'Strong desire' delights Okuka

Serbia and Montenegro coach Dragomir Okuka praised his players for the "strong desire" they showed to bounce back from their opening-day defeat by Germany to beat Portugal 2-0 here on Thursday night. A first-half own goal from Zé Castro and Branislav Ivanović's 65th-minute header earned Serbia and Montenegro their first Group A points and left hosts Portugal facing the prospect of early elimination. Portugal were reduced to ten men when Semedo was sent off for a foul on Milos Krašic and though Portugal goalkeeper Bruno Vale saved the resulting spot-kick from Nenas Milijaš, he was unable to keep out Ivanović's effort moments later.

Dragomir Okuka, Serbia and Montenegro coach
I'm really satisfied especially given the circumstances, having lost to Germany. I said I was disappointed with the performances of a few of my players who didn't show the level I had expected of them. But I know what they can do and I thought we would improve tonight. I just want to congratulate my players, especially for their strong desire and determination. France will be a very hard match but we will strive for the same result. I am pleased with the performance, not just the result, because it will help us looking ahead to our next games.

Agostinho Oliveira, Portugal coach
If we had taken our chances everybody would have been saying we are a great team. I think in the second half we did enough to deserve to win, but this is football. I can't find an explanation for what has been happening to us since the start of the tournament. For the second goal I didn't see anyone marking the Serbia player because they were still celebrating Bruno Vale's penalty save. They lost their concentration and we paid for that. My players were heroes tonight. They did everything to win but just couldn't manage it. I still believe we can quailfy, but it is clear to me that the situation is much worse than yesterday. The most important thing now is to raise morale ahead of the game against Germany. I want to thank the fans for all their support. I thought they were great tonight.