Bermuda Under-17 suffered their second consecutive 2-0 defeat in the Mexico Cup of Nations yesterday but came ever so close to posting a shutout against an accomplished Portugal team.

On Saturday, Bermuda opened the tournament with a loss to Chile and went into the Portugal match determined to get a good result. Andrew Bascome’s side held the powerful Iberian outfit for all but the final five minutes of the match before a penalty was awarded against Jason Symonds for handball. Portugal, who were beaten semi-finalists at the European Under-17 Championships finals in May, struck a second late goal to seal the win. Both goals were scored by Rui Pedro.

Portugal enjoyed most of the possession but Bermuda stood resilient and defended staunchly, frustrating their opponents. Nathan Trott, who replaced the injured Ajai Simons in the Chile match, started against Portugal and was outstanding in the first half to keep Bermuda in the game.

Bermuda’s best chance in the half came from a corner, which resulted in a header going wide. From a corner at the other end, Portugal had a shot on target cleared off the line by Tahzeiko Harris.

Portugal finally broke the deadlock with five minutes remaining when they scored from the spot after a decision that had a hint of controversy about it. Bermuda began to penetrate more and a shot from striker Macquille Walker forced the opposing goalkeeper into a scrambling to save. Bermuda were caught out on the counter-attack as Portugal scored a second goal in the closing minutes to seal the win.

“The boys were excellent, our tactics and game plan was working,” Bascome, the coach, said. “Five minutes to go we were 0-0 against Portugal and we concede a very dubious penalty when the ball bounced up and hit left back Jerome Bailey’s hand.

“We then came out a little and got hit with a sucker punch. So close.”

Bermuda lost by the same scoreline to Chile on Saturday and their problems were compounded when goalkeeper Simons suffered a torn leg muscle that has ruled him out of the tournament.

Simons, who was a stalwart in goal for Bermuda during their Caribbean Championship qualifying series in Bahamas last week, was central to the key events in the match against Chile, as it was his handling error that led to the opening goal from Walter Ponce after 26 minutes.

Until then, Bermuda had given as much as they got without seriously threatening the opposition goal. Simons soon atoned for his mistake with a fine save as Bermuda went into the break a goal down.

They came out for the second half full of energy, but it was Chile who struck again within three minutes, with a goal scored at the near post by Luis Salas on the counter- attack.

Bermuda pressed for a way back into the match but the Chile goalkeeper was not seriously called into action until Jerome Bailey, who scored twice in the 4-0 win over Bahamas last week, fired in a shot that brought a good save from the Chile goalkeeper.

Bermuda will play their final group match today when they take on Colombia, hoping to have Jahkari Furbert, their first-choice striker, fit to play. Furbert was injured in training on Friday and has missed the first two matches.

Colombia, who lost 2-0 to Portugal on Saturday, gave a clue to their ability with a 3-0 win over Chile yesterday.