Subbing Deco in the 60th minute for Tiago? I could understand this move if we were winning, but we were all over I.C. and to lose our main quarterback so early killed our chances of winning.
We had I.C at the ropes , they were cramping and falling down and crying for their mothers , stretchers were coming left and right, and yet Quieroz decided to bring out some defensive players...Too Bad , cause we should have won.

Just watched the game for the second time and I have to say that the game wasn't a bad a some suggest. It is true that we lacked rhythm and at times lost physical battles to the Ivorians, but we were also playing against a team that essentially defended in their own half with 11 players behind the ball. There was so much at stake that neither team was willing to fully open up and possibly give up dangerous counter attacks. This result was neither good or bad. We all knew that we were in the so called "group of death" and that it would take 3 games to determine the seedings in this group. Prior to this game some of you were already planning the parade route, now some of the same people are talking like we don't even deserve to be in this tournament. Let's get real and try to stay relaxed and optimistic. Brazil appears to be in the drivers seat, but I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped points to either us or IC. Although unlikely, it is still within the realm of possibilities for Brazil to finish 3rd in this group. I also wouldn't be surprised if N korea steal a point from someone-hopefully not us....Obviously, it will all come down to how we do in our next two matches. The point is there still a lot of shit to go down. This is a complicated group so it is very difficult to predict what will unfold for this group in the next two matches because each team has strengths and weaknesses. The most important thing for Portugal to do is concentrate on getting 3 points vs N korea. The rest is beyond our control at this point. Anyway you look at it we still have a very good chance of progressing to the next round.

Forca!

It was sad to watch.
I know the first game is always difficult, but...
I could understand bringing in Simao for Danny, but Tiago for Deco short after. An attacking mid replaced by a holding one, with plenty of time left.
How about Simao in for Deco and move Danny to the middle and press forward.
And maybe most amazing, Amorin sees the field. How does a guy that supposedly was not good enough for the top 23, enter a game after training with the team for two days. Veloso? Holy Cow there is nobody else.
Trust me I'm a Benfiquista, but I would have prefered to have seen Manuel Fernandes on the squad.
Liedson ineffective, but he stays on, and Ferreira is still bad.
Like I said, sad.

Result is not surprising at all. We drew against mediocre teams in qualifying and didn't exactly beat Bosnia convincingly to make it into the World Cup. Our squad is in a state of decline, mainly because our offence looks completely impotent. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a bad feeling now especially after seeing how well North Korea played against Brazil. Going to be tough to make it out of this group.

Performance was lackluster but IC posed some physical play difficulties for Portugal, not a good match up for Portugal. What can we take away. This a pattern and after awhile it is what you are.

We can't score or breakdown a defense ... it was difficult with Nani and now more difficult.

This team is limited and is full of average players lacking cutting edge. CR did nothing to show leadership and is taken off the ball too easy.
The only good discovery is that we have a LB in Fabio C.
We will not qualify playing 0-0 games. I could go on but I'm tired of bashing certain players given this team is limited.

We need Pepe and Miguel to start the next game. Also, given the limited options, we must go with Simao in the next game to start ---it won't make a difference. It is a shame to waste a good defense with no offense but this is the current situation and we will see how far it takes us which likely a knock out game with Spain. I am not disappointed due to low expectations and this team is confiming the low expectations.

Sorry guys, I don't think Quaresma would add anything to this team at the moment. He has played very little soccer in the last two years. We have all seen the skill he posesses but having played so few minutes the last two years there is no way he is even an option at the moment. He has been horrible at Inter with the support of Mourinho and just hasn't cut it.

The 1st comment is right. Queresma should be on the team.

portugal played well in the first minute but after ronaldo took that shot we dropped our level down we didnt play good at all i dont understand why the coach doesnt realize that liedson by himself does not work the team is too defensive deco was horrible couldnt make the right passes danny did nothing simao would have been better off starting at least when simao came in we saw him i forgot danny was even playing same with pedro mendes at least ronaldo almost scored but once again he could have done better im dissapointed and north korea wont be ay easier i mean they id pretty good vs brazil i dont like the way the coach thinks or makes the team play the only good outcome of this game was coentrao had a good game and paulo ferriera also i dont see why everyone hates him so much he is slow but he gets the job done and very rarely makes to much mistakes iwould start hugo almeida up top woth liedson ronaldo on the right simao on the left deco as an attacking midfielder of course pepe as the defensive midfielder if he is fit enough and keep the regular back line which creates a 4-4-2 but our coach thinks too much about defense i personally hate him and if we get knocked out i cant wit for him to leave.Ithink we need a coach liek jorge jesus not jorge jesus(benfica need him lol) because coaches like him are not afraid of the player and he makes them work hard in training and will shout at them i guarentee quieroz doesnt ever shout at ronaldo or deco players like that he is too soft we need a rough coach to inspire them and make them play for the fans not the fame

My only question is, why Ronaldo is Portugal captain? Just for more pressure on him?
Why not natural leaders like Ricardo Carvalho, Bruno Alves, Raul Meireles, Deco or Simão? Before we had Figo, Pauleta, Rui Costa, Fernando Couto, Jorge Costa... natural leaders. Now we have the mediastism as a leader and this don't help the team and Ronaldo himself.

