Benfica forward scores against Italy, but Portugal lose 3-2 | OneFootball

The Portugal under-17 football team threw away a two-goal lead on Wednesday as they lost 3-2 to Italy on Italian soil, in a qualifier for the European Championship in the category. The side now coached by José Lima are at serious risk of missing out on first place in Group A2.

The match could not have started better for the young Portuguese, as in the 11th minute Gustavo Guerra, in a central area inside the box, fired home on the turn to open the scoring. Just three minutes later, following a long throw, Afonso Ferreirinha, a Benfica player - who received an update on Amar Dedic's injury -, got in behind the defender and took advantage of the goalkeeper’s rushed charge, dribbling past him outside the area and scoring into an empty net.

What had seemed to be going smoothly fell apart after the break, as the Italians needed just 34 seconds to score, with Diego Perillo getting ahead of the defence in the six-yard box and turning in a cross from the right. Playing in front of their home crowd, and now clearly in control of the match, Italy equalised in the 51st minute after a cross from the left was met by Gianluca Okon, who finished accurately.

With everything still open, Italy completed the comeback after benefiting from a mistake by goalkeeper André Marques, who came out towards the corner flag, failed to shield the ball and allowed Jacopo Landi to steal it from him, run into the box and fire beyond the defenders’ reach to turn the score around.

The European Championship, which takes place between 25 May and 7 June, will feature hosts Estonia along with the winners of the seven qualifying groups, while the only consolation for the four best runners-up is a place at the World Cup in the category, to be held in Qatar in November, a competition in which Portugal are the reigning champions.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.