After 7-0 drubbing of North Korea, Portugal coach Queiroz says his team will get more...
After 7-0 drubbing of North Korea, Portugal coach Queiroz says his team will get more...
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| Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo. Pics/Getty Images | Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz |
Queiroz's men produced a performance of fluidity and flair to earn their first win of the World Cup in style.
After labouring in their opening Group G stalemate with the Ivory Coast, Portugal were under pressure to deliver against North Korea with a showdown against Brazil still to come.
Confident
They now head into that clash full of confidence after six goals in the second half made a serious statement to their rivals.
"It's a feeling of great satisfaction for our players in the way they played, the attitude and perseverance with beautiful football and beautiful goals," Queiroz said.
"I'd like to register my respect for the North Korea team. They leave with their heads held very high but sometimes we have to face these results.
"It is a great day for Portugal and Portuguese football, to score seven goals.
Raul Meireles scored in the first half before Simao Sabrosa, Hugo Almeida and Tiago hit one apiece within seven second-half minutes. Liedson and Cristiano Ronaldo got in on the act before Tiago grabbed his second in the dying minutes.
Portugal came into the match hoping to boost their goal difference with the Ivory Coast, their main rivals to join Brazil in the next round, still to play North Korea.
How they scored
29th minute - Meireles latches on to a gorgeous through ball by Tiago and finishes clinically past Myong-Guk.
53rd minute -u00a0 Almeida and Meireles combine brilliantly with some one-touch passing and Meireles slips the final through ball to Simao, who beats the goalkeeper with a cool finish.
56th minute - Left back Coentrao beats his man in a foot race and dinks in a cross to Almeida who nods it past the keeper.
60th minute -u00a0 Ronaldo powers down the left flank, cuts into the box and pulls one back to the middle for Tiago, who places a sidefoot shot into the bottom corner.
81st minute - Kwang Chon miscue's a clearance from Duda's cross and the ball falls kindly to Liedson, who spanks it hard into the top corner from point blank range.
87th minute - Ronaldo pounces on a sloppy Cholima backpass, beats the goalkeeper with a lucky bobble and tucks the ball into the empty net after itu00a0 bounces off the back of his head and falls in front of him.
89th minute - Tiago gets on the end of a Veloso cross and heads in his second.u00a0
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