Not very
friendly: Ref Antony Gaultier shows Spain's Cesc Fabregas a yellow
card for a foul on Portugal's Pepe
Spain midfielder Cesc
Fabregas failed to find any positives from his side's friendly
encounter against Portugal after the world champions crashed to a
comprehensive 4-0 defeat in Lisbon.
Jorge Carlos Martins fired the
Portuguese ahead on the stroke of half-time before second-half
goals from Helder Postiga, Spain defender Sergio Ramos, who put
through his own goal, and substitute Hugo Almeida sealed a deserved
win for the hosts.
Carlos Martins, second right, celebrates after scoring
Portugal's opening goal
The victory allowed Portugal
to gain a measure of revenge for their World Cup exit at the hands
of the Spanish, having lost 1-0 at the last-16 stage, and saw new
coach Paulo Bento earn his third successive win since he replaced
Carlos Queiroz in September.
For Spain, it was the second
heavy friendly defeat in the space of two months following their
4-1 loss against Argentina, and Fabregas, who replaced Xavi at
half-time, admits it was a night to forget.
'We're hurt. It's been a big
scoreline but we have to lift ourselves. We wanted to finish the
year well but now we have to wait until February,' the Arsenal
playmaker told Spanish television channel TVE.
'It's not been our best game
but you also have to know how to lose.
Show off: Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, left, dribbles
past Spain's Sergio Ramos
'The truth is it's a match
where we can't take anything positive. They played better than us,
they had a lot of desire....'
Fabregas. who also feels that
many of the Spain squad are still trying to get back to peak
fitness following their heroics in South Africa this summer, added:
'Now we need to apologise to the fans and continue
forward.'
