Portugal survived a late scare to run out 4-2 winners against Finland in one of the many friendlies staged on Tuesday night.
Rafael Leão won a corner with an enterprising run, some terrible defending from Finland allowed Ruben Dias a free header to open the scoring with Diogo Jota doubling their lead from the penalty spot in the dying minutes of the first half.
Substitute Bruno Fernandes curled the ball into the top corner to add a third for his side but Finland refused to bow out meekly, hitting back with two goals in seven minutes courtesy of Norwich legend Teemu Pukki. Sent on just after the hour mark, the striker took seven minutes to find the net with Finland’s first shot on target, before adding a second five minutes later to cut Portugal’s lead to one, and leave them facing a nervous final 10 minutes.
Fernandes settled those nerves five minutes from time though, adding a fourth for his side and ensuring that there would be no sting at the finish.
In another friendly, defending champions Italy will take few positives from their friendly ahead of the EURO 2024 tournament kicking off in 10 days as they played out a drab 0-0 draw with Turkey.
