Gervais Kouassi, better known as Gervinho, proved himself a constant menace for the Portuguese defence with penetrating runs into the area that left Ricardo Carvalho and Bruno Alvez scrambling. We knew it was an important game, but we need to focus on the next one now.” “It’s our first game, we’re nervous, we’re anxious.
“We needed this win and we had chances to win,” midfielder Deco said. The mood in the Portuguese camp was less upbeat. If you start to attack frantically against Portugal, they will kill you.” “Both teams played like they didn’t want to take big chances and lose.
“I thought our team should have won,” Cote d’Ivoire coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said. The draw will boost the confidence of the Ivorians, who enjoyed most of the possession and always looked dangerous with smooth passing and plenty of energy going forward. Semi-finalists in 2006, Portugal struggled to make a serious impact and made their job of advancing from a fierce Group G – which includes Brazil and North Korea – no easier in a fluid match that yielded only a handful of goalscoring chances. Ivorian striker Drogba, who broke an arm just before the tournament, appeared as a 66th minute substitute wearing an approved plaster cast. Portugal’s Ronaldo rattled a post with a vicious long range shot in the 11th minute but his team never came that close again to scoring against their African opponents. Neither Drogba nor Ronaldo could break the deadlock ĭidier Drogba made a substitute appearance and Cristiano Ronaldo hit a post but the clash between Cote d’Ivoire and Portugal in their World Cup Group G match finished in a goalless draw.
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