Portugals Seica hails fans after battling draw with Italy

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GENEVA - Portugal centre back Ana Seica credited the support of the teams fans for inspiring them to a 1-1 draw with Italy on Monday that kept alive their hopes of reaching the knockout stage of the Womens Euros.

After suffering a 5-0 loss to world champions Spain in their Group B opener in Bern on Thursday, Portugal would have been forgiven for being low on confidence heading into the clash with Italy.

Not so their fans, and the drums of the Navegadoras pounded across the Stade de Geneve long before kickoff while chants and cheers urging the players to resist the Italians continued until the final whistle.

Our fans are amazing, Seica, who was an unused substitute, told Reuters after the game. Even in the warm up, theyre already there. Theyre already making noise ... its what keeps us going until the 90th minute.

The Portuguese players responded to the cacophony of support with a performance of true grit as they held back wave after wave of Italian attacks.

In this game, we came in a lot harder. We won more duels, something that we needed to improve, and it was shown on the pitch that we fought for it, Seica said.

Goalkeeper Patricia Morais roared in relief to the crowd after making a save just before halftime but she was unable to stop Cristiana Girellis beautiful, curling finish in the 70th minute that looked to have sent Italy into the quarter-finals.

Portugal and their fans had other ideas.

Diana Silvas header hit the back of the net in the 80th minute only to be disallowed for offside but, with only a minute left on the clock, the Portuguese