Recipe for recovery

After the disastrous start to their World Cup campaign, Portugal need all the help they can get and team chef Helio Loureiro is doing all he can to make the players feel better.

Loureiro has brought with him to South Korea some 200kg of salted cod, a dish that is never off the menu in Portugal and which the sea-faring nation boasts it can make in 365 different ways.

Sardines are also important to the players, who lost their opening Group D game 3-2 to the United States.

"We brought enough cod to keep homesickness at bay when needs be. It's not in every meal, just on days off after games, when we also have sardines and rice with beans," Loureiro said.

After tiring games such as the surprise defeat on Wednesday, the players began their recovery by drinking a banana milk shake prepared with yoghurt and raisins.