Group G contenders Portugal shared the points in their group opening match with Ivory Coast in an entertaining game played Tuesday evening at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Ronaldo frustrated by the Ivorians
Portugal Captain Christiano Ronaldo had the best chance to put his side ahead when his 35-yard effort hit the right under the Ivory Coast goal. The Ivory Coast defence managed to keep the Real Madrid forward and his fellow strikers at bay, with Ronaldo not having that much an impact on the field.
Ivory didn’t also have much threat on the goalm despite their enterprising undertakings on the field, save for an extra time chance that Didier Drogba had. The Ivorian Captain who came on for Salomon Kalu passed the ball when it looked he would score and wasted his country’s best chance to get maximum points.
The match played in front 37, 034 football spectators will go down as the most entertaining and engaging matches so far played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Both teams will now expect get better results from Brazil and North Korea in order to be an advantage to qualify out of Group G.
See Results of matches so far played at FIFA 2010 World Cup
Portugal 0- 0 Ivory Coast