Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro has urged his players to show more fighting spirit when they play Portugal in their second FIFA World Cup Group K match on Tuesday after starting their season with a 3-1 defeat to Colombia.
The Central Asians are making their World Cup debut and Cannavaro, who led Italy to the title in 2006, expects his side to quickly learn from the initial setback.
“As I have always said, we have nothing to lose,” Cannavaro told reporters. «Portugal would like to control the match and they will start very strong. We know what to expect and we have our strategy. We will try to do our best and stay in the match until the end.»
The Italian said he wanted to see a more combative performance from his players but stressed the aggression must be kept in check.
“I asked my team to play with more fighting spirit than against Colombia, but we can’t just run around stupidly everywhere,” he said.
Cannavaro also warned his players against focusing solely on Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the experienced striker producing an understated performance in Portugal’s 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We cannot concentrate only on Cristiano,” he said. «He is one of the greatest players ever, but Portugal have a lot of other quality players and talent on the bench. That said, Cristiano can score in any situation, so we have to be very careful.»
Reflecting on his own World Cup journey, Cannavaro said coaching at the tournament is very different from playing, although the emotions remain just as strong.
“As a player you think more on an individual level, but as a coach you have to think about the whole team, the strategy and the players,” he said.
«I don’t show them videos of me winning the World Cup because that was 20 years ago. Instead, I try to show them how important it is to play as a team. Players like Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona can win games on their own, but for us it all starts with teamwork.»
“When you’re at a World Cup, the memories stay with you forever. I’m lucky that mine are very happy ones.”
Published on June 23, 2026
