Mesaque Dju made his FIFA U-20 World Cup bow on Tuesday evening, but the West Ham United forward was unable to prevent Portugal from falling to defeat by Argentina.
Having sat out his country’s 1-0 win over South Korea in their opening Group F fixture in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biala, the young Hammer was an introduced with Portugal trailing 1-0 to the South Americans at the same venue.
Portugal had started brightly, with Rafael Leao and Jota forcing saves before Argentina took the lead against the run of play through Adolfo Gaich.
A competitive and exciting second half saw Anibal Moreno hit the post with a long-range strike and Gaich go close for Argentina, while Leao forced Joao Virginia into a fine save and Gedson curled a free-kick narrowly wide for Portugal.
And, despite Mesaque Dju’s introduction on 62 minutes, it was Argentina who made sure of victory when Patricio Perez touched in Esequiel Barco’s curling delivery from close range with six minutes remaining.
Argentina’s win means they are through to the knockout stages, while Portugal need to better South Korea’s result against Argentina in their final match against South Africa on Friday if they are to advance to the round of 16.