Portugal's chances of qualifying are slim: Bento

Manaus, June 23 (IANS/EFE) Portugal head coach Paulo Bento has admitted that his team's chances of qualifying for the second round of the 2014 World Cup now look slim especially after their 2-2 draw with the US.

Portugal equalised in the 94th minute, with a header by Silvestre Varela, to keep alive their hopes. They have to win their next game against Ghana comprehensively and also have to depend on the result of the Germany-US match, reports EFE.

"Now all we can do is to give everything in our very last game and try and make the most of the very little chance that we have left," the coach was quoted as saying by FIFA's official website after the match here held Sunday.

"It's clearly not a good result for us. The 2-2 doesn't put us out of the World Cup mathematically, but it does leave us in a very difficult situation. Not just because of what we'll need to do against Ghana, but also because we'll need a favourable result from the Germany-United States game," he said.

"We were unlucky late in the first half, but it was a great effort to level the match (in second-half injury time)," he added.

Germany lead Group G with four points followed by US also with same number of points but second on goal difference. Ghana and Portugal are in the third and fourth place with one point each.

--IANS/EFE

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