New Zealand capitalised and jumped into an unexpected lead when Francis de Vries swung in a deep free-kick, which was headed into the corridor of uncertainty by Tim Payne. It travelled across the penalty area and was tapped in at the back post by a sliding Finn Surman, gifting the All Whites a slender advantage in added time at the end of the first half.
Head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson had admitted in advance that he would accept a "s****y" performance and a 1-0 win on a night when victory was the only option, and Ireland eventually delivered - if only just - as they made the most of Tigran Barseghyan's senseless second-half dismissal for a headbutt on Finn Azaz.
History came crashing down on the heads of this Ireland side in Lisbon as Heimir Hallgrimsson's outfit took the journey from heroics to heartbreak and all in a matter of seconds. For 90 minutes, the Irish side donned the all-white strip which, for once, was not the flag of surrender on foreign soil and had battled hard to frustrate a Portugal side billed as possibly the best international team in Europe right now while never living up to that adulation.
Claire Hutton scored her first international goal, while Sam Coffey and Yazmeen Ryan added to the tally, leading the U.S. to a resounding 3-0 victory over Canada. Hutton's goal added to the team's impressive run of five consecutive friendlies, winning by a collective score of 18-0, demonstrating dominance since their last loss to Brazil.
In the 2020-21 season, British players achieved notable success in three of the big five leagues, illustrating a strong performance reminiscent of previous years.
Ireland recorded a 1-0 victory over Slovenia, securing second place in their group but missing out on automatic promotion to League A, leading to a challenging play-off in October.
