Portugal, Ivory Coast scoreless at halftime in Group G match

Portugal, Ivory Coast scoreless at halftime

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa — Portugal and Ivory Coast showed plenty of attacking flair and tough tackling, but the teams remained scoreless at halftime of their World Cup match.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo rattled a 30-yard strike off the left post in the 11th minute Tuesday to nearly put his team ahead. Ivory Coast’s best chance came in the 17th minute when Cheick Tiote’s shot rose just over the crossbar.

There were few other good scoring opportunities in the evenly-matched first half, which featured three yellow cards — to Ronaldo and Ivory Coast’s Guy-Roland Demel, both in the 21st minute after an altercation on the edge of the Ivory Coast penalty area, and Demel’s teammate Didier Zokora in the seventh minute.