Nani: 'Portugal deserved last-16 spot'

Nani believes that Portugal deserved to progress to the last 16 of the World Cup following their elimination this evening.

Paulo Bento's side beat Ghana 2-1 but the victory was not enough to help them seal a second-round place, with USA pipping them on goal difference.

Portugal kicked off their campaign with a heavy 4-0 defeat to Group G winners Germany, and Nani believes that their exit can be traced back to that loss in Salvador.

"We knew that it would be hard to qualify for the next round. We needed five goals and that proved to be too much," Nani told Goal.com.

"We got a lot of chances to score, but we got only two goals in the end. We have to accept that we're out and move on.

"I think we deserved to progress, but those four goals we conceded against Germany cost us. We were determined to turn things around against Ghana, but it was not enough."

Since the defeat, captain Cristiano Ronaldo has insisted that Portugal can leave Brazil with their "heads held high".