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Group H round-up

Image: Fernandes: On target in thriller

Portugal made hard work of their Euro 2012 qualification opener, as they were held in an eight-goal thriller.

Norway make winning start; Portugal have to settle for a point

Portugal made hard work of their Euro 2012 qualification opener, as they were held in an eight-goal thriller. Elsewhere, Norway came from behind away in Reykjavik to take three points from their first Group H encounter. Portugal failed to see off a plucky Cyprus outfit on home soil, with a topsy-turvy contest eventually finishing 4-4. The visitors got off to a dream start when they opened the scoring inside three minutes through Stathis Aloneftis, but they were pegged back five minutes later by Hugo Almeida. Michael Constantinou restored Cyprus' lead on 11 minutes, but again Portugal levelled courtesy of Raul Meireles' 29th minute strike. The hosts went ahead for the first time on the night when Danny notched five minutes into the second half, but the drama was not finished yet. Giannakis Okkas stepped off the bench to restore parity on 56 minutes, but saw Manuel Fernandes cancel out that effort three minutes later. That was the way things stayed until two minutes from time when Andreas Avraam pounced to ensure a gripping contest ended all square. Norway are also up and running after seeing off Iceland 2-1. Queens Park Rangers striker Heidar Helguson fired Iceland in front on 38 minutes, but they were unable to hold on to that lead. Fulham's Brede Hangeland scored his first international goal on 59 minutes to bring the Norwegians back into the tie and Mohamed Abdellaoui snatched the spoils when he struck 15 minutes from the end.

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