By Nick Said
HOUSTON, June 22 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan must show more fight against Portugal in their second World Cup match than they did against Colombia in their 3-1 opening defeat, coach Fabio Cannavaro said on Monday.
Uzbekistan are making their first appearance at the World Cup, and Italian Cannavaro, who won the 2006 tournament as a player, expected his side to have learned from their loss to the South Americans.
“As I have always said, we have nothing to lose,” he told reporters ahead of Tuesday's
Group K game. “Portugal always like to control the game. They will start in a very good way, they want to play fast. We will be prepared for that.
“We have our strategy. I know we are going to face a very good team. We will try to do our best, stay in the game until the end.
“I asked my team to play with more fighting spirit than against Colombia, but we cannot just run around stupidly everywhere.”
Cannavaro also warned his side not to fall into the trap of focusing too heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo, who delivered a below-par performance in Portugal’s 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We cannot focus only on Cristiano. He is one of the greatest players ever, but Portugal has more good players and talent on the bench," he added. "Having said that, Cristiano can score in every situation. We need to be very careful.”
Cannavaro said that while his role in 2026 is totally different from that when he captained Italy to the title in 2006, he still feels the same thrill of being at the tournament.
“As a player you think on more of an individual level, but as a coach you cannot do that. You need to talk to the players, think about the strategy and so on," he added.
“I don’t try to show them videos of how it was to hold the World Cup because it was 20 years ago. But I try to show them how it is to play as a team.
"You have (Lionel) Messi and Maradona who can win games by themselves, but for us it is always about playing as a team.
“When you are at a World Cup it stays with you forever. And I am lucky because I have very happy memories.”
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