Ivory Cost IS an hard opponent, not an easy team. And from what I watched from Brasil's first 45mn against North Korea, Ivory Cost is the most hard team until, with an inteligent coach. Portugal never was good against very musculated teams on miedfield and defense (like France and Italy also).
I think that Deco was little bit right on his words, but he should had said that inside the group (as a captain, here we are) and not in public. He's and experience and respected voice inside the group and and can found some truth on this words.

It would be fundamental a win against a direct rival, but I believe on this group.
Can't wait next matches and attention to North Korea. Don't ever try to repeat 2002 again!!!!!!!!!!!

Looked forward to the game and it wah hugely disappointed. Based on what I saw Portugal isn't up to the rough stuff, Ronaldo gets knocked off his game too easily and too quickly, as soon as he got a yellow and was roughed up he was taken out the game, that's the way to defend him and the opposition knows it.I was hoping for something from Danny and was let down, and didn't see enough conviction from a lot of the players.We'll see, but I don't expect much now, Brazil will be out to paste Portugal- former colony issue if you know what I mean.

Both Portugal and the Ivory Coast were not playing for a win. Both teams were playing with nerves and neither team had confidence. The Ivory Coast midfield made sure that we didn't control possesion, but they didn't really attack. Our midfield isn't that bad on paper, but they just don't click. We really need Pepe because even though he isn't a fantastic passer of the ball, he will win the ball in midfield and up the tempo.

Today we lacked a true ball winner. With Pepe, we will gain possesion and Meireles and Deco will be able to spread the ball out wide. Our defense, other than a few shaky moments from Ferreira, was fantastic. Danny was poor, but we had no service to our wingers. Portugal's biggest strength is in our wings and we need to use them.

Liedson was poor because he had no service and he obviously hates being the lone striker. Both Liedson and Almeida play better in a formation of 2 strikers, but I don't know if we could afford only using 2 center mids.

Lastly, Brazil is over rated. We can not only draw, but even win. I know we didn't play well today, but with Pepe, we are a much better team. Brazil will be more positive in their approach than the Ivory Coast. We are not the team that will dominate possesion in the oppositions half like we used to be. Agaisnt big teams, we are very similar to the Manchester United team of 2007/2008(I wonder why).

Queiroz has turned us into a disciplined counter attacking team just like Manchester United. The combination of Pepe, Carvalho, and Alves is fantastic and Coentrao is extremely impressive as well. We can still play beautiful soccer agasint big teams, but it will be with counter attacks.

We can still do it.

FORCA PORTUGAL!!!!

Absolutely agreed even before reading anything here: Fábio Coentrão was our best player on the night.

" Portugal doesn't have the midfield to support Liedson".

Liedson doesn't move and he is weak. He needs to make runs which he failed to do. You talk about the midfield playing terrible... OF COURSE THEYLL play GARBAGE! with a useless forward in front of them. When Liedson had the ball he couldn't hold it for 5 seconds. He's a female who is too soft for our team. Portugal need a beast. Germany have Klose but we have MAKU ON FORM OMG! . Yet some idiots decided that Maku isn't ready for this challenge and didn't give him a chance because he plays for a small team.
Congrats to the idiots that discriminated against Makukula. Thanks to them we will have a chance at winning the WC.

The most disappointing thing was not the result - a draw between the two contenders for second spot isn't bad - but the way they played!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For much of the game it was the Ivorians that looked like what one would have expected of the Tugas. There was no ball control through the mid-field, no speed, no creativity, nothing.

They looked more like the Italians of old (soak up the pressure and play for the tie) than the "Brazilians of Europe"

Then again, maybe a better performance would have been too much to ask of a country of ~11 Million, when 3 of the starting 11 are injured.

Nani- Who by far is Portugal's hottest player at the moment.

