Football Insane

Ivory Coast and Portugal entered the World Cup fray on Tuesday and produced a goalless draw marked by Didier Drogba’s return to action just 10 days after surgery on his broken arm..

The African superstar, wearing a protective cast, was introduced as a second-half substitute, but he was unable to tip the balance in his countrymen’s favour in the Group G clash.

Ivory Coast manager Sven Goran Eriksson described the encounter as “tight”.

The former England boss explained: “There weren’t many occasions to score, you saw two teams that didn’t want to lose. I thought if one team had won it should have been us, we created more chances than Portugal. Read more…

Cristiano Ronaldo said Monday he was ready to answer the call for Portugal in Saturday’s crucial World Cup qualifier at home to Hungary after missing Real Madrid’s first Liga loss of the season at Seville with an ankle injury.

“I have recovered well. We’ll see how things go but I think I’ll be fine come Saturday,” Ronaldo said on arriving at Obidos, where the squad are preparing for a match which will go some way to deciding if they can snatch a playoff place after a poor showing in Group One.

The Portuguese currently stand third – five points behind leaders Denmark and two adrift of Sweden, while Hungary are level on points with Carlos Queiroz’s side, rendering a win imperative ahead of an expected three easy points in their final game against Malta.

The Swedes have a tough encounter away to the Danes on Saturday.

“These are decisive matches which we must win,” observed Ronaldo, who said that team spirit was “fantastic” despite his country’s irregular showing to date.

But he warned: “If we don’t believe we can do it (qualify) then it’s not worth showing up for the national side.” Ronaldo insisted that the Hungarians were there for the taking.

“They are a physically strong team, but if Portugal play normally they will – and must – win.”

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