Bento: Germany are favourites but Portugal can progress

Published on: 07 December 2013

Portugal coach Paulo Bento says Germany are the favourites to win World Cup Group G, but has backed his side to progress from what he describes as a "balanced" section.

Friday's event saw the Seleccao grouped with Germany, Ghana and USA, meaning another clash with Joachim Low's outfit following on from their meeting at Euro 2012. That 1-0 win for the Nationalelf  is one of the reasons the bookmakers have made the top seeds favourites to win the group.

And while Bento agrees with the assertion that his team are not the fancied side, he is confident they can emerge unscathed.

"Group G has a team in Germany who may be considered favourites because of their history and potential, but it is a very balanced group," Bento told Record.

 "USA and Ghana are well organised and have some good values, but we have the ambition to move forward, grab the most points as we can and to reach the round of 16."

Bento added that he is not getting carried away with thoughts of progressing, rather he is optimistic about his side's chances of arriving in Brazil in the best shape for the task ahead.

"It's not a matter of being positive or negative. At the Euros, we debuted against Germany and lost 1-0, but we played well. We will fight with our weapons, and are certain that we can reach our goals.

"We will try to make our players as comfortable as they can be, so that they can recover well and give the response that we expect."

The Portuguese begin their Group G campaign against the Germans in Salvador on June 16 befoe a clash with USA in Manaus six days later. They round off the section with a trip to Brasilia to face Ghana on June 26.

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