Makukula- Liedson and Almeida don't get the job done. They are like little girls up front. I remember watching the German game and thinking I wish Portugal had a beast up front. Oh wait! I thought. We have makukula but... sh*t liedson ( who has done sh*t all this season) makes the team and Maku ( the hottest portugal striker) is left out. If you score goals you wont make the team. Almeida scored gainst Cameroon twice... He went to the bench.

3) Simao needs to get fit. He's a disaster and I don't give a damn what benfica fans think. Coentrao is valuable but Simao is useless on the pitch. He barely touched the ball at all. Ruben was a plus today too. This isn't the time to be biased. Don't reward those who don't perform... EVEN RONALDO !

I guess we'll only find out after the 3 games . I think we should have played Alemida as we lacked a physical presence up front as well as Liedison
It was a bit of but the world cup isn't won after the 1st game . I think ( hope) we can grow into this world cup

I agree with the Midfield disconnection to the forwards. I always said Meireles and Mendes are way too defensive and lack any creativity.

From what I saw today, Thank God for the draw. They had so many more chances and at one point controlled possession and made us look like a weak team.

Ferreira once again played terribly. Its always dangerous when he has or defends the ball. Simao lacks pace but I saw him back tracking today and was much better then Danny.

Ivory Coast set that "Defend our half and counter-attack strategy" and we couldnt respond. Its so sad to see. We needed way better midfield for this WC (Moutinho). 1 real attacking mid = fail.

So how the hell are we going to feed the wingers with this pathetic midfield? We must beat Korea DPR and I mean by 4-5 goals if we want to advance..

Portugal should have had that game but we'll be good. It will likely come down to goal difference. We'll see how Korea shapes up as they can give a draw to any of the 3 big teams in the group. I think we'll have a stronger game with Brazil. Ivory sat back and killed the play, were as Brazil will attack us hard leaving them open to our attack.

I don't understand how everyone can just brush aside North Korea as if we've already put 5 past them. Until we can show a potent attack we should not be looking past anyone. Portugal need to seriously work to come up with something to score against North Korea who will likely play an extremely defensive style. Let's not forget all of our 0-0 draws.

I still believe the Seleçao can do it but I pray they don't go into their next game with that kind of attitude.

Where to start...

Portugal's midfield is terrible, no chemistry and terrible first touch this is from Danny and the the guys in the middle. Portugal was so slow and predictable with the passing. Portugal doesn't have the midfield to support Liedson I feel sorry for the guy if he doesn't score a goal this tournament I don't blame him.

Paulo Ferreira made me nervous when I saw him in the line-up and nothing has changed because he kept getting burnt by Gervinho.

The positives about Portugal was how well the defense played minus Ferreira. Carvalho, Bruno Alves and Coentrao did their job and if anyone could of changed the game for Portugal it would obviously be Ronaldo's strike at 11 minutes. I was so angry that the referee didn't give Ronaldo the freekick instead of giving him a yellow card it would of been the closest freekick to the net.

I also agree with George there was no reason to give that call the other way.

Portugal needs to score goals against North Korea now I will be satisfied if it's a 3-0 or 2-0 cannot be that bad and hope that Ivory Coast doesn't get any points off Brazil. Portugal has the reputation of starting off slow but hopefully we can finish well.

first game is lways the hardest

I always enjoy watching Portugal in the past they seem to create many chances but no one to finish but the alarming fact is they created very little and the midfield trio looked very poor deco is past his prime meireles and mendes lacks technique and lets not play liedson whos a brazilian and not even singing anthem and seemed to lack commitment

im so shocked that queiroz took out Deco for Tiago....Deco was probably one of the few players trying to make something work for our team and he was replaced by a player who didnt even do anything except foul players...Also pedro mendes, danny, and raul miereles played a horrible game..i couldnt stand them all game...and ronaldo almost got a goal but after that effort all he did was dive and cry all game along with everyone else on the team...we lacked strength, confidence, and imagination....the only positive thing i can say about today's game is fabio coentrao played a great game and was the best player portugal had...i pray to the soccer gods that korea gets a draw or a win against brazil 2 give our team a chance 2 advance..i will also be looking forward 2 the ivory coast and brazil game because that game will play a huge factor towards our progression..i am dissapointed but still optimistic...Forca Portugal!!

Why did they play so defensive ... I'm sorry ... I cheer for Ronaldo ... but his diving is so obvious ... Simao should be the captain .. he takes charge when he is on the pitch .... disappointed .. now they probably have to win the last two games ... and the last one is our cousins in Brazil ... not very good prospects....

That was a depressing and disappointing performance. They played for a tie which will not be smart because now they can't control their destiny.

Queiroz must go, and Jorge Jesus brought in!