Saturday, September 4, 2021 at 21:16• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 21:18

Portugal turned the friendly international against Qatar into a win on Saturday. The team of national coach Fernando Santos was 1-3 too strong for the World Cup organizer in the Nagyerdei Stadium in Hungary, who also received two red cards in addition to three yellow prints for tackles. Portugal won 2-1 against Ireland in the World Cup qualifier last Wednesday and awaits another qualifier next Tuesday in and against Azerbaijan.

Santos opted for a completely new team on Saturday compared to last Wednesday, of course with a view to Tuesday’s game in Baku. Otávio made his unofficial debut for Portugal, which escaped a goal after nine minutes: a bet by Almoez Ali hit the post. After more than twenty minutes of play, the Portuguese opened the score and a minute and a half later, the 0-2 also appeared on the scoreboard.

After an excellent pass from Joao Mario from the left, the released André Silva was able to head the ball from close range with a bounce behind goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham. Not much later, it was hit again when Qatar’s loss of possession in its own half was mercilessly punished. Otávio graced his debut with a good header on a pass from Gonçalo Guedes from the left. For Barsham, the game was over just before half-time. He fouled Guedes outside the penalty area and was called in.

Despite the sub-situation, the organizer of next year’s World Cup still came back into the game: Abdelkarim Hassan headed the ball from a corner in exactly the same corner as Silva and Otávio in the first half. Just before time, the ball hit the spot after a foul on Diogo Jota. Boualem Khoukhi strongly disagreed and his words towards the arbitration left Qatar with nine men. Bruno Fernandes then determined the final score: 1-3.