TEL AVIV, March 22, (RTRS): Portugal came back from two goals down to snatch a 3-3 draw in stoppage time against Israel in their World Cup qualifying group F match on Friday. The visitors stunned Israel and silenced the 40,000 capacity crowd with a goal in the second minute, but the home side eventually settled and got back on equal terms in the 24th minute through Tomer Hemed.
They then forged a promising lead with goals by Eden Ben Bassat in the 40th minute and Rami Gershon in the 70th.
But a determined effort by Cristiano Ronaldo, who powered into the Israeli area, set up Helder Postiga to reduce the arrears to 3-2 in the 72nd minute and the equaliser was scored by Fabio Coentrao as the visitors laid siege to the Israeli goal.
He stuck his foot out as Israeli defender Yuval Shpungin tried to clear the ball off the line.
Israel and Portugal have eight points from their five matches, four behind unbeaten group leaders Russia, whose game against Northern Ireland in Belfast has been postponed until Saturday due to snow.

“The fact that I am so disappointed after a 3-3 draw with Portugal says everything,” said Israeli coach Eli Guttman.
“We saw a cohesive team that is mentally strong and able to overturn a deficit into a promising lead but we lost concentration after we scored the third goal, as if thinking that the situation was too good to be true and we let (Portugal) back into the game,” the downcast coach added.
Portugal coach Paulo Bento said he was generally pleased with his players’ performance.
“We started well, although we lost our rhythm and conceded two goals... Overall I think we did enough to win the match, we had the majority of goal chances, Israel had three chances and scored three times,” he said through an interpreter.
“Having scored a goal in the last minute we could say that we had won a point, but looking at the way we dominated and played, these were two points lost,” he added. Bento thought Portugal’s qualifying campaign had been complicated by the draw “but it all depends on us,” he said.
The nine group winners in Europe qualify directly for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. The eight best runners up will go into to a playoff round with the four victors taking the remaining spots.

Bulgaria 6, Malta 0
In Sofia, Alexander Tonev’s hat-trick helped Bulgaria rout Malta 6-0 to move within one point of Group B leaders Italy in a match played behind closed doors because of racist incidents in a previous 2014 World Cup qualifier.
Despite freezing, windy conditions that made passing difficult, Bulgaria produced an inspired display of attacking football at the Vasil Levski national stadium to remain unbeaten.
Tonev, making a rare start in the absence of first-choice midfielder Stanislav Manolev, who suffered a thigh injury in training earlier this week, put the home side in front with a diagonal shot - his first international goal, after five minutes.
 Tonev enjoyed a slice of luck for his second goal seven minutes before the break, his long-range effort appearing to pose little threat to Andrew Hogg but the Malta keeper allowed the ball to slip through his hands.

Captain Ivelin Popov made it 3-0 with an easy finish with Georgi Milanov, who became Bulgaria’s youngest Footballer of the Year in December, providing a clever assist from the left wing two minutes after halftime.
Soon after, lively Emil Gargorov also managed to get his name on the scoresheet following a defensive mix-up and Tonev completed his hat-trick with another delightful shot from outside the penalty area.
Defender Ivan Ivanov added a sixth goal 12 minutes from time.
The game was played without spectators after FIFA punished Bulgaria following incidents during October’s qualifier against Denmark in Sofia when a group of fans racially abused Denmark’s Patrick Mtiliga.
Italy top the standings with 10 points from four matches, one ahead of Bulgaria, who have played one more game. Czech Republic, who face Denmark later on Friday, are third with five points from three matches.
Bulgaria visit Denmark on Tuesday while Italy travel to Malta and Czech Republic are away to Armenia.

N.Ireland v Russia qualifier postponed
Nothern Ireland’s Group F World Cup qualifier against Russia in Belfast on Friday was postponed due to heavy snow at the Windsor Park ground.
The Irish Football Association said in a statement that both sides had agreed to reschedule the match for Saturday after officials declared the pitch unplayable.
Russia, on 12 points, lead the group with Israel and Portugal on eight from five matches. Northern Ireland are fourth with three points from four games.