Dennis misses penalty as Portugal hammers Nigeria 4-0

Portugal had a perfect send forth in Lisbon on their way to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as they beat Nigeria 4-0 in their last warm up game before the Copa Mundial.

The Portuguese, one of the dark horses in the World Cup, came into the international friendly hoping for the victory that would boost their confidence ahead of the competition. And they had a perfect start in the ninth minute when Bruno Fernandez latched on to a pass from Diogo Dalot to open scoring.

Thereafter, the Portuguese took over the game, with William Carlhavo and Fernandez dictating proceedings from the midfield in search of more goals.

But for goalkeeper Francis Uzoho’s heroic efforts, the 2016 European champions would have recorded a basket full of goals in the first half. But they still found the net, albeit off the penalty box when an Eagle was adjudged to have handled the ball in the net.

Fernandez made it 2-0 in the 35th minute to end the half on a two-goal advantage for Portugal. Nigeria woke up in the second half with the introduction of Samuel Chukwueze, Emmanuel Dennis and Oghenekaro Etebo. But what would have reduced the tally for Dennis, who missed a spot kick awarded to Nigeria when Dalot was adjudged to have manhandled Samuel Osayi midway into the half, fluffed Nigeria’s chance of reducing the scoreline in the half.

Nigeria was to rue the miss in the 82nd minute G. Ramos made scores 3-0 advantage to Portugal. Jaoa Mario killed off the contest two minutes later to give Portugal a 4-0 win as they head to Qatar.

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