What they're saying at the World Cup

"It's mission accomplished as far as 12 June goes. But that's all." -- French skipper Didier Deschamps after France beat South Africa 3-0.

"We all wanted to start the World Cup well and we did." -- French midfielder Zinedine Zidane.

"We are now in the exact position we thought we would be in." -- South Africa's French coach Philippe Troussier after his men lost 3-0 on their World Cup debut to France.

"What a moment that would have been." -- Paraguay's goalkeeper and captain Jose Luis Chilavert, who came close to scoring against Bulgaria from a second-half free-kick.

"The adrenalin is pumping harder than usual." -- Mexico coach Manuel Lapuente ahead of his men's opening game against South Korea.

"They have guys who are almost two metres tall." -- Saudi Arabia's Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Perreira, after his men found Denmark a tall order and went down 1-0.

"For most of the match it was actually a bit easier than I had expected." -- Denmark's Swedish coach Bo Johansson on his side's 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

"We do exactly what the coach wants us to do, and that has been one of our strengths." -- Egil Ostenstad explaining the Norwegian philosophy.

"If there's good honest tackling going on, I don't think the referee will see it as a bad foul." -- England's hardman midfielder David Batty on the new FIFA clampdown on dangerous tackles from behind.

"This is an emotional moment for me." -- Coach Bora Milutinovic, after Nigeria beat Spain 3-2.

"It's not over yet. There's a long way to go." -- Spanish coach Javier Clemente following his country's 3-2 loss to Nigeria.

"I think maybe we should have had a penalty early in the first half." -- Bulgarian coach Hristo Bonev referring to an incident in the fifth minute of the match with Paraguay.