Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was the star of the show with a brace while Ronaldo didn’t disappoint with a strike of his own as Joao Cancelo also found the back of the goal for Fernando Santos’s team.
Eran Zahavi was the blue-and-white’s only player who was able to threaten Rui Patricio’s goal in Lisbon as the Wolverhampton Wolves' keeper kept a clean sheet.
“I am very content that we had the opportunity to play the national teams of Montenegro and Portugal which is a top of the world club,” said Israel’s head coach Willi Ruttensteiner. “I’m very proud of our team and the players themselves as they gave it their all. Portugal showed us what our limitations are and we expected that.
“For a small nation, it’s more difficult to handle the loss of some players, for example Shon Weissman and Munas Dabbur who weren’t with the team. But I did see in some circumstances where we were able to create some difficulties for Portugal and that we can defend well for a stretch of minutes. Everyone knows that we are not among the top five in the world so the differences in the levels were clear.”
Israel captain Bibras Natcho also noted how important a match against such a high-quality opponent will help the blue-and-white’s development.
“It was great to play against a team that plays at this level,” said Natcho. “This is a sort of trial to see how much we can get out ourselves. We saw that they are at the top of Europe. When you have to defend for the majority of the game, it’s very hard to keep focus over the course of 45 minutes. They took advantage of their chances and they are in it to win it, that’s why they are top five in the world.”
Blue-and-white forward Manor Solomon also reflected on the lopsided defeat.
“We started the game decently and we were able to keep it goalless until the 40th minute. Unfortunately, we gave up a pair of goals on a couple of mistakes and at this level you can’t give up those types of balls. We all knew that and that’s what ended up happening today.”
The contest in Lisbon against the reigning European champion took place just ahead of the Euro 2020, which kicks off on Friday night when Turkey faces Italy in Rome.
The tournament, which was slated for last June and was delayed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, sees current world champion France as the favorite in a competition which will be played in 11 different countries.
After defeating Montenegro 3-1 on Saturday night, Ruttensteiner’s starting lineup included many veterans, including ’keeper Ofir Marciano, defenders Eli Dasa, Orel Dagani, Ofri Arad, Eitan Tibi and Sun Menachem. Natcho manned the midfield along with Neta Lavi, Gadi Kinda and Solomon, while Zahavi was the lone striker.
It took just under a minute for Juventus superstar Ronaldo to take his first attempt of the game as he took on Tibi one-on-one, but his chance was easily taken by Marciano, while 10 minutes later Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva sent Diogo Jota from Liverpool on his way, only for his opportunity went over the bar.
Portugal kept pressing as Jota’s 15th-minute header missed the target while Fernandes took a Joao Cancelo ball that Marciano was able to parry away. Portugal kept sending wave after wave at the blue-and-white goal and finally broke through in the 42nd minute.
City’s Cancelo teamed up again with Fernandes as the midfielder sent the ball into the far corner of the goal to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
As halftime approached, Portugal wasn’t finished yet as this time Ronaldo found the back of the net as Fernandes fed the striker, who beat Marciano with his left foot to take a 2-0 advantage into the break.
Israel looked to pull a goal back as the second half began as Solomon worked his magic and got the ball to Zahavi in the box, but the Portugal defense was able to clear it from danger in the 56th minute.
Zahavi tried his luck again a quarter-hour later, but missed the target by just centimetres as the ball went out.
Following wholesale changes by both teams, Cancelo sliced a perfect left-footed stunner into the Israel goal after coming down the right flank and moving to the middle as Portugal went up 3-0 in the 86th minute.
As time ticked off the clock, the hosts once again found the back of the goal as Fernandes scored his second of the game with a scorcher to hand Portugal the convincing victory.