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Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Benfica's Zenit late show wins quarter-final spot

Benfica's Zenit late show wins quarter-final spot

Published: Wednesday 9 March 2016, 19.59CET
Zenit 1-2 Benfica (agg: 1-3)
The tie was heading for extra time when Nicolás Gaitán headed in a decisive equaliser, Talisca's 96th-minute winner adding insult to Zenit injury.
by Richard van Poortvliet
from Stadion Petrovskiy
 

MATCH STATISTICS

Zenit
Benfica
1
Goals scored
2
53
Possession (%)
47
15
Total attempts
13
4
on target
9
5
off target
2
6
blocked
2
0
against woodwork
0
7
Corners
5
6
Offsides
2
1
Yellow cards
2
0
Red Cards
0
14
Fouls committed
22
19
Fouls suffered
14
461
Passes
361
391
completed
297
More

LINEUPS

zenit

Zenit

benfica

Benfica

1Lodygin (GK)1Ederson (GK)
2Anyukov
58
5Fejsa
6Lombaerts7Samaris
7Hulk
69
90+5
10Gaitán (C)
85
8Maurício
82
11Mitroglou
36
67
9Kokorin
58
14Lindelöf
10Danny (C)17Jonas
90+2
13Luís Neto19Eliseu
22Dzyuba21Pizzi
49
73
28Witsel50Semedo
81Zhirkov85Renato Sanches
Substitutes
41Kerzhakov (GK)13Paulo Lopes (GK)
14Yusupov
82
9Jiménez
67
17Shatov
58
18Salvio
73
19Smolnikov
58
20Gonçalo Guedes
24Garay28Sílvio
52Ivanov30Talisca
90+2
90+6
92Dolgov66Rúben Dias
Coaches
André Villas-Boas (POR) Rui Vitória (POR) 
Referee
Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Details

PRESS KITS

Last updated: 09/03/2016 22:08 CET
Media services
 
  
  • Nicolás Gaitán strikes five minutes from time to decide the tie
  • Benfica through to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012
  • The Portuguese side have won 15 of their last 16 games
  • Hulk's 69th-minute header briefly levels matters on aggregate
  • Quarter-final draw at 12.00CET on 18 March in Nyon
RELATED ITEMS
Nicolás Gaitán nodded in the rebound after a fantastic effort from Raúl Jiménez five minutes from time as Benfica booked a return to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of hosts Zenit.
The round of 16 tie was set for extra time after Hulk's header cancelled out the first-leg deficit, with Artem Dzyuba almost grabbing a second for André Villas-Boas's men following a mazy run, being denied by the excellent Ederson.
Instead Raúl turned his marker and unleashed a shot that Yuri Lodygin did well to tip onto the bar. Benfica captain Gaitán was on hand to turn the ball in and six minutes into added time Talisca rubbed salt into Zenit wounds.
Both back lines were ravaged by injury and suspension, with midfielder Andreas Samaris a shock starter at centre-back for the visitors. Yet defences held sway for the first hour. There was plenty of intent from Zenit, but it was measured nonetheless – trailing 1-0 from the game in Lisbon, they could not afford to concede an away goal.
First-leg highlights: Jonas winner
Dzyuba was the hosts' most potent threat, flashing an early effort wide. Gradually, though, Benfica's rearguard, featuring goalkeeper Ederson on his UEFA Champions League debut, found some cohesion and Samaris shone, a natural with seemingly his own gravitational pull for crosses.
Zenit responded by committing more men forward, and Ederson had to be alert to deny Dzyuba and substitute Igor Smolnikov. At the other end Jonas, on the counter, wasted the opportunity to earn some breathing space – a miss for which, 21 minutes from time, Hulk made them pay, ghosting in unmarked to head in Yuri Zhirkov's cutback.
It looked to be enough for extra time at least, until Raúl turned the match on its head.
©AFP/Getty Images
Samaris tracks Dzyuba
Key man: Andreas Samaris
With Benfica decimated, coach Rui Vitória deployed Greece midfielder Samaris as emergency centre-half. The 26-year-old came through the examination with flying colours, keeping the likes of Dzyuba at bay and marshalling an inexperienced back line – defensive partner Victor Lindelöf was making just his second UEFA Champions League outing.
Opportunity knocks for Ederson
Júlio César may struggle to get back into the Benfica side at this rate. The veteran has skipped the last two games with a thigh problem and Ederson has – quite literally – grabbed the chance with both hands. A clean sheet in Saturday's derby win at Sporting CP and now a memorable UEFA Champions League debut. The 22-year-old Brazilian may take some shifting.
How far can Benfica go?
Benfica came to the Stadion Petrovskiy vastly understrength and showed exceptional resilience to carve out a victory that takes them through to the quarter-finals. The likes of Samaris, Ederson and the equally exceptional Renato Sanches produced when their team needed it most and showed that Benfica can dig deep in times of adversity.
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Last updated: 10/03/16 0.46CET
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El Profe Lopez: Guatemala’s class act


