Portugal loses a friendly game on Friday against Bulgaria. The match which was played in Leiria ended 1-0 with a goal from Marcelino. Ronaldo managed to miss a penalty for Portugal in the 67th minute which would have put Portugal level.

This is the first time that these two nations met since 1992 where Portugal won 2-1 in a friendly. The match started well for Portugal as they took control of the ball and created numerous goalscoring opportunities in the opening minutes. It was only the Bulgarian keeper, Stoyanov who was preventing Portugal from taking the lead by making saves after saves. Marcelino, the lone Bulgarian striker, was a spectator during the opening minutes as he watched his side being dominated.

However, after the 15th minute, Bulgaria began to create a few chances of their own. After a shot by Ivelin Popov is saved by the keeper, Marcelinho followed on the rebound and scored for Bulgaria. The atmosphere inside the stadium changed as the Portuguese fans find their side behind.

Portugal did not let the goal affect them and instead continued to create opportunities one after the other. Sometimes they were denied by the Bulgarian keeper Stoyanov other times it was the Portuguese players that fired wide of the target.

In spite of this dominance, Bulgaria had a few opportunities on the counter attack. They could have been 2-0 up without the intervention of Pepe. The Real Madrid defender managed to make a challenge on Rangelov to stop them from scoring.

Portugal continued to create opportunities after the break, and they earned a penalty in the 66th minute. Bodurov is guilty of handling the ball inside the box following a Pepe’s cross. Ronaldo’s shot, however, was well saved by the Bulgarian keeper. This is the second penalty missed by Ronaldo successively.

Bulgaria held on to win despite Portugal piling up the pressure late on in the game.