Under 21's: Crushed by Portugal defeat

Two first half goals from Portuguese starlet Miguel Hugo Almeida saw the home team defeat Don Givens’s Irish under-21 side in Rio Maior on Tuesday evening, although the Irish youngsters can feel aggrieved that the killer second goal was allowed to stand in controversial circumstances.

Givens had been forced to do without several of his first-choice players, including Aiden McGeady and Stephen Elliott, both of whom retained their place in the senior squad for Wednesday evening’s friendly against Portugal in Dublin.

In addition, four other players withdrew from the original squad announced by Givens last week, while he had elected to omit Manchester City defender Paddy McCarthy from the panel as he is suspended for next month’s European qualifier against Israel.

Boavista front man Almeida opened the scoring after 16 minutes, and there was no doubting the quality of the assist from winger Ricardo Quaresma, who played every game of FC Porto’s Champions League campaign before Christmas and has already spent a year in the first-team squad of Barcelona earlier in his career.

His verve was too much for debutant Irish left back Michael Timlin – to compound matters, the Fulham lad was being played out of position and is infinitely more comfortable in midfield.

The second goal also saw Quaresma tee up Almeida, although this time the Irish had real grievances with the decision to allow the goal, as the striker was clearly offside when he received the ball.

That goal ended the game as a contest, and the inexperienced Irish side, which included debutants in Timlin and Mark Quigley and saw another debut for sub John McAliskey, were unable to haul themselves back into the game in the second half.

Portugal under-21: Bruno Vale, Joao Pereira, Pedro Ribeiro, Ze Castro, Nuno Morais, Valdir, Raul Meireles, Paulo Sergio, Oliveira, Quaresma, Hugo Almeida. Subs: Ruben Amorim for Meireles, (24 mins), Angelo for Pereira (45 mins), Varela for Ze Castro (45 mins), Davide for Valdir (45 mins), Vitor Rodrigues for Sergio (45 mins), Marcelino for Quaresma (45 mins), Lourenco for Almeida (45 mins), Mario Felgueiras for Vale (77 mins).

Republic of Ireland under-21: Henderson (Notts County) – Foley (Luton Town), Kelly (Tottenham Hotspur), Fitzgerald (Bury), Timlin (Fulham) – Whelan (Sheffield Wednesday), Potter (Liverpool), Thornton (Sunderland) – Flood (Manchester City), Quigley (Millwall), Yeates (Tottenham Hotspur). Subs: Deeney (Notts County) for Henderson (45 mins), O’Brien (Sheffield Wednesday) for Whelan (63 mins), McAliskey (Huddersfield Town) for Yeates (71 mins), Bell (Rushden and Diamonds) for Potter (79 mins).