Rangers striker inspires national team rout as Wolves loanee turns side from 'weak' to demolition crew

Rangers striker Fabio Silva has been hailed as the catalyst for a Portugal U21s rout over Faroe Islands.

The forward who joined on loan from Wolves in January netted the opener in a 4-0 win, with three of the goals coming after 87 minutes through Carlos Forbs, Youssef Chermiti and Mateus Fernandes. Silva has four goals in 14 games at club level since swapping Molineux for Ibrox.

Portuguese media outlets have swooned over Silva, who became a hot prospect in their nation after sealing a £35m move to Wolves from Porto in 2019. RTP wrote: "After a first half with a weak performance from the Portuguese, Fábio Silva opened the scoring in the 52nd minute, but the victory was only guaranteed practically at the end of the day, with goals from Carlos Borges (87), Youssef Chermiti (90+4) and Mateus Fernandes (90+7).

"João Carvalho, Mateus Fernandes, Pedro Santos, Fábio Silva and Tiago Tomás were the five new players operated by Rui Jorge in relation to the November 2023 defeat in Greece (2-1), with emphasis on the complete renewal of the most offensive elements. In the first half, the Portuguese team again showed excessive slowness in the movement of the ball, a detail that the coach had already criticized in the match with the Greeks, meaning that the clear ascendance in possession of the ball had little expression in the number of opportunities created.

"On the only occasions produced by Portugal, Tiago Tomás and Fábio Silva shot past the Faroese goalkeeper's defenses, in the 25th and 31st minutes, respectively, while the opponent went into the break without any shot taken. Without changes for the second half despite the 'zero', the 'quinas' team managed to break the 0-0 in the 52nd minute, in a combination between the attacking duo: Tiago Tomás assisted, inside the area, for Fábio's accurate finish Silva, between the goalkeeper's legs, for his fifth goal in this qualifying phase."

A Bola explained of Silva's contribution: "Slow and predictable, although with control of the operations, Portugal gave the visitors an advance, with the goalless score recorded before the break corresponding to the few opportunities and the good defensive organization of the islanders, placed in 5x4x1, with their area well populated.

"The only chills in the Faroese defence came from three faulty cuts by central defender Borge Petersen that almost resulted in an own goal and a shot by Fábio Silva into the side nets. Afterwards, everything was very different and Portugal accelerated towards the rout.

"Fábio Silva unblocked the marker and with better ball circulation, the national team created several very dangerous situations for Ari Petersen, who postponed the Portuguese intentions until near the end, with the rout only being built in the final moments, also largely at the expense of the changes introduced by Rui Jorge, which added more speed to break the opponent's defense. And two of them played an active part in the last two goals, after Carlos Borges scored the second."

Record added: "The result reflects the natural difference between the two teams, but could be misleading regarding the history of the game. Portugal's supremacy was never in question, however, the first 45 minutes resulted in unexpected difficulties, largely due to the low defensive positioning of the Faroe Islands. And at some point anxiety came into play. All of this helps explain the null at interval.

"In the second half, the opponent appeared more 'out of its shell' and this caused some holes in the wall, holes that were taken advantage of by Fábio Silva, who opened the scoring in the 52nd minute. The minimal advantage lasted until very close to the end, when the National Team resolved the issue with three volleys: Carlos Borges (87'), Chermiti (90'+4) and Mateus Fernandes (90'+7) put an end to any doubts . With this triumph, Portugal continues to lead Group G for the under-21 European Championship, with a total of 15 points, two more than Croatia, who have one game less."