Reykjavik [Iceland], June 21 : In the UEFA EURO Qualifiers match on Wednesday, Portugal prevailed on top after defeating Iceland 1-0 at the Laugardalsvollur stadium. After the win, Portugal's manager Roberto Martinez said, "It was a very difficult performance," as per the official website of UEFA.
Portugal grabbed a hard-earned victory against Iceland. Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal in the 89th minute helped Portugal to salvage three points from the match.
After the win, in the post-match interview, Portugal's manager Roberto Martinez said, "It was a very difficult performance, I think Iceland played really well and gave us a tough game. They are well organised. I don't think we opened them up many times, but to get 11 corners I believe shows our attacking intent. I'm delighted we were able to be the winning team and find the winning goal," according to the official website of UEFA.
Roberto Martinez appraised his player Cristiano Ronaldo as he completed his 200th game for Portugal. In the post-match interview, Martinez said, "It was a nice script (for Ronaldo). There was incredible celebration, the first men's player ever in world football to get 200 international games. It takes a lot of commitment, a lot of effort and it's an example. An example for Portuguese football and example for the country of Portugal and world football."
Portugal is the favourite to qualify for the EURO 2024 as they are comfortably sitting on the top of Group J with 12 points.
Portugal has played four matches and won all of them.
In Group J, Portugal is alongside Slovakia, Luxembourg, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Bosnia Herzegovina.
In the match against Iceland, the first half resulted in a draw as both sides failed to find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, Portugal and Iceland gave their maximum efforts to win the match but struggled to find a goal.
In the 80th minute of the match, Iceland's Willum Thor Willumsson received a red card for his harsh tackle on Portugal's attacker.
It seemed as if the match was heading towards a 0-0 draw but in the 89th of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a tap-in.
Ronaldo's goal gave Portugal a 1-0 lead and it became difficult for Iceland to make a comeback as their little time left for the match to conclude.
Portugal took 11 shots out of which three were on targets. Their possession on the ball during the game was 72 per cent. Portugal completed a total of 662 passes with an accuracy of 88 per cent.
Iceland took seven shots out of which only one was on target. Their possession on the ball during the match was 28 per cent. They completed a total of 257 passes with an accuracy of 68 per cent.
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