Goncalo Guedes of Portugal and Ibrahima Wadji of Senegal battle for the ball in their U-20 World Cup clash this afternoon. Photo / Getty Images
A goal in the first and final minute bookended an impressive if wasteful display from Portugal in their opening match of the Under-20 World Cup.
Portugal today stormed to the top of group C with a 3-0 win over Senegal, a margin that reflected the winners' wealth of chances but
one that somewhat flattered the European side.
Having come into the tournament as one of the favourites, Portugal showed enough quality to justify that billing but would have ideally taken more of the opportunities they created at Waikato Stadium.
They could have hardly hoped for a better start, with Gelson Martins finishing a scrappy effort after just 27 seconds to stun a Senegalese side that had barely touched the ball.
But the Africans recovered from the early blow to play with fluidity in possession and threaten an equaliser on a couple of occasions. Their defence, however, was often found wanting, keeping Portugal to one goal only through a combination of wayward finishing and good goalkeeping.
