30 May 2006

Meira keen to perfect central defensive partnership

Fernando Meira has admitted that there is still work to do to solidify his partnership with Ricardo Carvalho at the heart of Portugal’s defence.

The Stuttgart central defender has the difficult task of stepping into Jorge Andrade’s boots, and played with Carvalho for the first time in Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Cape Verde.

“I’ve known Ricardo for a long time, but of course there are things that have to be perfected,” he said.

“It’s important to analyse the match and work on all the situations that arose.”

Meira put through his own net against Cape Verde and hopes that the stroke of bad luck stops there. “I hope the bad luck came to an end against Cape Verde. It’s was an extremely fast move and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Meira added that he is happy that the World Cup is being held in the country where he plays his club football “I know the stadiums and the cities; I may be able to take advantage of that fact.”