Portugal 2-2 Switzerland (Gomes ’58, Silva ’65 | Sow ‘2, Kiwic ‘5)
Until May, this Portugal side had little idea that they would be heading to the European Championship at all, by virtue of Russia’s expulsion – but it meant more to Jessica Silva than most.
The Benfica forward, who scored five goals in 13 games last season, missed out on the last Euros in 2017 when she was injured on the eve of the tournament.
Yet that only made her goal against Switzerland all the more poignant. Silva has had her struggles, from physical setbacks to her unhappy – and goalless – spell in America with Kansas City Current.
At Leigh, those difficulties felt a world away as Portugal recovered from a nightmare start against Switzerland.
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It was little surprise then, when Switzerland eased through the Portugal defence twice inside the opening five minutes. Coumba Sow opened the scoring with a long-range strike powered into the bottom corner and three minutes later, Zurich centre-back Rahel Kiwic added a second from the air.
That was where the Swiss attack dried up, as it was more than an hour before they managed another shot on target. Even with Switzerland cruising, Eseosa Aigbogun had been lucky to stay on the pitch, going to ground as she tried to haul down Ana Borges while already on a yellow card.
Portugal took until just before the hour mark to get back in it, Diana Gomes bundling in after Gaelle Thalmann had saved at full stretch. And soon they were back level thanks to Silva’s movement and first-time
Diana Silva thought she had won a penalty too, only to have been fouled on the outskirts of the box.
It was Portugal who had thrown caution to the wind, Telma Encarnacao striking the post and finding herself through one-on-one but unable to finish.
Portugal boss Francisco Neto had already turned to 19-year-old sensation Kika Nazareth. She is the first female player to have signed up with super-agent Jorge Mendes, but her introduction wasn’t enough to complete the turnaround.
There was a personal milestone too for the forward who had replaced her in the starting line-up, Ana Borges equalling Portugal’s record number of caps on her 145th appearance.
Both nations will be conscious that this was their best hope of three points. It might not live up to the “group of death” tag, but with Netherlands and Sweden next up, a draw wasn’t enough for either.
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