santillana saves spain against portugal published: saturday 4 october 2003, 11.35cet
the iberian neighbours left themselves with work to do in group 2 after santillana cancelled out antónio sousa's first-half opener.
portugal and spain drew 1-1 to leave themselves both needing points in their final group 2 fixtures.
having drawn their opening games, the iberian neighbours knew they could scarcely afford to lose, but also that victory would virtually assure them of a semi-final berth. neither such scenario played itself out, with both teams forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
spain looked the more likely victors in the early stages, portuguese goalkeeper bento called into action to keep out santillana and ricardo gallego. with rui jordão up front on his own, portugal never looked like unlocking the spanish defence.
without a chance to their name, they then went in front seven minutes after the break, alvaro magalhães coming up from the back to feed antónio sousa, who beat luis arconada with a superb chip. spain then breathed a sigh of relief when chalana – after a brilliantly intelligent drop of the shoulder brought him a metre of space – hit the bar from more than 20 metres out.
that reprieve proved particularly welcome with 17 minutes remaining, santillana firing in after portugal had failed to clear a corner. bento then saved from lobo carrasco to ensure a draw – whether it would be sufficient for either side remained to be seen.
