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28.06.2006 Sports News

BRAZIL-GHANA: Coaches' Quotes

28.06.2006 LISTEN
By FIFAworldcup.com

Carlos Alberto PARREIRA (BRA)
We knew that the game wouldn't be easy, and so it proved. The scoreline was deceptive, because it was a very difficult match. Our big problem was that our passing went astray. We played more with haste than speed.

Speed is when you play quickly and put moves together in a co-ordinated way. We needed to keep hold of the ball more. Our passing was sloppy, but the defence was good.

The Round of 16 and the quarter-finals are always very difficult rounds, because you are coming out of a situation in which you can actually lose a game straight into the knockout stages. It's not as though we didn't put the effort in, but rather that we were surprised by Ghana's good performance.

Why is it only Brazil who have to play attractive football? The history books don't record who played pretty football, they record who won the trophies and we've won five. Right now, what we want to do is to win another. I've got a lot of options to choose from, but the important thing is that I keep a clear head. With such a good squad, I'm bound to have selection problems.

Ratomir DUJKOVIC (GHA)
I'm very proud of my team and of the way they fought, not just today but right from the start of the tournament. The next time, Ghana can expect to do even better.

I picked the team that I thought would do best in this game. If (Razak) Pimpong didn't play, that's because I thought that the team would do better without him. The absence of Michael Essien was crucial, no doubt about it. He controls our play right up to the final third of the pitch.

The chances that we missed were also crucial in the outcome of the game. The difference was that they didn't waste the chances that they had. They are a fantastic team. If you give them a fraction of a second, they can kill you off, just as they did to us today. I think Brazil are the favourites, and I would like the team that knocked Ghana out to go on and become champions.

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