Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal slaughtered Malta 4-0 to reach the playoffs of the World Cup qualifying stage. Sweden and Portugal went into the final game with a chance of reaching the playoff stage – with Denmark qualifying on Saturday having beaten their Scandinavian rivals 1-0. Sweden last failed to qualify for the finals in 1998.
Winger Luis Nani set Portugal on their way with a left-footed shot and another three goals from Simao, Veloso and Edinho saw them clinch second place in Group One with 19 points, two points behind group winners Denmark but one point ahead of Sweden. The Portuguese can now look forward to a two legged playoff match on 14th and 18th of November. At one stage Portugal looked like they would struggle to qualify having only won one of their first five qualifiers.
Malta were unable to mount any type of attack in the first half and were punished in the thirteenth minute by with a shot from outside the box after a pass from playmaker Deco. Simao scored just on the stroke of half time – giving the Portugal, who finished third in the 1966 World Cup Finals, a sustainable lead. Sporting Lisbon’s Veloso scored the third on 52 minutes whilst Edinho rounded off the rout in injury time. Portugal should have World player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo back for the playoffs.
