By Nick Said
HOUSTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro took responsibility for his side’s 5-0 World Cup Group K loss to Portugal on Tuesday, but insisted they were a team growing on the international stage and would be better for the bitter experience in Houston.
Cannavaro’s side are on the brink of elimination at their debut World Cup after they also lost 3-1 to Colombia and have a final fixture against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, when victory is a must to keep
their hopes of a round-of-32 place alive.
“They tried everything, they tried their best, I am very proud,” Cannavaro told reporters. “We have to keep believing until we mathematically cannot go through.”
Cannavaro, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, said the blame for the defeat must rest with him and not his players.
“All my life I have taken responsibility, as a player and as a coach. If we lost 5-0, it is because today I made mistakes, and not them (the players),” he said.
“This is our first time at the World Cup. I told the players that they can misplace a pass and make mistakes. Because I must give them the confidence to try and improve.”
Uzbekistan were denied a superb goal by Azizjon Ganiev at 2-0 when it was disallowed for a foul in the build-up, and Cannavaro admitted that knocked the stuffing out of his team.
“The goal that was disallowed really had an impact on our confidence,” he said. “It was a shame because we started playing just as we did against Colombia, we were playing boldly," he said.
“I asked them to be more courageous, to play football and not to be afraid. If you have that mindset you can grow as a team and grow individually.
"We are here to gain experience even if we are to lose.”
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)
