First-half goals please Portugal

Portugal 3-0 Luxembourg
Portugal returned to winning ways in Águeda tonight with a comfortable victory against Luxembourg.

First-half goals
Playing the first half without six FC Porto players following their UEFA Champions League heroics on Wednesday, Portugal still managed three goals before the break scored by Luís Figo, Nuno Gomes and Rui Costa. The Porto men arrived after the interval, but victory was already sealed, Portugal's first against European opposition since beating Albania 5-3 in Lisbon last October.

Figo free-kick
Figo opened the scoring in the 14th minute, sending in a sweet free-kick. Nuno Gomes struck 14 minutes later, shooting in after being set up by Rui Costa - who turned scorer with a long-range effort eight minutes before the break.

Nerves settled
Deco, so influential for Porto on Wednesday, went close twice after the break, but the win will settle Portugal's nerves ahead of their UEFA EURO 2004™ opener in a fortnight's time, not least because their 12 June opponents Greece lost today 1-0 in Poland.

Risk taking
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose team face Lithuania next Saturday in Setúbal, said: "I want my team to be able to take the risk of shooting on goal and today was a perfect occasion for them to do it."

Simonsen happy
Luxembourg coach Alan Simonsen said: "I think we had a great second half, with three or four good chances. We tried to play good football and I think we were successful. "