New Delhi: It was all Portugal on Wednesday night in Guimaraes as Carlos Queiroz's men played hosts to last placed Malta in a decisive Group 1 clash at Estadio D Afonso Henriques.
Elsewhere, Sweden would be hoping that the Seleccao would perform poorly against their Maltese opponents, securing a Swedish play-off place pending a win in Solna. It was not to be though, as the Knights of St. John were well and truly outclassed.
Portugal pressed hard from kick-off, pinning the visitors into their own half and shooting at will. Simao was the first to test Malta 'keeper Andrew Hogg with a low shot, signalling the start of a first-half onslaught.
Chelsea right-back Jose Bosingwa linked up well with Nani down the right flank as the game opened up, both players using Deco well to move possession into a more advanced position up the pitch and causing real problems for the Maltese defence.
After an early bombardment in front of Malta's goal, Nani broke the deadlock after 14 minutes with a venomous shot. Picking up the ball on the edge of the box, the Manchester United man showed great balance and composure to strike cleanly into the right hand side of the net and give his country a well deserved lead.
Raul Meireles combined well with Deco in the centre of the park during the first half, both players controlling the pace of the game from a central area. Anytime the ball managed to sneak past them, Rangers' Pedro Mendes was there to sweep up the mess. Malta could not get into the game at all.
Sneaking into the box on the half-hour mark, Simao struck well towards goal only to be denied by the tip-toes of Andrew Hogg. Malta were lucky not to have gone 2-0 down.
Sporting striker Liedson was picked out wonderfully on many occasions during the first half, but the 31-year-old veteran failed to capitalise on any of his golden opportunities.
Portugal continued to dominate possession throughout the first period, almost scoring several times. Nani managed to hit the outside of the net with another blistering shot, while Bosingwa screamed a cross along the goalmouth for Liedson who was nowhere to be seen.
Just as it looked like the hosts would only be one up at the break, Deco found Simao in exactly the same place that Nani had scored from earlier in the match, only to watch the skipper turn and blast the ball into the opposite corner that Nani had found previously. Portugal took a 2-0 lead into the half-time interval.
No changes were made during the break and, as expected, Portugal continued to stay on top of the game. It only took seven minutes after the whistle had blown for the second half to begin before the hosts bagged their third goal of the match.
Nani sent in a dangerous cross from the right for Liedson who, yet again, didn't manage to connect cleanly, leaving Miguel Veloso with the easy task of poking the ball home from close range.
Clearly fed up with Liedson's poor performance, Carlos Queiroz opted to make a couple of changes. Taking to the pitch in place of the aforementioned striker would be Malaga striker Edinho, while Nuno Assis was given some playing-time in place of Raul Meireles.
The pace of the match slowed significantly as the half wore on, Portugal clearly happy enough with the scoreline, while Malta had given up hope.
Nani was given the appreciation he deserved for producing such a spirited performance on 73 minutes when Joao Moutinho was sent on to stretch his legs. The Portuguese home support erupted in cheers as their number 17 went to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines.
Just as the game looked ready to end, Simao poked the ball in the general direction of Malta's goal in the hopes that Edinho might latch onto it and produce a little piece of magic. The 27-year-old did just that as he shook off his marker and rounded Hogg all in one deft movement before chasing the ball down and finishing from a extremely tight angle, bringing the full-time score to 4-0.
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