Sven defends Ivorian bore draw
IVORY COAST (0) vs PORTUGAL (0)
IVORY COAST coach Sven-Goran Eriksson believes both sides would have been happy with yesterday’s bore draw in Port Elizabeth – as neither team wanted to lose.
With Brazil red-hot favourites to top Group G, both were desperate to avoid defeat, culminating in a dour stalemate. Cristiano Ronaldo came closest to breaking the deadlock for Portugal, striking a post, as the Ivory Coast, boosted by the return of substitute Didier Drogba from a broken arm, held on for a share of the spoils.
“There weren’t many occasions to score,” Eriksson said. “You saw two teams who didn’t want to lose. I thought if one team had won it should have been us.”
Meanwhile, Winston Reid’s dramatic injury-time equaliser handed New Zealand a 1-1 draw against Slovakia in Rustenberg to square up Group F.
Robert Vittick earlier gave the Slovakians a 50th minute lead.