Ten-man Portugal halt Ukraine

Portugal secured third place in UEFA European Under-17 Championship Group B with a 2-1 victory over Ukraine in Valby today.

Only a win
Ukraine knew that only a win would offer any chance of advancing to the last eight, while they also had to hope that Switzerland would beat France in the other group game in Herfølge. The Swiss kept up their part of the bargain with a 2-1 victory but Ukraine, despite dominating much of the game, wasted numerous chances and were eventually beaten by already-eliminated Portugal.

Industrious and physical
While Ukraine were industrious and physical throughout, Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo particularly impressive on his return from a one-match suspension, were happy to soak up the mounting pressure and hit their opponents on the counterattack in a lacklustre first half.

Opening goal
News filtered through from Herfølge that Switzerland were in front at the interval and the second half saw Ukraine lay siege to the Portuguese goal. Oleksandr Aliyev and Oleksandor Maksymov were dominating proceedings in midfield, but hard as they tried, they failed to create a clear-cut chance in the early stages. Ukraine then went behind after 15 minutes of the second period, when Pedro Araújo smashed a direct free-kick goalwards from 30 metres and the ball deflected off the unfortunate Andriy Proshyn past keeper Oleksiy Prokhorov.

Ukraine level
Ukraine pulled themselves level seven minutes later, as Aliyev converted from the penalty spot after André Carvalho had been penalised for a foul on Dmytro Vorobey. The goal breathed new life into Ukraine but, as has been their problem for much of the tournament, they failed to find the target.

Magnificent save
Ukraine continued to pile pressure on their opponents' goal, but found Rui Sacramento in magnificent form. The FC Porto player made a miraculous save to deny Yuriy Kholopkin when he controlled a long ball from Andriy Kozhedub only to see Rui Sacramento get a hand to his shot with the ball seemingly destined for the bottom corner.

Red card
Portugal were then reduced to ten men when substitute Fábio Ferraz was sent off for unsporting behaviour, but they restored their advantage with virtually the last kick of the match. Ivanildo, also a second-half substitute lost his marker at the far post, controlled a flighted cross and guided the ball into the far corner to break Ukrainian hearts.

'No pressure'
Portuguese coach, Borceló Silveira Ramos was pleased with the result but now faces a long journey home having lost two of their three group matches. "Today we almost reached the level we know we are capable of," he said. "We were much quicker than in our other games and played better as we were under no pressure. We have had trouble scoring goals in the competition because teams close us down and we need space to play in. We don't have strong attackers and there are many physical teams here."

'Very disappointed'
Ukraine coach Pavlo Yakovenko was bitterly disappointed after the match, having seen his side miss out on a place in the quarter-finals. "Our level of play today was good but the result was very bad for us - I am very disappointed. We have been good in defence but we need to work on pour attacking play. This tournament has given us some great experience."

High standard
Sporting Clube de Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo was happy with the Portuguese performance but blamed his side's earlier defeats on nerves. "We played really well today but unfortunately we have not qualified for the next phase," he said. "The standard of play at the tournament has been incredibly high and everyone has played well. We were nervous and felt under pressure in our early matches and that was our problem."