The debutant Oliveira looks to put his name in his lights with a dipping shot from distance that isn't too far away. There might be time for one final attack.
90' +2
Mitrovic's absolutely superb sliding challenge denies Lopes right as he pulled the trigger on the end of a sweeping counter-attack. That's a game-saving block!
89'
Gedson Fernandes enters the game and replaces André Silva.
Edging towards stoppage time and this succession of substitutes isn't helping with the flow of the match. Croatia certainly seem satisfied with what appears bound to be a 1-1 draw, unless something drastic happens.
Frustrating night for Andre Silva, who has simply failed to make the most of his opportunity in Ronaldo's absence. What can Gedson Fernandes conjure in stoppage time?
86'
Renato Sanches enters the game and replaces Rúben Neves.
Well, that's the second time Neves has gone closer to smashing a ball out of the stadium rather than the top corner. Fair to say his radar has been off.
Renato Sanches gets a few minutes in midfield, coming on in place of Neves.
84'
Poor from Andre Silva. Cancelo picks him out from the right but, 12 yards out, the striker blazes over. Not his night so far.
83'
Bruno Fernandes tries his luck with a bouncing effort that Kalinic calmly claims. Subasic's replacement has largely looked solid aside from one overeager moment outside his box.
81'
Sérgio Oliveira enters the game and replaces William Carvalho.
We've entered the final 10 minutes at Estadio Algarve with scores still level at 1-1. Portugal have come closest to the lead - do they have enough quality in attack to find a winner?
Carvalho's good night in front of the defence comes to an end as Santos hands a debut to Sergio Oliveira.
78'
Off the upright! Milic is spared from conceding an own goal by the base of the far post, having stuck out a boot to divert the overlapping Rui's low ball across the face of goal.
76'
Croatia win a corner after a rare attacking foray, but it results in nothing. They've been ponderous in possession for the bulk of this half.
Minute
Description
73'
Portugal are beginning to find some space between Croatia's midfield and defence. The visitors' new-look back four is cleverly stepping out to plug the gaps, although time will tell how long that lasts.
72'
M. Rog enters the game and replaces M. Pjaca.
William Carvalho gets yellow.
Pjaca heads to the bench after showing some enterprising flashes. Rog now gets the chance to collect a 13th cap.
Carvalho is Portugal's first player to be shown yellow following a foul on Santini.
68'
Rony Lopes enters the game and replaces Bruma.
Bruma earns a rest after an encouraging display on the right flank. Let's see if Monaco man Lopes can add some life to this match with scores still locked at 1-1.
65'
Joao Cancelo breaks into the box and pulls a low cross to the feet of substitute Fernandes, whose effort is blocked.
63'
D. Čop enters the game and replaces I. Perišić.
Time now for Perisic, who took the opening goal with aplomb, to be put in cotton wool. Cop is introduced as Croatia's fifth change.
61'
Bruno Fernandes enters the game and replaces Pizzi.
The steady stream of substitutes continues with Fernandes stepping on in place of Pizzi.
60'
Portugal have had plenty of territory in the first 15 minutes of this second half but are yet to do anything meaningful with it.
57'
I. Santini enters the game and replaces M. Livaja.
Livaja's first experience of international football has come to a close as he comes off for the towering Santini, who has been in sparkling form at Anderlecht.
55'
M. Pašalić enters the game and replaces L. Modrić.
Modric's night is done. He hands the armband to Perisic and makes way for Pasalic, who was not included in the World Cup squad.
53'
Not a lot of urgency about this half just yet as Modric spoils a passing sequence. He's been fairly quiet tonight.
48'
Patricio is perfectly positioned to deal with a Perisic header from a corner.
46'
Gelson Martins enters the game and replaces Bernardo Silva.
A. Milić enters the game and replaces Š. Vrsaljko.
Nice moment for Anderlecht defender Milic as he comes on for his international debut in place of Vrsaljko.
Bernardo Silva has been given a chance to rest up with Gelson Martins his replacement.
Back underway in Portugal for the second half of this international friendly!
45' +4
HALF-TIME: PORTUGAL 1-1 CROATIA
45' +2
Wasted. Andre Silva leans back and blazes well wide after Carvalho held off two defenders to make space.
45'
Croatia have just managed to calm down for a moment having lost their grip on the match over the second part of this first half.
43'
Three unconvincing set-piece routines in a row come to nothing for Portugal. They might go direct next time.
41'
M. Kovačić gets yellow.
Kovacic talks his way into the book after protesting the referee's decision to award a foul for Pjaca's challenge on Bernardo Silva.
40'
Rui takes aim with a free-kick that's deflected over and Portugal win back-to-back corners. Kalinic rises high to claim the second.
38'
A wave goes up around Estadio Algarve. It's been entertaining so far, but this is still a friendly after all.
35'
T. Jedvaj enters the game and replaces D. Vida.
Vida has been stretchered off in some discomfort. It looks to be related to the earlier kick he received from goalkeeper Kalinic. Jedvaj is his replacement at the back.
32'
Pepe has scored a goal for Portugal! Assist by Pizzi.
Good delivery on the right from Pizzi makes the most of Portugal's spell of pressure.
Goal! He was on target in the last 16 loss to Uruguay and Pepe has followed that with a fine header here, connecting cleanly with Pizzi's cross following a corner. It's back to 1-1.
30'
I. Perišić gets yellow.
Perisic becomes the first player to be cautioned after tugging Bernardo Silva's shirt on the touchline.
29'
Chance for Croatia on the counter-attack is scuppered by Perisic's overhit cross in the direction of Pjaca. Vida comes back into play sporting a bandage on his arm.
