Portugal beat Sweden 5-2 in a friendly on Thursday as coach Roberto Martinez rested Cristiano Ronaldo and several other key players in preparation for the European Championship in Germany, which begins in June.
The Portuguese stormed into the Euro 2024 finals by winning all 10 of their qualifying matches, and Thursday's result made it 11 wins in a row.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, NWSL more (US)
“It was a good and important test for us,” Martínez told reporters after the match. “Sweden has very good forwards. We worked on defensive concepts and it was a good experiment.
“There are other concepts that we need to work on and improve in our next match against Slovenia. It was fantastic to play against a talented team of this level.”
Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images
Martínez's team opened a three-goal lead in the first half thanks to goals from Rafael Leão, Matheus Nunes and Bruno Fernandes.
Leao opened the scoring in the 24th minute, firing a brilliant shot into the top corner off a rebound after Bernardo Silva burst into the box and curled a shot that hit the post.
In the 33rd minute, Manchester City midfielder Nunes broke through the Swedish defense before firing a low shot just inside the right post to extend the home lead in Guimaraes, before Fernandes tapped in a close-range shot from Nelson Semedo's cross. In the last minute. half game.
Substitute Bruma extended their lead with a first-touch shot in the 57th minute, but Viktor Gyökeres struck back for Sweden from close range a minute later.
Gonçalo Ramos scored from inside the area in the 62nd minute to extend Portugal's lead before Swede Gustaf Nilsson scored with a header in stoppage time on the last play of the match.
Portugal will face Slovenia on Tuesday and Martínez will bring in Ronaldo among a series of changes.
“The players who will rest in the next match are Bernardo Silva, Rúben Dias, João Palhinha, Nélson Semedo, Tote Gomes, Rafael Leão, Bruno Fernandes and Goncalo Ramos.
“So, eight players will leave and another eight will arrive at a high level for the second game, hungry and with a lot of energy, I hope.”
Reporting by ESPN's Adriana García and Reuters contributed to this report.
