10 June 2006, by Tom Kundert

Deco gets all-clear for Portugal opener

Influential midfielder Deco will be fit to play Portugal’s first World Cup match against Angola on Sunday evening.

The Barcelona star suffered a knock in training on Thursday after challenging for the ball with Costinha.

He immediately abandoned the session and the way he kicked over a chair in frustration as he left the pitch left Portuguese fans fearing the worst. The injury concerns were further increased when the midfield maestro failed to appear for training on Friday.

However, coach Luiz Scolari yesterday guaranteed that Deco would take his place against the Angolans.

“Even if we had to play today, and it was an important match, I would risk Deco,” said Scolari, who added that he sat out training simply as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile Scolari has reaffirmed that failing to make the quarter-finals has to be considered a failure for Portugal.

“We’re ranked 7th in the FIFA list, so we have to get into the last eight. From then on who knows what will happen. The idea is to win seven matches.”