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Portugal leave it late to win dramatic 3rd place playoff

July 2, 2017

Portugal recovered from a missed penalty and an own goal to claim third place in the Confederations Cup. The European champions needed an injury-time leveller from Pepe before sealing a 2-1 win in extra time.

https://p.dw.com/p/2fn8d
Fußball Confed-Cup Mexiko vs. Portugal 3. Platz
Image: Imago/ITAR-TASS/S. Savostyanov

Portugal 2 - 1 Mexico

(Pepe 90+ 1', Silva 104 (p)' - Neto (og) 54')

In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was allowed to leave the tournament after his team's semifinal loss to meet his new-born twins, it was Adrien Silva who tucked away the extra-time penalty that sealed a comeback win.

Silva's strike served as redemption for Portugal, who had missed a spot kick awarded by the video referee in the 16th minute - that was Portugal's fourth missed penalty of the tournamentafter they missed all three in their semifinal loss.

The European side were dominant for most of the match, which made Mexico's opener a big surprise. Javier Hernandez was involved, his cross deflecting in to the net of Neto's shin.

But the Portuguese were not to be denied and their other Real Madrid man eventually made the pressure tell, Pepe meeting a low cross with an acrobatic volley to force another 30 minutes.

Both sides finished the match with ten men as Portugal's Nelson Semedo was dismissed in the 106th and Mexico's Raul Jimenez six minutes later in front of a large crowd of 42,659 at Spartak Stadium.

mp/rd (Reuters/AFP)