Portugal 2 Tunisia 2: England’s World Cup opponents come from two down against Euro champs in warm-up match
Hosts, without Cristiano Ronaldo, took lead through Andre Silva and Joao Mario before Anice Badri and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef struck
Hosts, without Cristiano Ronaldo, took lead through Andre Silva and Joao Mario before Anice Badri and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef struck
EUROPEAN champions Portugal threw away a two-goal lead to draw with England’s World Cup opponents Tunisia.
Minus Cristiano Ronaldo after his Champions League heroics with Real Madrid 48 hours previous, the hosts raced into a commanding lead.
Andre Silva broke the deadlock with a back post header just before the midway point of the first half.
Twelve minutes later that advantage was doubled in stunning fashion as Joao Mario drilled home from 20 yards.
But Tunisia, who face the Three Lions in Volgograd on Monday 18 June, got themselves back into it before the break.
Anice Badri pulled one back in the 39th-minute and it got even better after the hour mark.
Fakhreddine Ben Youssef was the hero for the African nation as he completed his side’s fightback by sliding in to finish Ali Maaloul's low cross to equalise.
Portugal play another North African side, Morocco, in Group B at the World Cup.
Their first match is against Spain on Friday 15 June and they finish their group fixtures against Iran.
England and Tunisia were also drawn with Panama and Belgium in Group G.