(Football news) Portugal won 3-1 against Turkey to book their place in the World Cup Qualifier play-offs. There were quite a few surprises in the lineup as Diogo Costa was preferred over Rui Patricio and Jose Sa in goal. Danilo Pereira started in central defence instead of midfield while Porto winger Otavio earned a start ahead of the likes of Joao Felix. Fernando Santos decided to go with an attacking midfield of Joao Moutinho, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva which clearly lacked physicality. 

Otavio repaid the faith shown in him by scoring the opening goal and assisting Diogo Jota's 2nd in the first half. Portugal played well but struggled a little to play out from the back. Luckily for them, Turkey didn't make the most out of their mistakes. In the 2nd half, the home side tried really hard and came very close to getting the 3rd goal but Burak Yilmaz scored an incredible team goal against the run of play. With the game in a delicate situation at 2-1, Jose Fonte fouled Enes Unal in the box and the referee after a VAR check awarded the penalty in the 85th minute. Yilmaz stepped up and hit the spot kick over the bar to break Turkish hearts.

Portugal kept control of the ball as substitute Raphael Leao set up Matheus Luis who sealed the game in injury time. Portugal would have liked a far more relaxed and controlled game but the win is the most important thing. Ronaldo was extremely unlucky in front of goal as he hit the woodwork once and also missed an open goal. He was however brilliant in his linkup play and was perfect in the role of a target man. Bernardo Silva as usual put in a shift and was all over the park. Portugal will have Joao Cancelo back in the side and will be hoping that Pepe can also recover from Covid for the next game against North Macedonia which will determine their participation in the World Cup.

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