Almeida maintains Portuguese perfection
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Article summary
Slovakia 0-1 Portugal Hugo Almeida's clincher stretches Portugal's winning Group 3 start to five matches.
Article body
Perfect record
Third in this competition in 2004, Portugal are keen to improve on that showing next summer and have now beaten all of their group rivals - adding today to victories against Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Luxembourg. Their last win was a 6-1 victory in Luxembourg, but it was tougher this time against a Slovakia team level with second-placed Russia on nine points until Almeida, currently on loan at Boavista FC from FC Porto, struck.
June rematch
Russia could reduce Portugal's lead to three points by winning in Estonia on Wednesday, but the leaders can move further clear again when they welcome Slovakia for the return fixture on 3 June.