Midfielder Deco has warned Ivory Coast not to be taken in by Cristiano Ronaldo's international goal drought.
Midfielder Deco has warned Ivory Coast not to be taken in by Cristiano Ronaldo's international goal drought.
The Real Madrid forward failed to find the target during the entire World Cup qualifying campaign and has not registered for his country since a friendly win over Finland 16 months ago.
However, while teammate Deco is confident the goals will start to flow once again for the former Manchester United star, he insists Ronaldo is not the only dangerman for the Africans in today's Group G opener in Port Elizabeth.
The Chelsea man said: "Everyone talks about Cristiano Ronaldo ufffd it's natural because he is the player he is. "But we can only get anywhere if we are a team. It's the whole Portuguese team that matters.
"It's important that he scores goals, and those goals will help us to get through to the next phase and maybe win it.
"Whether Cristiano Ronaldo scores or not, there's really no concern as long as we score as a team."
Ronaldo, who has found the back of the net on a regular basis for his club this season, is not unduly concerned either, having predicted that the goals, like ketchup from a bottle, will arrive thick and fast once they start flowing.
Deco said: "I don't know what Cristiano really wanted to say with that. I need to ask him what he is going to do with that ketchup."
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