Portugal and the USA couldn’t be separated as they drew a pulsating match 2-2 at the Arena Amazonia in Manaus on Sunday evening.
The Seleccao raced into an early lead through Nani and carried the advantage into the second half, when first Jermaine Jones, and then Clint Dempsey, netted for the Yanks to lift them ahead. In the last of five minutes of injury time, Silvestre Varela headed home to earn Portugal a point.
Paulo Bento’s side begun the game quickly and took the lead with the first meaningful chance of the game as he rapped home a right-footed shot from close range.
Thereafter, the USA looked the more likely to score, as they piled the pressure on to Portugal, with Clint Dempsey fizzing a free-kick over the cross-bar and both Michael Bradley and Fabian Johnson going close before half-time, though neither player troubled Beto in the Portugal goal.
For the second match in a row, Eder entered as a first-half substitute, this time replacing Helder Postiga because of injury to the experienced striker. Again, though, Eder’s introduction did little to turn the tie in Portugal’s favour.
An enthralling first half came to an end with the Navigadores holding the advantage, but with star man Cristiano Ronaldo having been kept quiet except for a late shot that Tim Howard had to change direction to tip over, it looked only a matter of time before the Yanks would pull level.
The second half began slowly, with both sides feeling each other out again and Graham Zusi looking to cause problems out on the Portuguese wings. After a quarter of an hour, Cristiano Ronaldo’s first meaningful contribution was to put a shot into the crowd at the end of a rapid Portuguese counter-attack.
From the resultant passage of play, Klinsmann’s side pushed forward and won a corner, that was initially cleared but only as far as Jermain Jones, who worked himself some space outside the box and rifled a low shot into Beto’s bottom left-corner.
The equaliser put a whole new complexion on the game, and neither side looked like they were going for the win, as both would remain in the competition should it have been a draw.Portugal were restricted to shooting from distance with both Ronaldo and Meireles trying their luck, but neither one looking like finding the net.
Zusi continued to cause menace out wide, however, and with nine minutes on the clock, he swung a ball into the box and Clint Dempsey was able to bundle it home for his second goal of the tournament to give the Yanks the advantage.
The final stages belonged to Portugal as Klinsmann’s side sought to run the clock down. They managed to keep Bento’s side at arms length, with Nani, Veloso and Eder all trying their luck from distance before a Ronaldo header flashed wide. Just as it looked as if their time had run out, the Real Madrid man found a little bit of space on the right hand flank and lofted a cross into the box which Silvestre Varela powered home to claim a point.
The draw means Jurgen Klinsmann’s side just need a point against Germany in their last Group G game to qualify, while Portugal have to beat Ghana, and hope the United States lose if they were to go through.
