Late Goal Lifts Portugal Over Mexico at Gillette Stadium

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Friday, June 06, 2014

Matt LaPan, GoLocal Worcester Sports Reporter

Friday night was a rare night for soccer fans in New England. The atmosphere was electric as two of the top-20 teams in the FIFA World Rankings took the field in front of a packed Gillette Stadium. The Mexican national team, led by young superstar Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez took the field to play the national team from Portugal. Although the Portuguese team was without their superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo, both teams brought their "A" squad in an exciting preview just days before the start of the World Cup in Brazil.

The two squads did not disappoint the New England fans as Portugal took the late 1-0 win on a stoppage time goal by Bruno Alves. The exciting finish overshadowed a stellar defensive game from both teams. The story of the game before the late goal was the great play of both goalkeepers. Jose Corona for Mexico and Eduardo for Portugal

Mexico controlled the early part of the match, as Miguel Layun created two early chances, pushing one shot wide of the net and having another play blown dead on an Oribe Peralta offsides call.

Then Portugal spent a large portion of the half on the attack. The first shot on target of the match was recorded by Portugal forward Vieirinha. His strong attempt was turned aside by Mexican goalkeeper Jose Corona on a great save. By the end of the half Portugal held a seven to four advantage in shots, but neither team had decided control of the game.

The second half was a different story however. Mexico controlled a majority of the action, outshooting Portugal 11 to seven. The big spark for Mexico came in the 58th minute when Chicharito entered the game and increased the pace for Mexico, creating multiple scoring opportunities for Mexico.

The spark was not enough for Mexico, however, as they were still unable to get anything past Eduardo. On the night, Eduardo made just three saves on shots on target but each of the saves were spectacular. With Eduardo locking down the Mexican offense, Portugal was able to grab a goal late in stoppage time. The goal came off the head of Bruno Alves in the 93rd minute. The goal came off a terrific service on a set piece from Joao Moutinho. The goal came just seconds before the official blew his whistle to signal full time.

The friendly was the final tune-up for both Mexico and Portugal before starting action in the 2014 World Cup early next week in Brazil.