National Team Friendly

National Stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when João Tomas kicked off to start the match. In the 5th minute Ziad Benzouin shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Daniel Ferreira saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. With a little luck, U21 Morocco's Tanan El Idrissi got control of the ball when Armando Aleixo tried to sneak it across the goal line. 8 minutes into the match, U21 Morocco's goal looked a bit too open when João Tomas came free, but Tanan El Idrissi reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 8th minute, João Tomas reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Tanan El Idrissi. The goal made the score 1-0. U21 Morocco's Tanan El Idrissi proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 11th minute of the match, managed to save U21 Morocco from getting a goal against them. Tanan El Idrissi stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of João Tomas's shot from short distance in the 13th minute. A hard shot 14 in the game by Armando Aleixo from a close distance when the talented Tanan El Idrissi managed to make a qualified save. U21 Morocco's players were relieved. U21 Morocco's Tanan El Idrissi proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 18th minute of the match, managed to save U21 Morocco from getting a goal against them. 18 minutes into the game, Youness Zerouali was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. U21 Morocco's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave U21 Portugal the free kick. In the 19th minute, Youness Zerouali hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After 22 minutes of play, U21 Portugal's Armando Aleixo made it 2-0 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Tanan El Idrissi was left in no man's land by his defense there! If Ziad Benzouin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 27th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 30th play minutes Armando Aleixo shot 3-0, a short shot which went by Tanan El Idrissi and just under the crossbar into goal. João Tomas received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 34th minute. Tanan El Idrissi tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The audience thought a goal was coming when Armando Aleixo got free with Tanan El Idrissi in the 35th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. In the 38th minute, Jardel Coluna left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The U21 Portugal fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 4-0. If Jardel Coluna had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 43rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After some careless play in the U21 Morocco defense, João Tomas kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Tanan El Idrissi. The U21 Morocco fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Tanan El Idrissi should have stopped the shot. After a defensive mix-up in U21 Morocco's zone, João Tomas stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Tanan El Idrissi came out of the goal and João Tomas tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Af the end of the first half the score was 5-0. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Ziad Benzouin made a kick off. Daniel Ferreira made an important save on a dangerous shot by Ziad Benzouin in the 53rd minute. If João Tomas had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 56th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 63rd minute the ball was on its way in behind U21 Morocco's goalkeeper Tanan El Idrissi, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. An unexpectedly hard shot by Armando Aleixo in the 68th minute of play forced U21 Morocco's goalkeeper Tanan El Idrissi to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 70th match minute, U21 Portugal was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Diamantino Barbosa to maneuver through the defense. U21 Portugal made a substitution. Eduardo Nunes replaced Armando Aleixo. U21 Morocco made a substitution. Ashraf Lamyaghri replaced Jawad Arrafi. U21 Portugal made a substitution. Emílio Moutinho replaced Quim Bomba. Tanan El Idrissi made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from João Tomas in the 79th minute of play. 80 minutes into the match, U21 Portugal's Amadeu Nogueira sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Tanan El Idrissi narrowly saved just below the crossbar. U21 Portugal's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Raul Brito in the 81st minute. The corner went over the outstretched arms of U21 Morocco's goalie and right to Eduardo Nunes. He fired away a shot at goal, but the shot had too much spin, and it went just outside the goal. U21 Morocco's manager breathed a sigh of relief on the sidelines as his team had managed to escape an almost certain goal. Tanan El Idrissi showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from João Tomas in the 84th minute of the match. In the 86thth minute of the game João Tomas who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but U21 Morocco's Tanan El Idrissi was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. When João Tomas came up free with the goalie in the 93rd minute, the U21 Portugal fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that João Tomas couldn't finish the play. U21 Morocco's Tanan El Idrissi played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Romário Balda in the 95th minute of play. There was no doubt that U21 Portugal were the better team. U21 Portugal's players enjoyed the ovations of the crowd after the victory.