Nani defends Cristiano Ronaldo: Everyone misses chances

Posted Thursday, June 14, 2012 by Goal.com

Portugal winger Nani has paid tribute to the aggression and determination of his side after they scored a last-gasp winner to see off Denmark in their second match in Group B.

Paulo Bento’s team took an early lead through Pepe’s close-range header and doubled their advantage soon after when Helder Postiga converted a chance at the near post.

A double from Nicklas Bendtner looked to have salvaged a draw for the Danes, leaving the Portuguese in a perilous position in the group, only for substitute Silvestre Varela to smash home a winner in the 87th minute and keep their hopes of progression to the quarter-finals alive.

The win could have been sewn up much earlier if star forward Cristiano Ronaldo had been able to take one of several chances he had in the match but Nani insists the pressure is not getting to his former Manchester United team-mate.

“Cristiano is okay, he is happy, we won the game, so there is nothing to worry about," he told reporters after the match.

“Everyone misses chances. He had a great opportunity to score, he did not score, but we will have more games.

“Maybe he will score then. Cristiano does not play alone, he is very important to us, his work rate was very good in my opinion, because he helped in defence and attack.”

Nani went on to say that he was proud of the way the team rallied together to win the game after Bendtner’s equaliser.

"We showed everyone we wanted to win the game. When Denmark equalised, we had a lot of anger in us and a lot of desire to turn things around.

“The only thing we were thinking about was the victory and we had to fight for it until the last minute. That is what I tried to transmit to my team-mates and then everyone showed a good reaction. Fortunately, we were able to score.

"Those last minutes were decisive. We had to give everything, to risk everything."