Under-19 European Championship: Portugal top Group A as Italy sneak through

Gozo Stadium before Malta's 2-1 loss against Portugal in the Under-19 European Championship

Gozo Stadium before Malta's 2-1 loss against Portugal in the Under-19 European Championship Credit: Andrew Dempsey (ETPhotos)

Andrew Dempsey reports from Malta

Portugal sealed top spot in Group A of the Under-19 European Championship on Sunday night thanks to a narrow 2-1 win over Malta in Gozo.

In front of just over 800 spectators inside a searing hot Gozo Stadium, Porto youngster Miguel Fale opened the scoring for the Portuguese after just eight minutes of play.

The forward – who started in place of Hugo Felix, brother of former Chelsea star Joao – pounced on some sloppy defensive play from hosts Malta before firing a low effort home.

But Portugal failed to capitalise on their early lead and were brought back to level terms in remarkable fashion via Basil Tuma.

The Maltese hitman profited on a terrible blunder from Portuguese keeper Diego De Carvalho Pinto to prod the ball into an empty net.

However, just three minutes after Malta’s shock goal – their first and only of the tournament – Joao Goncalves restored Portugal’s lead.

The win meant that Portugal topped the group and will face the runners-up of Group B – likely to be Norway or Iceland.

“Our main objective was to win,” Fale told extratime.com. “It wasn’t an easy game either because of the pitch – the grass was too long and it was very warm.



“But we managed to adapt and finished well with nine points.”

Meanwhile, there was heartache for Poland as they bowed out of the tournament on goals scored at the expense of Italy.

Ben fatto ragazzi!

https://t.co/JcMpPAnLCn#U19EURO#Under19#VivoAzzurropic.twitter.com/XNz3Ozwlji

— Nazionale Italiana (@Azzurri) July 9, 2023

The Poles took an eighth minute lead through Legia Warsaw prospect Igor Strzalek – but their advantage was wiped out by Juventus starlet Luis Hasa’s strike just before the interval.



And that was how it remained at the National Stadium in Ta’ Qali – with Italy sneaking through on goals scored after the two teams finished level on points and goal difference.

But it will be Portugal who enter the semi-finals as the tournament favourites having seen off Poland (2-0), Italy (5-1) and Malta (2-1) already in the group stages.

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