Ronaldo rues Portugal’s fall to Cape verde

2013 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinalist Cape Verde inflicted a shock 2-0 defeat on European giants Portugal in a friendly international on Tuesday in Estoril.

Portugal, that leads its Euro 2016 qualifying group, rested Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo against the nearby Islanders, as a largely second string side struggled without their talisman.

As a result, Cape Verde secured a famous 2-0 win with goals by Odair Fortes and Estaline Dias Barros in the closing minutes of the first half.

The night was made worse for Portugal after Andre Pinto was sent off on the hour mark.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Andros Townsend struck a late equaliser for England in a 1-1 draw with Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin.

The result extended England’s unbeaten run to eight matches, though for a while it seemed Italy would end the Three Lions unbeaten streak which began after crashing out of last year’s World Cup at the group stage.

Then, Italy had beaten England with a Mario Balotelli goal, and in Turin looked set to secure another win courtesy of a glancing header by Southampton striker Grazianno Pellé early in the first half.

England captain Wayne Rooney was denied by the crossbar, but Townsend came through with the equaliser, scoring with a 25-yard effort for his third international goal.

In other friendly matches, Netherlands followed a memorable 5-1 win at last year’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over reigning European champions Spain in Amsterdam, Ghana drew 1-1 with Mali as did Tunisia at China.

Javier Pastore scored the winner just before the hour mark as Argentina got a 2-1 win over Ecuador while Zlatan Ibrahimović opened the scoring in Sweden’s 3-1 win over Iran.