Portugal begin with a bang

Hosts Portugal justified their lofty pre-tournament billing as they opened their UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group A campaign with an thrilling 3-2 win against an inventive Denmark side in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Viseu. The three points puts Portugal top of the group, ahead of Austria, their opponents on Friday.

Willingness to attack
The Portuguese started brightly, Márcio Sousa and Paulo Ricardo hitting speculative shots over the crossbar in the opening two minutes. It was not long before the Danes also found their feet, Bo Storm combining with Lasse Qvist before hitting a low shot which Portugal goalkeeper Mário Felgueiras held well. A Storm pass then picked out Qvist whose first-time volley flashed over the bar.

Superb individual goal
On 28 minutes Denmark's Danilo Arrieta Cerda went close with a stabbed shot while at the other end Saleiro had the ball in the net only for his effort to be disallowed for offside. In the end it was a superb individual goal that broke the deadlock on 32 minutes. Denmark forward Mads Torry Lindeneg picked the ball up in the centre of the pitch, twisted past Portugal captain Miguel Veloso and then accelerated into the penalty area whereupon he smashed the ball low and hard past Mário Felgueiras.

Two Portugal goals
The Danes' lead lasted barely two minutes, as João Pedro's finely-crafted shot beat Kenneth Stenild Nielsen. In the 40th minute there was more for the home fans to celebrate when Paulo Ricardo stole in unmarked at the far post with a sublime angled shot to put Portugal ahead.

Danes level again
Unbelievably, Lindeneg popped up with his second goal of the afternoon in added time after skipping through a static defence to send the sides into the break on level terms. Both sides continued to attack whenever possible in the second half, with right-winger Adelino Freitas going close for Portugal and Lasse Qvist dragging a shot wide for the Danes.

Corto impact
After 53 minutes Portugal coach António Violante replaced João Coimbra with Manuel Corto and the latter promptly scored with his first touch - a powerful header which flew past Stenild Nielsen. Clearly buoyed by moving ahead Portugal poured forward in numbers with Saleiro and Adelino Freitas both going close to extending their team's advantage.

Denmark chances
Denmark's best chances to salvage a point came late, firstly when Lasse Qvist nudged a shot wide after Portugal captain Miguel Veloso did well to pressurise him and then when a relieved Veloso deflected a cross on to his own post, only for the ball to then trickle out of play for a corner.