After a poor showing against Ivory Coast in a 0-0 opening match tie, Portugal manager Carlos Queiroz deflected attention away from his squad’s performance. Instead, he commented at length about the fact that Ivory Coast captain Didier Drogba was cleared to play with a cast.
“This was bit odd as far as we are concerned because there are rules and regulations,” Queiroz told the media. “For example sometimes players cannot play with a string bracelet or a plaster and all of a sudden a player has fractured his arm and he could put at risk the Portuguese players with such a situation.
“If you cannot play with a simple little string bracelet and somebody can play as Drogba did that is perhaps a bit unusual,” Queiroz continued. “It is not up to Portugal to decide if Drogba should play or not, it depends on FIFA and in the delegate meeting that was held the FIFA delegates decided the referee’s decision would be final.”
Drogba came in with 24 minutes remaining and nearly netted a goal in the waning moments of the game.
If there was a team that came away looking the best from the match it was the Ivory Coast, who were more enterprising in attack through the likes of Gervinho and Salomon Kalou. It was a sign of that daring and desire to win the game when Eriksson brought on Drogba.
“I thought if any team was going to win, it was us,” said Ivory Coast manager Sven Goran Eriksson. “We created some more chances than they did. I am very, very happy with the performance. If you think about discipline and organization, I think we were organized for all 90 minutes.”
The commentary was not as glowing when it came to Portugal’s performance. The harshest criticism came from within as Deco lashed out at his teammates.
"The way to approach the match after halftime was not the correct one," Deco said.
The former Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder reportedly headed straight to the lockers after being substituted in the 62nd minute.
"I am not upset because I left, I just understand that this is not the way for us to achieve results," he said. “Why was I replaced? You are going to have to ask that to the coach. I felt fine. First, he asked me to play on the right, which I have never done in my career because I am not a winger, then he substituted me."
A 0-0 tie in the opening match is generally acceptable. But it was the worst possible start for Portugal. If Queiroz’s men had serious doubts surrounding them, this tie merely added to the insecurity for a side that features one of the best players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Our mistake was trying to win in 45 minutes, which created anxiety and almost made us lose. We did not do things right," Deco said.
Deco’s teammate, Ronaldo, had a very different take on Portugal’s match.
"We knew the Ivory Coast would not attack much and would stay at the back more,” Ronaldo told RTP1. “They were afraid of us in the first half, in the second session they got their game a bit more loose, but we played well and did not win only because we did not have any luck.”
