well this is the kind of match every football fan looks forward to a lot on the line and the
likelihood of attention-packed occasion we'll have every kick of the ball for you live on e18
hello and a warm welcome on what is a glorious night for football perfect playing conditions my
name is derek ray excited to be bringing you match commentary and alongside me
my broadcasting partner stuart robson and we have group stage action from the cup coming up for you
it's portugal against italy well it's vital that you don't have an off day
in these group games consistency is key to progressing further in
the tournament i'm looking forward to a hard fought contest here today derek
so
here's how it looks for portugal well it's a 4-3-3 formation with a center forward and
two wingers so it's important that the midfield players give support to the
striker whenever the ball goes wide they can't allow it to be isolated
and the match is underway
clearance
oh big chance
he saw the situation developing
portugal with the ball
again cristiano ronaldo fernando silva can he put them ahead
there it is a delightful start to this match just what they were hoping for
well here's the replay and he shows great awareness to play this through ball
and his movement's so clever once he gets onto it there's only one foot in his head
smash it as hard as possible what a good goal
and the ball moving again what sort of response will we see from them now
somehow reaching it
not to be advised giving the ball away in that position
i couldn't quite find his teammate
domenico bernardi now they've lost it
and take it away
defending
is it going to be splendid defending and it needed to be shiro imobi
here's insignia
timely intervention
in the nick of
and they continue to advance and a lot of
how can they open up the defense here but then the commentator's curse comes into play
well he's lost the ball
chance to finish with a crucial intervention inside the box
he read the situation defensively and did his
now the job will now deliver their half-time team talks we're at the end of 45 minutes in this game
well a lot to like about bernardo silva and his performance so far what have you made in it well
derek he took his goal well and was a constant threat throughout that first half i thought
he showed a lot of skill to get out of tight situations and he had a real impact on the play
plenty to consider based on what we've seen so far as the second half begins
sanchez and this is the ogojota now
it's been given away here by ronaldo
chiro imobine
giovanni di lorenzo
on the outcome as a free kick here
laid in there thumps clear
offside
onto silver
missing the target by a tiny margin well it's a difficult skill to get
right but he almost pulled it off there he made such good contact with the ball
foreign
oh nice ball over the top to chase well how about that for a piece of tackling to break things up
domenico bernardi
and that is going to mean a caution the referee is absolutely right he knew what he was doing there
now the substitution will occur now
bernardo silva
himself at the ball
delivering it well as an offender that will zip you down to the ground takes the shot superb block
father sitting ever deeper here
chance to do damage
this could be the equalizer and the keeper will happily collect that one
ronaldo portugal unable to retain possession
moving the ball nicely trying to carve out the equalizer
yeah insignia on the ball options around him that's
what you call defending from the front possibilities here
now he must favor the cross georginio
and they know they've got to be opportunistic at this stage of the game
and they're making a change and over it comes and he clears the danger
gives it a go oh god that levels it in the closing phase of this game
well here it is again that was a good finish but the keeper has
to do better at his near post it was beaten far too easy on that occasion
and the substitution in the offing
so a level contest 1-1
five minutes remaining and level pegging here
and he read it superbly
i'm still on the lookout for the goal that could be so important at this juncture
oh surely well nearly shaving the crossbar with that powerful effort
silva here's ronaldo
and space for the cross very alert defending to put a stop to the chance
so three minutes of stoppage time it'll be
despite her potential
varela has it
and there is the final whistle an evenly contested game and both teams will have to
be content with a point here on match day one stewart well the draw was just about the right
result but the focus has to be on the next game now both sides will be looking for their first
win otherwise they could be playing catch up but it just seems in this game he's been a
step ahead of his opponents in every way stuart well i think he'd be pleased with his overall
performance when they were struggling he was the one to step up and it's a key goal that
whatever