Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes has admitted his side were nervous during their 3-2 win over Ghana in their 2022 World Cup opener on Thursday.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for Portugal via the penalty spot after a goalless first half but Ghana improved after the goal and scored the equalised through skipper Andre Ayew from close range.
Portugal responded with two goals in two minutes to seal the points - Joao Felix converting a delightfully clipped finish and substitute Rafael Leao coolly stroking in just seconds after coming on. Osman Bukari headed in a late consolation for Ghana and there could have been real drama in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
"Only by making the right movements can create spaces. There has to be the right timing in the movement," Fernandes said after the game.
"We were happy and we scored goals, just like the penalty kick, a great move between João Félix and Cristiano resulted in a penalty kick for us that scored."
He added, "It wasn't a tremor at all. It's the normal nervousness of the first game, it's the difficulty that Ghana caused us. A selection that we knew would cause us a lot of problems. "
"At the end of the game they took more people to the front. When we left, we could have scored one more goal or two: we weren't able to, but we knew how to defend the result and that's the most important thing.
"We want to start winning, but regardless of the results of the other teams, we have to do our [work]. That's what we manage to control: our games and our points. Now, the focus is on the next game."
The defeat means Black Stars are bottom of Group H after Uruguay and South Korea played out a goalless draw earlier on Thursday.
The Black Stars will now switch their attention to their attention to the match against South Korea on Monday before taking on Uruguay on December 2 at the Education City stadium.