho in the 82nd minute of the match. 86 minutes into the game, U21 Portugal's Catarino Moutinho nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Ralf Beckers made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 6-0. U21 Portugal were awarded a corner in the 92th minute after U21 Austria's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Lucas Pinho took the corner. After taking down the ball on U21 Portugal's corner Lucas Pinho fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Ralf Beckers quite easily take care of the ball. After a rather tough play, U21 Portugal's Artur Teixeira got a free kick in the 93rd minute. Ralf Beckers came out of the goal in the 95th minute to try and stop a shot by U21 Portugal's Nuno Henriques. But to his dismay, Nuno Henriques quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 7-0. When the referee ended the match the U21 Portugal players were able to celebrate. They had won a fair victory and recieved the ovations of their fans.