Portuguese fightback foils Scotland

Portugal battled back from two goals down to earn a share of the spoils with Scotland in their UEFA European Under-19 Championship Group B opener after Steven Fletcher had inspired a dream start for the Scots in Szamotuly.

Fletcher arrow
Having finished qualifying as top scorer with seven goals, Fletcher wasted little time in continuing his fine U19 record as he struck the opener on ten minutes. The Hibernian FC striker then turned creator, his blistering free-kick rebounding off the crossbar and into the path of the onrushing Charlie Grant who made it 2-0. There was still over an hour left and Portugal gradually came back into the game although they had to wait until the 72nd minute to reduce the deficit thanks to a fortuitous goal. Bruno Gama soon equalised as the Scots were thwarted.

Antunes rescue
Bruno Gama had also started the game brightly and almost helped created an opening inside five minutes when he combined well with Hélder Barbosa to tee up Paulo Ferreira, who contrived to miss the ball. It brought the best out of the well-organised Scots, however, and they showed far more cutting edge when Fletcher calmly slotted past Igor Araújo after a fine long ball from Grant. Only a last-ditch tackle from Antunes denied Michael McGlinchey midway through the half after more good work from Fletcher.

Cameron error
The striker was proving irrepressible and just before the half-hour his free-kick cannoned back off the crossbar and with the Portuguese defence statuesque, Grant tapped in the rebound. It left Portugal facing the prospect of an opening-day defeat but they gradually gained a foothold in the match and rallied after half-time, putting Scotland on the back foot with a succession of long-range strikes. They finally got their breakthrough on 72 minutes when Bruno Gama's cross was deflected in off the unfortunate Greg Cameron.

Late chances
Bruno Gama was again in the thick of it six minutes later, earning a free-kick on the edge of the box and taking it himself, directing an unstoppable effort into the top corner. João Pedro and Felíciano both went close to completing the turnaround but that would have been cruel on Scotland, who will now prepare to face a Spain team that got their campaign under way with a 5-3 win against Turkey elsewhere today. Also on Thursday Portugal will take on the Turkish team.