Sunday, October 13, 2024

SVN vs POR: Ronaldo-led Portugal loses 2-0 to Slovenia in international friendly

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Portugal slipped to a surprise 2-0 defeat to Slovenia in a Euro 2024 friendly in Ljubljana on Tuesday, its first defeat since the arrival of Spanish coach Roberto Martinez who had previously won eleven games in a row.

After the 5-2 win over Sweden in Guimaraes on Thursday, Portugal had Cristiano Ronaldo back in its line-up but was missing the inspiration of its playmakers Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.

Slovenia, who has also qualified for the Euros in Germany, opened the scoring through Adam Gnezda Cerin in the 72nd minute before Timi Elsnik doubled the advantage eight minutes later.

ALSO READ | Portugal vs Slovenia Highlights: Cerin, Elsnik score as Slovenia beats Portugal 2-0 in international friendly

Having qualified with an unblemished record of 10 wins from 10 matches, Portugal will fine-tune its Euro 2024 preparations in June with further friendlies against Finland, Republic of Ireland and Croatia.

When it gets to Germany it will be grouped with Turkey, the Czech Republic and Georgia, who qualified on Tuesday by beating Greece on penalties in a play-off.

Slovenia has been drawn in the same group as England, Denmark and Serbia.

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