Portugal - 4, Malta - 0
Malta slumped to a 4-0 defeat to Portugal in one-sided World Cup qualifier this evening in Guimaraes.
Portugal dominated from start to finish, scoring two goals in each half to cruise to an easy victory and seal their passage to the World Cup play-offs after finishing second in Group One.
Malta ended their World Cup campaign with only one point in 10 matches.
Over 29,000 fans converged on the D. Afonso Henriques Stadium to watch this eagerly-awaited qualifier.
Interest in this match had multiplied after Sweden's 1-0 upset to Denmark on Saturday and Portugal's 3-0 win over Hungary meant that a home victory for the Selecao against Malta would take them through to the play-offs.
As Sweden's hopes of reaching the play-offs rested on Malta holding their more-illustrious opponents, this qualifier also caught the attention of the Swedish media.
Malta coach John Buttigieg made two changes from the team that lost 1-0 to Sweden in their penultimate qualifier. John Hutchinson was preferred to captain Gilbert Agius and Roderick Briffa replaced the injured Alex Muscat.
For Portugal, Nani was drafted into the starting line-up to compensate for the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Andrew Hogg, the Malta goalkeeper, was kept busy in the early stages, saving two Nani efforts but on 13 minutes, the Manchester United winger put Portugal ahead.
Deco profited from a short clearance to serve Nani who hit a low shot past Hogg.
Buttigieg was forced to make his first substitution on 22 minutes after Andrew Cohen injured his thigh. Clayton Failla came on for the Hibs playmaker.
After Nani shot against the side-netting and Liedson headed wide, Portugal made it 2-0 on the cusp of half-time thanks to a well-hit shot by Simao, the captain.
Seven minutes into the second half, Portuhal moved three goals up. Nani's cross from the right created confusion in the Maltese box and Miguel Veloso was on hand to fire the ball into the net.
Portugal controlled proceedings for the remainder of the second half with substitute Edinho wrapping up the scoring with a fourth goal on the stroke of time.
Portugal: Eduardo, Bosingwa, Ricardo Carvalho, Pedro Mendes, Liedson (‘63 Edinho), Simao, Miguel Veloso, Pepe, Raul Meireles ('63 N. Assis), Nani ('73 Joao Moutinho).
Malta: A. Hogg, M. Muscat, I. Azzopardi, B. Said, J. Hutchinson, S. Bajada ('73 R. Fenech), R. Briffa ('88 K. Sammut), M. Mifsud, A. Cohen ('22 C. Failla), K. Scicluna, J. Pace.
Referee Alan Kelly (Ireland).