Goncalo Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal won comfortably against Slovakia in Euro 2024 qualifying. With this result, Portugal maintained their position at the top of Group J.
Slovakia may not fall under the third world category, but its standard of living differs significantly from neighboring Czechia. This makes a big impactful statement about both nations.
Portugal
As the rain grows heavier and the pitch becomes increasingly waterlogged, both teams continue to attack with gusto; Cristiano Ronaldo remains unstoppable as he looks certain to score again.
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo made an outstanding break down the left and crossed for Goncalo Ramos to score from close range with an explosive header, thus continuing Portugal’s unblemished Euro qualifier record of nine straight victories without conceding a goal.
Slovakia’s Denis Vavro attempts to clear a Joao Palhinha cross from being deflected into his own goal, thus cutting their deficit by one. Slovakia now have hope of returning into the game after this victory.
As Martinez experiments with his formation, Joao Felix comes on as a replacement for Rafael Leao who has been injured. Vitinha takes a free-kick that attempts to reach the far post but misses its target; then plays Joao Cancelo into play but his shot from Liverpool forward Schranz is blocked before Dubravka saves from Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo before stopping a long distance shot from Bruno Fernandes; with less than a minute remaining Joao Ramos almost scored but his attempt sailed over and would have provided the perfect end to their impressive 2016 championship performance.
Slovakia
Slovakia are currently the only team not conceding a goal in Euro 2024 qualifying, but they haven’t had it easy. Their visitors have struggled to produce any noteworthy attacks in attack; this problem was further compounded when Lukas Haraslin suffered an injury prior to this match.
Goncalo Ramos opened Portugal’s account by heading home a superb Bruno Fernandes cross, with Cristiano Ronaldo quickly following with another penalty after handball was called by Martin Dubravka. David Hancko scored from long range for Slovakia but Ronaldo responded immediately by scoring his 125th international goal from another fantastic Fernandes cross; Stanislav Lobotka added late second goal but Portugal held on for qualification to next summer’s tournament.
Although conditions remain difficult, both teams continue to display excellent play. Portugal’s Joao Cancelo, Diogo Costa and Bernardo Silva combine effectively on the right for Portugal; their efforts however, either miss wide or are off target. At the other end, Martin Dubravka made headlines for keeping out Bruno Fernandes’ shot before blocking Rafael Leao from close range; further proving himself a worthy goalkeeper by leaping acrobatically to clear away Joao Felix backheels off the line; such moments prove why only elite goalkeepers stand apart.
Head-to-Head Record
Slovakia and Portugal have met once in direct battle and none has ended in a draw, both teams scoring an equal amount of goals in those games.
Portugal are currently enjoying an outstanding run, having won five consecutive matches and scored 20 goals over that span while keeping four of those clean sheets. Slovakia have only managed to take one victory from their five matches over this span, conceding six times across their four away matches in that span.
Portugal defeated Sweden 3-2 in the previous meeting between these teams, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice including a game-winner from penalty spot. That result secured their participation at Euro 2024. Both teams have had excellent seasons thus far and will be hoping to boost their chances of qualifying for the Final Tournament.
Both are currently within the Top 10 in their respective competitions, so this matchup should prove extremely pivotal as the winning team will receive a huge boost towards advancement further in competition. Both have shown impressive form over recent weeks so this should be an exciting battle and both should score throughout. It should prove highly entertaining.
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Prediction
Portugal are currently leading their group and will look to maintain that advantage when they face Slovakia next. They have been on fine form since beating Morocco and remain one of the favourites for qualification for Euro 2024 finals next summer. Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix, and Cristiano Ronaldo could all feature prominently during this match-up.
Home team Spain managed to defeat Slovakia 1-0 in their previous meeting and will look to repeat their performance this time around. Manager Roberto Martinez will field an experienced squad which could easily overcome Slovakia, who have struggled throughout their qualifying campaign so far.
Francesco Calzona will have to make tough choices in selecting his starting XI for Slovakia’s crunch match against Serbia on Tuesday. Michal Tomic and David Hancko should start as full-backs while Milan Skriniar and Norbert Gyomber should form part of his defensive unit.
The Hard Tackle projects that Slovakia will lose to Portugal by an easy margin on Tuesday at Estadio do Drago. Portugal are clearly superior, and should easily win this match-up at Estadio do Drago with Cristiano Ronaldo expected to score anytime priced at 1.90 with Bet365; which equates to an implied probability of 62.91%.
