Paulo Bernardo’s mixed emotions at European Under 21 Championship

The clash marked the opening fixture for both teams in this summer’s Under-21 European Championships, taking place in Slovakia.

Drawn in Group C with Poland and Georgia, Portugal and France share the group with those two sides who also met on Wednesday, with Georgia claiming a 2-1 win at MSK Zilina’s stadium.

In Trencin, Bernardo wore the captain’s armband for Portugal and delivered an impressive midfield display in their draw, completing 94 percent of his passes, though he was left ruing two missed opportunities in front of goal.

Overall, Portugal managed three shots on target compared to France’s four, with possession narrowly leaning towards the French side’s way by a margin of six percent.

Bernardo and the rest of the Portugal squad now shift focus to their second group stage encounter against Poland, set for tomorrow, Saturday, 14 June at 2pm, before wrapping up their Group C fixtures with a 5pm showdown against Georgia next Tuesday, 17 June.

The top two sides in each of the four groups will advance to the quarter-final stage of the tournament.

The Under-21 European Championship is serving as the testing ground for a new UEFA regulation set to debut next season, which limits goalkeepers to just eight seconds of ball control – exceeding that time will result in a corner kick for the opposition.

“The eight-second count begins when the goalkeeper has full control of the ball and is not being challenged by an opposing player,” UEFA outlined in their updated IFAB rules.

“The referee will visibly count down the final five seconds, ensuring the goalkeeper can see the countdown.”

“If opponents begin to pressure or obstruct the goalkeeper during the countdown, the referee will stop the count and award an indirect free kick in favour of the goalkeeper.”

Best of luck to Celtic star Paulo Bernardo in these remaining games captaining Portugal u21s.

Conor Spence