Portugal 5-0 Azerbaijan: U21s off to flyer under new coach Luís Freire

Portugal U21s began their qualification campaign for Euro 2027 in style by thrashing Azerbaijan 5-0 in Barcelos in their first Group B match. It was the perfect way for coach Luís Freire to begin his tenure at the helm, the former Rio Ave and Vitória manager having taken over from Rui Jorge who was in the position for over a decade.

Freire’s first line-up included Portugal’s two potential superstars of the next decade, Rodrigo Mora and Geovany Quenda, as well as Mateus Fernandes, recently bought by West Ham for €45 million, and had the luxury of starting Roger Fernandes, about to complete a €35m move to Saudi Arabia, and a player of the quality of Gustavo Sá on the bench.

On paper it was a mismatch and so it proved.

Rodrigo Mora caused havoc all night in the Azeri defence, and it was something of a miracle that the visitors reached half time with the game still goalless. Mora came close to scoring on four occasions in the opening 45 minutes, none more so than when hitting one effort against the bar, and Quenda, Afonso Moreira and Gustavo Varela also all came close to breaking the deadlock.

Portugal’s players and Freire might have walked off the pitch at half time frustrated, but they would not have to wait long after reappearing from the changing rooms to finally get on the score-sheet, and it was a fine team goal.

Matheus Fernandes exchanged passes with Gustavo Varela, the midfielder surging into the box and unselfishly squaring the ball to Rodrigo Mora for a tap-in.

The aesthetic beauty of the goal was only beaten by Portugal’s fifth in stoppage time as a brilliant one-touch passing moved involving Mora, Fernandes and Tiago Parente paved the way for a neat finish by Vivaldo Semedo.

In between those two lovely combination-play goals, Portugal hit the net three more times via Geovany Quenda, Leandro Barroso and Carlos Forbs, although in all three cases the hapless Azerbaijan goalkeeper Khayal Farzullayev was culpable.

“I felt the team was fully committed and extremely reactive to losing the ball. We had a courageous defensive line which showed a good attitude and good organisation,” said Freire post-match.

“We had four or five clear opportunities to score in the first half, and when it remains goalless it’s natural that the players get anxious. But we knew that playing like that it was only a matter of time before the ball went into the net.

“In the second half we scored the first and the team loosened up. Our opponents had to take a few more risks, we took advantage of the space and it was a great move to make it 5-0 at the end. I like what I saw.”

Next up for Portugal is a trip to the UK, where they will play Scotland in Motherwell on Tuesday.

In addition to the Seleção, Azerbaijan and the Scots, Group B is also made up of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Gibraltar. Only the winners of the section will qualify directly for Euro 2027, to be hosted jointly in Albania and Serbia.

Portugal: João Carvalho, Diogo Travassos (Leonardo Barroso, 46’), Tiago Gabriel, Gonçalo Oliveira, Tiago Parente, Mateus Fernandes, Mathias de Amorim (Gustavo Sá, 67’), Geovany Quenda (Fábio Baldé, 79’), Afonso Moreira (Carlos Forbs, 58’), Rodrigo Mora, Gustavo Varela (Vivaldo Semedo, 67’)

[1-0] Rodrigo Mora, 48’