Portugal performance pleases Queiroz

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz praised his side's organisation and discipline after overseeing a 3-1 FIFA World Cup™ warm-up win over Cameroon last night.

Raul Meireles scored twice - either side of a red card for Cameroon's star man Samuel Eto'o - before Pierre Webo's strike put the African nation back in contention, only for Nani to seal the win nine minutes from time in Covilha.

"We didn't lose a player through injury," said Queiroz. "To win a game is always important. "It was a good game. I asked my players for discipline and organisation and, even when we played against 10 men, we managed to maintain our focus."

Cameroon were a man down for the best part of an hour after Inter Milan striker Eto'o was sent off for a second bookable offence. Portugal have been drawn in Group G alongside Brazil, Korea DPR and Côte d'Ivoire.

Source : fifa.com

Spain edge Korea Republic in warm-up

European champions Spain eked out a 1-0 victory over Korea Republic in a FIFA World Cup™ finals warm-up match here on Thursday.

The match had promised to be an exciting meeting, with Spain hoping to exorcise the ghosts of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, when they were stunned by Korea Republic in a controversial quarter-final in which the Spaniards had two goals disallowed.

But the two sides failed to impress during much of the game, with just eight days to go before the tournament kicks off, despite a late goal by Jesus Navas. Playing before a packed house, Spain took the opportunity to give playing time to many of their injured players, while Korea Republic failed to convert some good efforts.

Korean coach Huh Jung-Moo defended his tactics after the game. "We tried to play very defensively, when you play against a stronger team, you should play defensively and use counter-attacks," he said. "We learnt a few things. We feel we played well against Spain, we feel we did well today."

The match started off cautiously with neither side willing to take any risks and it mostly stayed that way in the first half. Korea Republic came closest to scoring first after 13 minutes with a long-range shot by midfielder Kim Jung-Woo that went wide.

The Koreans seemed in attacking mood at first, spurred on by a loud contingent of Korean fans. A couple of efforts by the Spaniards however soon sparked faster offensive play by La Furia Roja. A ball from Sergio Ramos was headed away after 27 minutes, and Cesc Fabregas, back from injury, hit the post with a good effort after 35 minutes.

The two coaches substituted their goalkeepers at half-time, with Spain bringing in Victor Valdes for Jose Reina while Korea Republic replaced Lee Woon-Jae with Jung Sung-Ryong. Further changes in the Spanish side saw Fabregas make way for Barcelona's Xavi, playing only his second match after a long time out through injury.

In what was one of the best chances of the game, Celtic's Ki Sung-Yueng fired in a superb shot on goal after 67 minutes only for it to be blocked by a team-mate, who accidentally headed the ball away. The pace accelerated in the last 15 minutes with both sides attacking more consistently and Sevilla winger Navas finally netted after 86 minutes with a glorious 25-yard strike into the top-right corner.

Spain are one of the favourites to win the FIFA World Cup in South Africa for the first time. Until now, their best result was a fourth-place finish in 1962. Vicente del Bosque's team plays one last friendly against Poland on 8 June in Murcia, before flying down to South Africa, where they will face Switzerland, Honduras and Chile in Group H.

South Korea play their first group match against UEFA EURO 2004 winners Greece on 12 June in Durban, followed by games against two-time FIFA World Cup winners Argentina and Nigeria.

source : fifa.com