Portugal's unbeaten run continued with a 1-0 win over Slovakia in the Saturday morning match in Group J of the UEFA Europa League qualifiers. Midfielder Bono Fernandes was the savior of the match, sealing the win with a brilliant long-distance shot. However, former Manchester United star Cron was disappointing, failing to score or assist, and was shown a yellow card by the referee for a reckless tackle, which has reached the standard of suspension, so he will miss the next round of the crucial game against Luxembourg, and return to Saudi Arabia to prepare for the league ahead of time.
Portugal had a star-studded team, with Cron starting as captain, but the overall performance was not as good as it could have been. Slovakia posed a number of threats in the first half, including a shot from striker Šuranš that bounced off the post and nearly made the scoreline. Portugal were fortunate to escape, and then Bono Fernandes broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute when he finished in a narrow space.
Cron, the team's leading scorer, was eager to score, but he was unlucky with his shots, hitting only three out of six and wasting two great chances. In the 62nd minute of the match, Cron sparked widespread controversy when he kicked goalkeeper Dubafka too hard in the chest and face. Despite the general opinion that the referee should have shown a red card to send him off, Cron only received a yellow card in the end. However, he had to accept an automatic one-match suspension as he had accumulated three yellow cards with the European national team.
