CR7 not missed as Portugal rout Norway – Turkey snatch late winner

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PORTO, Portugal, May 30, (RTRS): Portugal made sure the absence of top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, resting the day after after Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph, went unnoticed as they thrashed Norway 3-0 in a Euro 2016 warm-up.

Ronaldo would have been impressed with the finishing of his international team mates as Ricardo Quaresma and Raphael Guerreiro netted spectacular goals before Eder added a clinical third at the Dragao stadium.

The Portuguese started in an adventurous 4-3-3 formation and it soon paid off as 32-year-old winger Quaresma fired them ahead against Norway, who failed to make the Euros, with a viciously swerving shot from the edge of the area in the 13th minute.

Giving his markers a roasting all night with dazzling footwork before he was substituted on the hour, the unsettled and often inconsistent Quaresma rolled back the years to show why he was once regarded as one of Europe’s hot prospects.

It was then Guerreiro’s turn to impress as the 22-year old left back curled in a delightful free kick in the 65th minute, with Norway goalkeeper Rune Jarstein clutching thin air.

Portugal continued to press and their towering striker Eder made it 3-0 five mintues later, sweeping home a perfect low cross from the right by midfielder Joao Mario.

The performance set a perfect stage for Portugal’s visit to Wembley on Thursday, when they meet England in their final warm-up for next month’s European Championship in France.

The Norwegians missed two gilt-edged chances as Joshua King was denied by goalkeeper Anthony Lopes and Veton Berisha hit the bar when the visitors were trailing 1-0.

Portugal are strong favourites to advance to the Euro 2016 knockout stages from Group F which also includes Austria, Hungary and Iceland.

Turkey 1, Montenegro 0

In Istanbul, a last-gasp header from Mehmet Topal earned Turkey a 1-0 victory over Montenegro on Sunday in a boost for their morale ahead of Euro 2016.

Midfielder Arda Turan, likely to be key to Turkey’s prospects in France, set up the goal with a well-flighted cross in the fourth minute of stoppage time and Topal charged into the area to head beyond the diving Montenegro keeper.

Until that moment the visitors had contained the threat from Turkey well, playing in a packed stadium in Antalya on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

Hakan Calhanoglu, who scored Turkey’s first ever goal for Turkey against England in last Sunday’s 2-1 defeat, went close in the seventh minute with a powerful shot from outside the area which flew over the bar.

Turkey had further chances through Volkan Sen and Oguzhan Ozyakup but both fired wide.

Montenegro continued to absorb pressure in the second half until Arda managed to cut open the defence.

Before last week’s loss to England, Turkey had been undefeated in their previous 14 games, having qualified for the European Championship with an impressive late burst.

Italy 1, Scotland 0

In Malta, Italy will have taken some positives from a 1-0 win over Scotland in a European Championship warm-up friendly at Malta’s Ta’ Qali national stadium.

Striker Graziano Pelle broke the deadlock 12 minutes into the second half with a curling finish inside David Marshall’s left-hand post after a fine through ball into the penalty area from Daniele De Rossi.

Scotland, who failed to qualify for next month’s Euros, hardly troubled an all-Juventus back three and did not win a corner until the 70th minute.

However, eight minutes later Matt Ritchie hit the diving Gianluigi Buffon’s side netting after a mistake in Italy’s defence by substitute Federico Bernardeschi.

Euro 2016 in France begins on June 10 with Antonio Conte’s Italy team opening their Group E campaign against second-ranked Belgium in Lyon on June 13 before they face Sweden and Ireland.

“Are we going to find some brilliance for our debut against Belgium? I’m not a magician,” Conte said after a solid if uninspiring performance.

Ukraine 4, Romania 3

In Turin, Ukraine delivered a statement of intent by beating Romania 4-3 in a lively encounter on Sunday after taking advantage of sloppy defending in their penultimate friendly before Euro 2016 kicks off in France next month.

Mykhaylo Fomenko’s team inflicted Romania’s first loss since June 2014 and showed Ukraine should not be taken lightly after they scored four times in 15 minutes in Turin against a team who had conceded just two goals in their qualifying campaign.

Romania coach Anghel Iordanescu made nine changes from the 1-1 draw against Democratic Republic of Congo in their last warm-up game on Wednesday, with captain Vlad Chiriches and midfielder Mihai Pintilii the only survivors.

Iordanescu’s side took the lead in the 23rd minute when Gabriel Torje fired a thunderous shot past keeper Andriy Pyatov from just outside the area for his 10th international goal.

Ukraine levelled two minutes before the break when Roman Zozulya slid in at the far post after central defender Chiriches failed to clear Vyacheslav Shevchuk’s cross from the left.

Ukraine teenager Oleksandr Zinchenko made it 2-1 with his first international goal on his second substitute appearance three minutes after coming on at halftime.

He became the youngest player to score for Ukraine at the age of 19 years and 165 days ahead of Andriy Shevchenko who got his first goal for his country aged 19 years and 214 days.

The tricky Yehven Konoplyanka then added a third for Ukraine six minutes later and Andriy Yarmolenko made it 4-1 on the hour when Konoplyanka turned provider.

Romania, who conceded four for the first time since a 4-0 defeat by the Netherlands in March 2013, cut the deficit when Denis Alibec scored his first international goal in the 75th before Nicolae Stanciu struck 10 minutes later.

Alibec netted a superb free kick 17 minutes after coming on while Stanciu scored his third goal in four internationals.

“It was a good first half in which we controlled the game — we created chances and we managed to score,” Romania coach Anghel Iordanescu told Digi Sport TV.

“But then we committed big individual mistakes, horrible mistakes. I can’t forget the mistakes, made by experienced players. Thanks to the changes in the second half, we managed to get back in the game and score twice.”

The teams play their final friendlies on Friday when Romania host Georgia in Bucharest and Ukraine meet Albania in Bergamo.

Romania play hosts France in the tournament opener on June 10 in Paris and also face Switzerland and Albania in Group A.

Ukraine have been drawn in Group C with world champions Germany, Poland and Northern Ireland.

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