26'
Kalinic comes way out of his box to deal with Carvalho's ball in behind and doesn't get there. He's bailed out by a sliding Vida, who looked to have been accidentally trod on by his goalkeeper.
25'
Cancelo is bombing forward from right-back at every opportunity; he just needs a touch of composure with the final ball. Bernardo Silva has been happy to tuck inside and give him space.
23'
Back underway with Croatia on the attack again. The beaten World Cup finalists look extremely confident on the ball.
20'
Cancelo does brilliantly well to chest the ball down in the area, only to ruin it by losing his head and firing into the side-netting. He has succeeded only in causing a problem with the net, which needs some attention.
18'
I. Perišić has scored a goal for Croatia!
Goal! Croatia have looked dangerous going forward and they have the opener. After winning possession high up, a bit of a scramble in the box ensues before Perisic emphatically lashes home the loose ball.
17'
Neves curls a fine free-kick up and over the wall before it fades past the near post. Kalinic appeared to have it covered.
13'
Good chances at both ends in these early stages. Nice positive intent to the match so far.
11'
Spectacular save from Patricio to keep scores level, flying to his right to turn Kovacic's shot past the post. An excellent stop. Badelj drives not far wide from the resultant corner.
10'
Scintillating from Bruma! He breezes past Modric in midfield and makes space for Bernardo Silva to the right of the box, but the Manchester City man's finish is tame. That run deserved better.
7'
Mitrovic gets a few touches on the ball to help him settle into the match. The Club Brugge defender has joined Vida in the centre of defence with Dejan Lovren still sidelined.
5'
Modric swings a high cross into the area that presents only catching practice for Patricio.
3'
Almost the opener for Portugal! Bruma can't connect cleanly with Cancelo's enticing cross and Kalinic gets down low to to keep the ball from crossing the line.
2'
Croatia work the ball nicely into the box but Livaja's heavy touch brings the move undone, before Kalinic holds a cross at the other end.
1'
And we're away at Estadio Algarve as Portugal kick-off against Croatia.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE commentary of this international friendly between Portugal and Croatia!
This is the first outing for both nations since their involvement at the World Cup, where Croatia sensationally went all the way to the final before a polished France denied them ultimate prize. Captain and Golden Ball winner Luka Modric remains the star of a squad that has been hit by the international retirements of Danijel Subasic, Vedran Corluka and Mario Mandzukic. Zlatko Dalic will hope those departures don't hinder his team's momentum ahead of a tough Nations League opener away to Spain.
For Portugal, tonight is a chance to rebound from underachieving in Russia. The European champions were bundled out in the last 16 by Uruguay, but have kept faith with coach Fernando Santos. He will need to find an alternative to Cristiano Ronaldo in attack for both this match and Monday's visit from Italy with the Juventus man opting to sit out the international window.
Let's take a look at how the teams will line up at Estadio Algarve.
Portugal XI (4-1-4-1): Rui Patricio; Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Mario Rui; William Carvalho; Bernardo Silva, Pizzi, Ruben Neves, Bruma; Andre Silva.
Portugal subs: Gelson Martins, Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Guedes, Beto, Cedric Soares, Claudio Ramos, Pedro Mendes, Rony Lopes, Gelson Fernandes, Renato Sanches, Sergio Oliveira, Luis Neto.
Croatia XI (4-2-3-1): Lovre Kalinic, Sime Vrsaljko, Matej Mitrovic, Domagoj Vida, Borna Barisic; Milan Badelj, Mateo Kovacic; Marko Pjaca, Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic; Marko Livaja.
Croatia subs: Duje Cop, Karlo Letica, Mario Pasalic, Antonio Milic, Josip Pivaric, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Santini, Dominik Livakovic, Filip Bradaric, Tin Jedvaj, Marko Rog.
Just the one debutant among the two starting sides with AEK Athens striker Marko Livaja chosen to lead the line for Croatia. Lovre Kalinic gets the first shot at replacing Subasic in goal, while Borna Barisic will hope to impress at left-back in the ongoing absence of Ivan Strinic.
There is a fresh feel about Portugal's side, too, with Bruma, Ruben Dias and Mario Rui boasting just a handful of caps between them. Wolves star Ruben Neves, who was overlooked for the World Cup, starts in midfield, while Andre Silva takes up Ronaldo's position in attack.
The players are out, the anthems are done and it's almost time to get this friendly underway!
All square at the break and that's just about fair. Croatia started the better of the two sides and took the lead thanks to Perisic, before Pepe pegged them back. Portugal got on top from there and perhaps look the more likely winner at this stage, although both teams have been vulnerable on the counter.
We may not see the likes of Modric and Pepe for much longer with Nations League matches ahead next week. Dalic also has the additional concern of that injury to Vida, which could leave him without both of his World Cup centre-halves for the Spain clash.
All square then with some good and some bad for both coaches to reflect upon ahead of their return to competitive action. Portugal were the more positive of the two after levelling in the first half through Pepe, with Cancelo impressive at right-back. They clearly missed Ronaldo's quality in attack, though, and Andre Silva does not yet seem to be the solution.
Croatia were not the efficient side we saw at the World Cup and that's understandable given those three retirements, along with the absences of Ante Rebic and Andre Kramaric. On the upside, Mitrovic exhibited maturity in defence and could hold his place for the Nations League clash with Spain on Tuesday. Portugal are in action a day earlier, hosting an Italy side with a point to prove.
That's all from us for now. We hope you enjoyed the commentary and look forward to your company again as the international break rolls on. Until then, goodbye.
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