Both Portugal and Austria were certain of a semi-final berth before Friday night’s showdown between the two teams, but the game remained competitive with the group’s top spot up for grabs for the winners.
In the end, the Portuguese triumphed 2-1 in a close encounter that ensured Helio Sousa’s side maintained their perfect record and won the chance to face Serbia in the last four on Tuesday night.
Intima started the game for Portugal, while his compatriot Lopes was an unused sub and Bytyqi started from the bench for Austria before entering the fray at half time.
great performance from the lads today portugal 2 austria 1 now we look forward to semi final against serbia
— jorge intima (@IntimaJorge) July 25, 2014
Portugal boss, Helio Sousa told UEFA.com after the game: “[Winning] is our mentality and I think Austria are the same, only with a different way of playing. It was good for our players to adapt to a different style of play because Austria put new things into the game that we’ve not experienced in the other two games.
“This is a game we will learn from. This is good for the players because we want to face many different kinds of styles. Each country has its own style so it was good to experience new situations in the game, and today was very different.”
Serbia clinched their semi final spot with a 90th minute winner against Bulgaria to knock out group rivals Ukraine and set up a repeat of the 2013 semi-final with the Portuguese.
One year ago, Lopes played all 120 minutes as his country lost out on penalties after the game finished 2-2 in Lithuania, and Portugal will be out for revenge as well as seeking a coveted place in the final.
Meanwhile, Austria will take on Group B winners Germany in their semi-final earlier in the evening.
Semi final fixtures:
Monday 28 July 2014
Germany v Austria, Ferenc Szusza Stadion 5pm BST
Portugal v Serbia Puskás Akadémia Pancho Aréna 8pm BST
Both matches will be screened live on Eurosport, and we’ll have a full round up right here on mcfc.co.uk.
