When the first minutes of added time before halftime were played, the Portugal National Team opened the scoring against Czech Republic with another great prepared play. The Portuguese team started the actions in their own field, before launching an attack for Bruno Fernandes to extend the lead at the Fortuna Arena Stadium in Prague.
The offensive midfielder from Manchester United received an assist from Mario Rui when he was in the heart of the small area and scored without major opposition to overcome goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík's resistance in the match for the fifth round of Group 2 of the UEFA Nations League.
Portugal vs Czech Republic: match preview
Portugal faces Czech Republic in Prague this Saturday with the absence of Pepe. The defender left the concentration with Portugal on Wednesday due to physical problems and will also miss the match against Spain for the sixth matchday of the UEFA Nations League.
"The central defender was evaluated by the Health and Performance Unit of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and will leave the national team concentration for physical reasons," announced the organization in a statement.
Pepe, 39, was absent from the two training sessions held this week by the national team at the City of Football in Oeiras, on the outskirts of Lisbon. This is the second absence in Fernando Santos' call-up, after striker Rafa Silva, from Benfica, announced his resignation from the national team, being replaced by Gonçalo Ramos, also a player from the Lisbon team.
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