Anthony Martial: Man Utd signing debuts as France beat Portugal
- Published
Manchester United's £36m signing Anthony Martial came off the bench to make his France debut in a 1-0 friendly win away to Portugal.
Martial, 19, has four goals in 12 France Under-21 games, but could not make an impact after replacing Karim Benzema in the 74th minute.
Euro 2016 hosts France won the game through a superb late free-kick from Lyon midfielder Mathieu Valbuena.
They play Serbia in another friendly in Bordeaux on Monday evening.
Portugal, who remain at the top of their five-team qualifying group despite not being in competitive action on Friday, fielded a strong line-up with captain Cristiano Ronaldo joined by former Manchester United team-mate and current Real Madrid colleague Pepe.
However it was Didier Deschamps' visitors who created more of the chances in the first half with Blaise Matuidi twice going close before Newcastle's Moussa Sissoko wasted a good chance as he attempted to pick out Benzema rather than shoot.
Ronaldo was replaced by Ricardo Quaresma in the 67th minute and the game appeared to be heading for a stalemate before Valbuena's curling effort dipped over the wall and out of reach of goalkeeper Rui Patricio five minutes from time.
- Published4 September 2015
- Published4 September 2015
- Published5 September 2015
- Published20 June 2016
- Published7 June 2019