In Stara Pazova, on the outskirts of Belgrade, the game of the ninth and penultimate preliminary round started with a ‘chicken’ from Inês Pereira, who let the ball into the goal after a harmless move by Frajtovic, barely six minutes, but , still in the first half, Francisco Neto’s team turned the score around with Joana Marchão, 39, and Francisca Nazareth, 45+1.
With this result, Portugal climbed to second place in the group, with 19 points, one more than Serbia, now third, and it depends only on itself in the final round, where it will face Turkey in Vizela on Tuesday (17:30).
Somersault to the worlds! Portugal is making a great comeback away from home and taking a big step towards the World Championship! View the goals of the game here #Channel11 #SoccerEmPortuguese pic.twitter.com/v3OUNAj4EK
— Channel 11 (@Canal_11Oficial) September 2, 2022
On the same day and at the same time, Serbia will visit Israel, waiting for a slip from the Portuguese team, in a group in which Germany, ranked first with 21 points, is expected to confirm direct qualification on Saturday, in the reception at Turkey.
Only the top-ranked from each of the nine groups qualifies directly for the 2023 World Cup, while the runners-up will have to compete in a ‘play-off’ to gain entry to the competition to take place between July 20 and August 20. the following year, in Australia and New Zealand.
After the triumph in the first round match (2-1), in Setúbal, Portugal traveled to Serbia with the possibility of winning again, and continued to dream of an unprecedented qualification for a World Championship, but the goalkeeper Inês Pereira made everything much more difficult, in the sixth minute, when he sent a ‘balloon’ from Frajtovic towards goal after losing sight of his placement on the pitch.
It was a hard blow to Francisco Neto’s team, who came into the game full throttle, a superiority he retained after the goal, albeit unsuccessfully.
During this period, Portugal practically dominated the midfield, easily reaching the opponent’s territory, but always failing on the last pass.
When Serbia started to even the game and even caused problems for the Portuguese defence, Joana Marchão restored the tie with a totally unexpected shot from outside the area in the 39th minute.
Portugal took advantage of the motivation of the goal to do the ‘somersault’ on the scoreboard before half-time, with Francisca Nazareth starting and finishing a move, with the help of Diana Silva in the middle, at 45+1 minutes.
The closing minutes of the first half finally became decisive in this match as Serbia, even risking everything and even some superiority in the second half, was always too anxious, while Portugal, sometimes with some disturbance of the mix, kept the advantage.
Catarina Pinto, with a ball on the crossbar, in the 68th minute, and Diana Silva, who missed the isolated goal against the Serbian goalkeeper in the 74th minute, could have made Francisco Neto’s life easier before, but still, the women’s team returns home with the World Cup dream alive.
Play in the training center of the Football Association of Serbia in Stara Pazova.
Serbia — Portugal, 1-2.
At rest 1-2.
Labels:
1-0, Frajtovic, 06 minutes.
1-1, Joana Marchao, 39
1-2, Francisca Nazareth, 45+1
Plowing:
– Serbia: Kostic, Petrovic (Matejic, 73), Slovic, Nevena Damjanovic, Frajtovic (Stupar, 82), Stefanovic, Pavlovic (Blagojevic, 46), Filipovic, Poljak, Jovana Damnjanovic (Vlajnic, 60) and Mijatovic (Ivanovic, 46) ) ).
(Alternatives: Sara Cetinja, Petrovic, Vajda Orsoja, Dina Blagojevic, Çankovic, Ivanovic, Vlajnic, Knezevic, Milivojevic, Stupar, Matejic).
Coach: Pedrag Grozdanovic.
– Portugal: Inês Pereira, Ana Borges (Lúcia Alves, 90+2), Diana Gomes, Carole Costa, Joana Marchão, Fátima Pinto, Tatiana Pinto, Andreia Norton, Diana Silva, Francisca Nazareth (Suzane Pires, 84) and Carolina Mendes ( Ana Capeta, 62).
(Alternatives: Patrícia Morais, Lúcia Alves, Rute Costa, Sílvia Rebelo, Alicia Correia, Suzane Pires, Dolores Silva, Andreia Faria, Joana Martins, Vanessa Marques, Ana Capeta and Telma Encarnação).
Voter: Francisco Neto.
Referee: Lina Lehtovaara (Finland)
Disciplinary action: Mijatovic (16 minutes) and Ana Capeta (81) yellow card.
Source: El heraldo
