Direct Chronicle
Portugal qualified for the World Cup in Qatar after going through several hoops of fire.
The disappointment against Serbia in the ordinary phase, the trouble against Turkey in the semifinal of the playoffs, and a full-blown traffic jam against North Macedonia in the decisive match, this Tuesday in Porto.
As is often the case when everything is so nerve-wracking, it was an opponent's mistake that triggered the liberating counterattack.
Yes, the kickback.
The opportunistic blow was the only way that this power of world football found against the hard-working Macedonian boys who had just disgraced Italy in Palermo.
Bruno Fernandes, with two goals, took over the stage to the detriment of Cristiano, who signed up for his fifth World Cup under the new condition of companion.
This time he has teammates who are better than him.
BYPortugal
two
Diogo Costa, Cancelo, Pepe, Danilo Pereira, Nuno Mendes, Moutinho (Vitor Ferreira, min. 90), Bernardo Silva (João Félix, min. 87), Bruno Fernandes (Matheus, min. 87), Otavinho (William Carvalho, min. 76), Cristiano and Diogo Jota (Rafael Leao, min. 76)
MAC North Macedonia
0
Dimitrievski, Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski, Tihomir Kostadinov (Askovski, min. 74), Ademi, A. Trajkovski (Churlinov, min. 58), Elmas (Boban Nikolov, min. 86), Enis Bardhi and Milan Ristovski (Bojan Miovski, minute 45)
Goals
1-0 min.
31: Bruno Fernandes.
2-0 min.
64: Bruno Fernandes.
Yellow cards Cancelo (min. 67), Musliu (min. 67) and Alioski (min. 73)
The pressure suffocated Portugal, forced before their fans, by history and by hierarchy, to overcome their very modest rival.
The players showed signs of drowning.
Hasty decisions followed.
The ball rolled slowly, like a ball of fresh cheese on heavy grass, and the Macedonians hardly had to correct positions to turn the approaches to their goal into inaccessible paths.
Lost in the confusion, even the judicious Bruno Fernandes was sending balls from the front to his strikers, when it was clear that the Macedonian centre-backs were winning them all.
Velkovski and Musliu did not allow themselves to be anticipated and the centers rained down on an impenetrable ceiling.
The fort in the visiting area was forbidden territory for Cristiano and Jota in an unexpected scenario.
Far from shutting themselves away, Macedonia took its players away from their natural habitat.
Deployed, they stretched towards the opposite field in a fit of Balkan bravery that closely resembled recklessness.
They left spaces but not even in this way did the Portuguese manage to elaborate in depth.
Not even comfortable Cristiano and his teammates prospered against it, and in the O Dragao stadium only the shrill voices of the 2,000 Macedonians could be heard.
Portugal had barely produced a cross from Cristiano – which went wide of the goal after a counter pass from Otavinho – when the sky opened in Porto.
The blessing came in the form of self-inflicted damage.
The culprit was the Macedonian captain, Stefan Ristovski, who was driving down the right side and couldn't think of anything better than to send a pass into the middle, to the most sensitive part of his defence, when his teammates weren't expecting the ball but were deploying in attack.
The ball landed at the feet of Bruno Fernandes, who was passing by.
United's hitch combined with Cristiano and his teammate returned the wall with a pipe to Musliu on the edge of the area.
Only against Dimitrevski, Bruno opened the ankle and adjusted the cross shot.
After half an hour of anguish, the 1-0 brought Portugal to the surface of the well.
striker and hero
The advantage allowed Portugal to lower their pulse and find their place in the field against an opponent who seemed too limited to take the initiative.
Even so, he did not control the game, with so much agitation and so little empathy generated by these players who should understand each other by heart continuously.
In moments of doubt, only Bernardo Silva knew how to handle the times with sense.
It was not enough to tie down Macedonia, who continued to lurk in the Portuguese area until a fortuitous loss, caused by an intervention by Pepe, enabled Bruno Fernandes.
The skinny man opened long for Otavinho and served the most beautiful counterattack —for a change— of the night.
Otavinho galloped down the left and crossed in the middle of the field to connect with Bruno Fernandes,
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