With Nani ruled out of the tournament earlier on Tuesday due to a
shoulder injury, Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz chose the safe option and
started Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench.The 28,000-strong crowd at
the Wanderers cricket ground were disappointed not to see the world's
most expensive player start and made the stands shake when he finally
came on in the 62nd minute.Danny was the liveliest Portuguese player
from the start, linking up well with Deco and Simao as Portugal missed a
host of chances. It was the African team, however, who came closest to
scoring, when midfielder Hagy fired a thunderous long distance shot that
crashed against Eduardo's post on 40 minutes.The Portuguese took
control in the second half, with Danny sidestepping keeper Lama after a
Deco through ball to score on 52 minutes. The Zenit player turned
provider in the 75th minute, making a fine assist for substitute Hugo
Almeida to tap in.Ronaldo's main contribution to the match came in
the 83rd minute, when his powerful drive was parried by Lama straight to
Almeida who scored his second with another simple finish.Portugal
begin their World Cup Group G campaign against Ivory Coast on June 15
before matches with North Korea and Brazil.
