Portugal threw away a slender lead to draw with Sweden 1-1 on Wednesday night in the final group game of the European Under-21 Championship.
After a lengthy wait for clear cut chances, substitute players Goncalo Paciencia and Simon Tibbling each scored in the final 10 minutes of play to ensure that both nations qualified for the semi final stage of the tournament.
The Esperancas were keen to assert their authority as quickly as possible, and diminutive midfielder William Carvalho forced a good save from Sweden stopper Patrick Carlgren, with Ivan Cavaleiro instrumental in the buildup play.
Cavaleiro continued his excellent form in the tournament by teeing up Sergio Oliveira, but the latter’s powerful effort rose just over the crossbar, before striker Ricardo also missed the target.
With news filtering in from the other match in the group, Sweden were at the point where they knew that a draw would take them into the semi final stage, courtesy of their superior head-to-head record over rivals Italy.
As the first half drew to a close, Sweden finally had a chance which can be seen as clear, as a mishap from Ricardo Esgaio saw the ball reach Oscar Hiljemark, who blazed wide of the mark despite having a generous amount of time to compose himself.
A fine team move from Portugal welcomed the second half in style, right up until the finish from Oliveira which was again a yard or two over the crossbar.
Two more chances served as evidence of a slightly more open game, with the first falling to Sweden, as Isaac Kiese Thelin headed a John Guidetti cross directly into the ground, where it proceeded to zip up and loop over the bar.
Tricky Portugal man Bernardo Silva weaved his way into a dangerous position but shot straight into the side netting with the goalkeeper confident of its indirection.
Any onlooker could have been forgiven for concluding that Portugal were playing for a draw, as they seemed to lack any serious impetus in assaulting the Sweden goal, a theory which was broken by substitute Goncalo Paciencia.
The impact man collected a pass from Iuri Medeiros, before jinking inside and firing a low effort past Carlgren.
With Sweden staring down the barrel of both defeat and elimination, substitute Simon Tibbling make an incredible impact by netting the equaliser with barely minutes to spare, after reacting first to send a deflected shot past the stranded Jose Sa.
Portugal face Denmark on 27 June in the second semi final fixture, while Sweden play Germany earlier on that same day.
