Diani Silva dedicated a goal to Diogo Jota, only for it to be ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside, as Portugal battled from behind against Italy to claim a 1-1 draw at Euro 2025 and keep their tournament alive.
Portugal, who lost their opening game 5-0 to Spain, were on the verge of being knocked out of the Euros as they trailed to Cristiana Girelli’s stunning finish in the 70th minute.
Diani Silva looked to have equalised for Portugal and celebrated by copying Jota’s gaming celebration, but it was ruled to have been offside following a two-minute VAR review.
Portugal hit the crossbar in the 89th minute but Francisco Neto’s side kept pushing and they eventually got their reward when Diani Gomes finished a low cross moments later to avoid elimination.
Portugal warmed up by wearing Jota’s name on the back of their shirts in tribute to the Liverpool forward, who was killed in a car crash last Thursday along with his brother Andre Silva.
Head coach Neto revealed after his team’s 5-0 defeat to Spain, which was played just hours after Jota’s death, that the Portugal and Liverpool star had been a supporter of the women’s team and followed their results.
And they could still progress to the knockout stages although they will need to beat Belgium and hope Spain beat Italy, who are six better in goal difference.
Spain earlier defeated Belgium 6-2, with the draw between Portugal and Italy sending Spain into the quarter-finals while eliminating Belgium with one game to play.
