Portugal booed after bore draw with Macedonia
Reuters - Saturday 26 May 2012, 19:20
Portugal faced a barrage of whistles from their
fans after a disappointing 0-0 home draw against Macedonia on Saturday left
question marks over the team's form ahead of Euro 2012.
Their unimpressive display was livened only by a couple of threatening free-kicks from captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
Coach Paulo Bento said he understood the fans' reaction. "I can't criticise
fans who paid their ticket and came to watch a better match and a better
result," he told reporters.
"The result was not good and the exhibition was not good but we shoud not be
overly concerned."
Portugal, finalists at Euro 2004, will need to be stronger to progress from
arguably the toughest group at Euro 2012, where they face Germany, the
Netherlands and Denmark.
Macedonia, number 98 in the world ranking and coached by former Liverpool
striker John Toshack, were well organised but reliant largely on
counter-attacks.
Bento's side play Turkey in a friendly next Saturday, their final test
before leaving for Poland.