COLOGNE, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves was delighted with his side's 1-0 loss to Portugal as his players had made their opponents work for three World Cup points.

    Angola were making their finals debut in Cologne and appeared to be staring at a heavy defeat when Pauleta put Portugal ahead after just four minutes.

    But Portugal could not find a second goal, as Angola matched the European outfit for spirit, if not clear-cut chances.

    Goncalves was proud of his players' performance, which bodes well for the remaining Group D games against Mexico and Iran.

    Though the Angola coach conceded Portugal merited the three points, he was also buoyed by the way his own side performed.

    "Overall, Portugal deserved the win," said Goncalves. "But we played some nice football.

    "My players played with pride, but we are a humble team.

    "Our aim is to complicate the life of the major footballing powers here.

    "We studied Portugal and taped all their games. All teams have weak points and Portugal had some.

    "We controlled their best players throughout the match save for the goal." Enditem