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FINAL: Benfica 4, Revolution 0

Print | Comments () Posted by David Beard, Globe Staff May 19, 2010 08:53 PM

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A sea of red greeted the New England Revolution as it took its home turf Wednesday night against Portugal's league champions SL Benfica. The red came from thousands of fans of the Portuguese club, here for an exhibition.

Exhibit they did, scoring four goals in the first 55 minutes on a drizzly night against a depleted Revolution squad. Felipe Menezes, Sidnei, and Cesar Peixoto all scored in the first half, Peixoto on a free kick. Alan Kardec fired a shot past Revs keeper Bobby Shuttleworth 10 minutes into the second half. (Shuttleworth replaced starter Preston Burpo at the half).

That said, Benfica's squad was depleted, too, with several of its starters out for World Cup training and another, Argentine midfielder Pablo Cesar Aimar, left behind in Lisbon with visa problems.

Benfica, which won its 33d Portuguese championship this season, was performing for the sixth time in Foxborough since 1972 and the first time at Gillette. The team got a huge welcome from most of the 12,735 in attendance.