Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, deflated after the hosts' shock 2-1 defeat by Greece in the opening Euro 2004 match on Saturday, apologised and said the next game will be a life or death affair.
"I want to apologise for the result and our performance which didn't reward the backing we had from the public," said the Brazilian.
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"In a competition like this where you play three games, you can only afford to lose one match. We had our defeat today. The next game is life or death. That is how we have to face it."
Portugal were made to pay dearly for an early mistake when defender Paulo Ferreira sent a pass out of defence straight to Greek midfielder Giorgos Karagounis, who gave his team a seventh-minute lead.
The hosts' fate was sealed when Angelos Basinas converted a penalty six minutes into the second half before Cristiano Ronaldo pulled one back in injury time.
They face Russia in Lisbon on Wednesday desperately needing a win to stay in the tournament.
Scolari said his team, who created only one genuine chance before their goal and often looked too lightweight to threaten their opponents, had failed to recover from their early setback.
"Right at the start of the game, we gave the ball away and we gave Greece what they most needed," said Scolari, who led Brazil to their fifth World Cup win in South Korea and Japan two years ago.
"Our error gave them a goal chance which completely changed our team's way of playing and gave confidence and personality to the Greeks.
"The second half was the same thing. We made another passing mistake at the start and they got the penalty.
"We created a few chances but Greece were well organised, they closed up at the back and exploited the counter-attack.
"We lost control of the game. ... We made mistakes in positioning, we made mistakes with our passing.
"These results happen and you have to be prepared for them. You have to know how to win and how to lose."
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