/ 5 February 1999

SPAIN IN MERIDIAN FINALS

SPAIN beat Portugal 3-1 in the Meridian Cup under-17 soccer competition semifinal at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on Thursday. Portugal made and squandered several chances early on, and then Spain gradually took the initiative before half time. Portugal opened the scoring nevertheless in the 39th minute off a Luis Lourenco penalty kick awarded for a hand ball. Spain levelled in the 60th minute when Primo Artiz centred and David Aganza headed the ball in. Spain went further ahead in the 73rd minute when Roberto Trashorras ran through the Portugal defence to score. Four minutes later Spain put the issue beyond doubt when Aganza scored with another header.