Football: Jeanne shines in juniors

Portugal Under-21 3 Wales Under-21 0

ROBERT EARNSHAW and Leon Jeanne impressed the Wales manager Bobby Gould as Wales Under-21s went down 3-0 in Braganca yesterday. Wales lost 10 of their original 18-man squad for the friendly against Portugal and the team that lined up included eight players from the Under-18s squad.

Zeefrino Soares put the hosts ahead in the 19th minute when he latched on to a ball over the top. However, Wales were unhappy that there was no flag for Edgar Pacheco, who was returning from an offside position.

Pacheco made it 2-0 seven minutes from the break with a near-post header from a right-wing corner that gave the Blackburn keeper Anthony Williams little chance.

Wales' youngsters rallied well after the break and tested a Portuguese side that included the Arsenal striker Luis-Boa Morte. But Almani Moreira scored a third for the home side, sidefooting home from close range two minutes from time after Mario Loja had created the opening.

Gould was impressed with a battling display from Wales' junior players, and in particular with the promise of the 18-year-old Queen's Park Rangers striker Jeanne and Earnshaw, a 17-year-old Cardiff striker, who were "a bit special" in Gould's opinion.

Gould also praised the West Brom youngster Daniel Gabbidon for a solid performance in the Wales defence.

n Albania and Greece drew 0-0 in a European Championship Group Two qualifier yesterday, the first international held in the tiny Balkan nation in two and a half years because of political unrest. In a hard-fought match, the Spanish referee handed out five yellow cards to the visiting side and four to the hosts.