Força Portugal! Portugal coach Paulo Bento might repeat the starting eleven from the Portugal - Denmark. The doubt is the forwards. Helder Postiga might replace Hugo Almeida.
If Portugal loses and Denmark wins today then it's a failure for Portugal they lose their precious 2nd place. The best option for Portugal is to draw or lose today and for Denmark to lose. Iceland after all is last in Group H with 0 points.
Portugal never played against Iceland. Nonetheless Portugal has a positive record against national soccer teams from Northern Europe (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway) with 10 victories, 4 defeats and 7 draws.
Iceland starting lineup -- Portugal starting lineup against Iceland:
| 21 | Gunnleifur Gunnleifsson (GK) | 1 | Eduardo (GK) | ||
| 2 | Ragnar Sigurdsson | 3 | Pepe | ||
| 3 | Birkir Saevarsson | 4 | João Pereira | ||
| 4 | Kristján Sigurdsson (C) | 5 | Fábio Coentrão | ||
| 5 | Indridi Sigurdsson | 6 | Ricardo Carvalho | ||
| 6 | Grétar Steinsson | 7 | Cristiano Ronaldo (C) | ||
| 8 | Ólafur Skúlason | 8 | João Moutinho | ||
| 9 | Eidur Gudjohnsen | 16 | Raúl Meireles | ||
| 11 | Heidar Helguson | 17 | Nani | ||
| 16 | Helgi Daníelsson | 18 | Hugo Almeida | ||
| 20 | Theodor Bjarnason | 20 | Carlos Martins | ||
| Iceland substitutes ---------------Portugal substitutes | |||||
| 1 | Árni Arason (GK) | 12 | Beto (GK) | ||
| 7 | Hermann Hreidarsson | 2 | Bruno Alves | ||
| 10 | Veigar Páll Gunnarsson | 10 | Danny | ||
| 13 | Arnor Sveinn Adalsteinsson | 11 | Paulo Machado | ||
| 15 | Matthías Vilhjálmsson | 13 | Silvestre Varela | ||
| 17 | Jónas Sævarsson | 19 | Tiago 77' Carlos Martins | ||
| 19 | Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson | 23 | Hélder Postiga 68' Hugo Almeida | ||
At halftime, Denmark's final result is a victory Denmark 2-0 Cyprus. Portugal now can only keep its second place in Euro 2012 Group H table with a draw or victory against Iceland. So far at halftime, Portugal is winning Iceland 1 - 2 Portugal.
I was surprised to see Bruno Alves on the bench he has scored goals in the qualification rounds. Hugo Almeida as a forward can't manage to score. Paulo bento substitutes him for Sporting forward Helder Postiga. Sure enough not even 10 minutes on the pitch scores on his second goal opportunity.
Yes! Portugal wins and it stays 2nd in the Group H Euro 2012 table!!
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