Milosavac sends Portugal crashing

Marko Milosavac scored the only goal as Switzerland upset the formbook to beat Portugal 1-0 to advance to the quarter-finals of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship today.

Shock lead
Portugal, who lost their opening match 2-0 against France, had the better of the early action but for all their slick passing they were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities against a resilient Swiss side. And, as so often happens in football, when one team fails to make the most of their dominance, the other team scores against the run of play. Goran Antic produced a weak cross from the left and as Portugal failed to clear, Sandro Burki laid the ball off for Milosavac, who made no mistake from close range to give the underdogs a surprise lead in the seventh minute.

Solid rearguard
Portugal, aided by a gusting wind inside the Herfølge stadium, desperately pressed forward in search of the goal that would provide them with a glimmer of hope of making it to the quarter-finals, but found the going extremely tough against Switzerland's defensive 3-5-1 formation.

Portugal frustrated
Barceló Silveira Ramos' side's frustration intensified in the second half, as the Swiss proved that they are an extremely well-organised unit. And it was Markus Frei's side that came within centimetres of doubling their lead, as Stefan's Iten's curling free-kick rebounded off the crossbar to safety. Portugal keeper Christopher then produced a miraculous reflex save to deny Milosavac his second goal of the match with 19 minutes remaining.

Tactical change
Portugal pushed Richardo and Diogo up front to form a three-man attacking line with Ivanildo but the tactical change failed to have the desired effect, as the Swiss battled bravely in the final moments to preserve their three points.

'Team effort'
Swiss coach Frei, in buoyant mood at the final whistle, said: "The last time we played in this stadium was last September when we lost 5-3 against Denmark, but this time luck was on our side. The Portuguese pushed us back, but we played with great discipline and this win was a team effort more than anything else."