14.08.2013 » Portugal 1-1 Netherlands. A friendly with some unsettled business

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Portugal and Netherlands faced each other this Wednesday night for an international mid-week friendly and the two sides ended up settling for a 1-1 draw. Strootman put the Dutch on the lead deep in the first half, but Cristiano Ronaldo managed to level things up, when there were only 3 minutes left before the final whistle.

Cristiano Ronaldo continues on fire during this pre-season and scored another goal in last night's game between Portugal and the Netherlands. The Portuguese forward didn't exactly perform at his very best level, but when the right time came he didn't disappoint anyone and tied the gam against the Dutch side. Even though it was only a friendly match, the two teams approached this encounter with a highly competitive attitude, most likely due to the recent history between them in past World Cup and European Cups meetings. Ronaldo will now head back to Madrid to start preparing La Liga's kickoff against Betis, right next weekend.

Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Portugal vs Netherlands
Portugal 1-1 Netherlands goals and highlights:

The Dutch were the first to open hostilities and got in front around the 17th minute of the first half. The Portuguese defense couldn't clear away the ball from danger and the visitors scored the first goal of the night on a strong strike by Strootman. The Portuguese and Sevilla goalkeeper Beto still stretched as he tried to get a hand to the ball, but there wasn't much he could have done to prevent it from going in. The Netherlands weren't exactly outplaying Paulo Bento's side so far in the game, but somehow they had managed to get the precious lead.

Portugal's most prominent reaction ended up coming only after the break, but the equaliser wouldn't arrive until the dying minutes of the game. A corner kick on the left attacking side saw Pepe making a move on the nearest post just with the intent of slighly deflecting it so that someone else could take the opportunity right on his back. That someone ended up being Cristiano Ronaldo and the Real Madrid star simply didn't waste such a golden opportunity to beat Vorm and avoid a Portuguese loss in a friendly game played at the Algarve.

Portugal might not have benefited on anything directly from this draw against the Netherlands, but at least they received some good news when they heard that Russia had lost against the Northern Ireland also on this Wednesday night. This means the Portuguese National Team will remain leading their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification group by 1 point (ahead of Russia), even though Paulo Bento's side still got 1 more match played than Fabio Capello's men. With his goal, Cristiano Ronaldo reached his 40th while playing for his country and is now only 1 behind Eusébio and 7 behind the Portuguese top goalscorer of all-time and former PSG forward, Pauleta.

Portugal line-up vs Netherlands:

Goalkeeper: Beto
Defenders: João Pereira, Pepe, Neto, Fábio Coentrão
Midfielders: Miguel Veloso, Rúben Amorim, Rúben Micael
Attackers: Danny, Cristiano Ronaldo, Hélder Postiga

Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid will be against Betis, this next Sunday (August 18, 2013). In the meantime, you can watch Real Madrid vs Betis, Barcelona vs Levante, Swansea vs Manchester Unietd and Arsenal vs Aston Villa, all matches provided from our live football streaming section.

Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Betis kick-off time (18-08-2013):

Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+7: 02:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+2: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+1: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-3: 16:00
New York (United States) | GMT-4: 15:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-7: 12:00
Beijing (China) | GMT+8: 03:00

Sources: ronaldo7.net / goal.com / dailymail.co.uk

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