Portugal held by Cyprus in thriller

GUIMARAES, Portugal (AP)

Portugal made a disastrous start to its 2012 European Championship qualifying campaign Friday as it was held to a 4-4 draw at home by Cyprus.

Andreas Avraam scored the equalizer two minutes from the end of the Group H game as Portugal, playing without injured Cristiano Ronaldo and suspended coach Carlos Queiroz, paid for its defensive blunders.

Portugal twice rallied from deficits after Cyprus scored two goals in the first 11 minutes.

EURO QUALIFYING - GROUP H

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The patchy Portuguese performance came as the national team looks to repair its reputation after going out in the second round of the World Cup against eventual champion Spain.

But Portugal has been unsettled by the absence of Queiroz, who watched the game from a VIP box at the stadium while his assistant Agostinho Oliveira took charge.

Also, three of Portugal's most capped players - midfielder Deco, winger Simao Sabrosa and defender Paulo Ferreira - have retired from international football since the World Cup.

Portugal had won all eight previous matches against Cyprus.

"They were very quick on the counterattack," Oliveira said. "We weren't able to stop them. We were uneasy in defense."

Efstathios Aloneftis picked up a weak backpass from Raul Meireles and stunned the home crowd with a chip over goalkeeper Eduardo in the third minute.

Hugo Almeida leveled five minutes later with a glancing header from Nani's cross, but Michael Constantinou put Cyprus back in the lead in the 11th after getting between Portugal's central defenders and rounding Eduardo.

Meireles made it 2-2 just before the half-hour with a powerful long-range shot. Four minutes after the restart, Danny headed in his third international goal to put Portugal ahead for the first time.

But Ioannis Okkas, Cyprus' most-capped player, came on as a substitute in the 55th and two minutes later beat the offside trap to sidefoot an equalizer past Eduardo.

Manuel Fernandes netted in the 60th with a thundering shot into the top left corner, and in a late period of Portuguese pressure Nani hit the bar with a free kick in the 74th and substitute Liedson hit the post with a left-foot shot.

But Avraam was unmarked in the area after Eduardo failed to hold a shot and he headed in from close range in the 89th.

Lineups:

Portugal: Eduardo, Miguel, Bruno Alves, Ricardo Carvalho, Fabio Coentrao, Manuel Fernandes (Joao Moutinho 78), Raul Meireles, Danny (Liedson, 61), Ricardo Quaresma, Hugo Almeida (Yannick Djalo, 84), Nani.

Cyprus: Antonios Giorgallidis, Marios Elia, Sinisa Dobrasinovic, Georgios Merkis, Andreas Avraam, Makrides, Marinos Satsias, Elias Charamlabous, Constantinos Charalambides (Marios Nikolaou, 75), Michael Constantinou, Efstathios Aloneftis (Ioannis Okkas, 55).