(FIFA.com) 
rancisco Javier Rodriguez #2 of Mexico takes position against Denniss Lopez
© Getty Images
Who would have imagined it… Fewer than ten years ago, Dennis Lopez was an up-and-coming Honduran teacher, diligently preparing classes as he strived to bring on a younger generation. Nowadays his situation is quite different, though the aim of securing a brighter future remains - even if now it is as part of the Guatemala squad chasing a first ever appearance at the FIFA World Cup™. 
Lopez was born, raised and took his first steps on the footballing ladder in his native Honduras, where he juggled the beautiful game with his teaching duties. However, in 2009, following a six-month spell in the Honduran top flight, came a life-changing call from Guatemalan outfit Deportivo Jalapa.
“Thanks to the education my parents provided for me, teaching was a viable career option for me,” the 30-year-old centre-back told FIFA.com, in an exclusive interview. “I took that option but I never stopped dreaming of being able to play professionally. So, I went after that opportunity and, thanks to God, I can now say that I made it,” added the powerfully built, 6’1 (1.86m) defender.
“I think that my teaching background makes football that bit easier for me overall,” continued Lopez, nicknamed El Profe (The Teacher). “I find it easier to communicate with my colleagues on and off the pitch, and I’m better at handling different personalities and situations. Some of my coaches have told me I’m good at expressing ideas and getting them across to my team-mates,” added Lopez, at current club Municipal since 2013.
A Chapín by choice
Also dubbed El Maestro (The School Teacher), Lopez’s time in Guatemalan football has gone so well that, in 2014, he was offered the chance to represent the senior national team. “I’ve spent most of my [senior football] career in Guatemala,” he explained. “When I was asked if I wanted to get involved, I saw it as a way of thanking this country for everything it’s done for me in sporting terms. For me, it was a lovely way to say thank you by doing what I do best: playing football.”
And, within a year, came Lopez’s finest moment thus far in the Chapina shirt: Guatemala's two-legged duel with Antigua and Barbuda for a place in Round 4 of North, Central America and Caribbean qualifying for Russia 2018. Their Caribbean opponents held a 1-0 lead from the first leg, with Los Guatemaltecos requiring a 2-0 win in the return on home soil to go through in normal time. 

The scores were still level at 0-0 at the interval but, just after the hour mark, up poppedChapín legend and skipper Carlos El Pescadito Ruiz to open the scoring and ramp up the emotion, drama and expectation levels in Guatemala City’s Estadio Mateo Flores. Yet the glory of the tie’s clinching goal, via a glancing 75th-minute header, was reserved for Lopez.
“When you’re a defender you’re happy when you keep a clean sheet or the team does a good job defensively. The goal was a reward for the whole team, for the work we’d put in during that week,” he said. “That’s why we celebrated it so joyfully and with so much emotion. It’s not easy to score a goal and even more so in a qualifier.”
Aiming to stay on path towards history Thanks to that vital goal, Guatemala made it through to Round 4 and Group C, where they are aiming to secure one of the section’s two available berths for the final six-team ‘Hexagonal’ round of qualifying. Currently third with three points from two games, they remain just a point behind group leaders USA – their next opponents on 25 March.
“They are a very complete team and have played some great matches,” was El Profe’sverdict. “They’ve played several friendlies this year too but, rather than thinking about them, we’re more focused on what we ourselves can achieve.” 
Among the talking points of this encounter will be head coach Walter Claveri, in the Guatemala hotseat since January and set to oversee his first qualifier with his new charges. “The coaching staff have a very clear idea of the way they want us to try and play,” said Lopez. “We don’t get much time to work, just two or three training sessions before each game, but this is a receptive group of players and we’ve picked up wins in friendly games.” 

For that reason, despite facing regional heavyweights USA, Los Chapines do not intend to play second-fiddle to anyone in the race for a World Cup place. “Our strengths are teamwork, ability on the ball, sacrifice and determination. We always try to win the ball back as fast as possible. Mathematically we’re still in with a chance of making the next round and, for as long as that’s the case, we’re going to fight for it,” underlined Lopez.

On an individual note too, El Maestro has a goal to fight for: the desire to return to the teaching profession once he hangs up his boots. “If and when I go back to teaching, it’d be lovely to be able to say I played at a World Cup,” he said, looking ahead. “Now that we’ve got this far in qualifying, I can’t stop thinking about that. And of course, I’d love to give the Guatemalan people something to celebrate – they yearn to see the blue-and-white flag at the World Cup.”
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Ureña: Goalscoring is my business (COSTA RICA)


(FIFA.com) 
Marco Urena of Costa Rica (R) scores the team's third goal past Fernando Muslera of Uruguay during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Group D match between Uruguay and Costa Rica at Estadio Castelao
© Getty Images
Everyone loves a finisher, the kind of player who appears in the right place at the right time to put the ball away, a knack they often show on the big occasion. There is not a coach who does not yearn to have such a player at their disposal, for very often they make all the difference between finishing first and coming second.
Costa Rica are fortunate to have one such matador in their ranks, the 26-year-old Marcos Urena, whose speed and coolness in front of goal have proved vital for Los Ticos in recent years, during which they have more than exceeded the expectations of their adoring fans.
Glory days
The front man has proved his worth on the biggest stage of all, as he himself explained toFIFA.com in recalling the group match between Costa Rica and Uruguay in Fortaleza at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, which saw him make a decisive contribution after his side had taken a 2-1 lead: “I hadn’t been on the pitch for long, but I knew they were having a job defending the space behind them, which is exactly where I wanted to go. I set off, Joel Campbell played me the perfect pass and all I had to do was beat the keeper.”
That goal, his side’s third of the day, sealed one of the most important wins in the history of Costa Rican football to that point and added no little lustre to Urena’s reputation, which he polished further by scoring the winner against Panama in a CONCACAF qualifier for Russia 2018 last November.
Being where he needs to be is a skill that Urena has had to work on, as he explained in revealing the secret of his success: “You have to be focused the whole time, and if you get the call to go on, there’s no time to waste. You also have to know your team-mates strengths and the opposition’s weaknesses. We’d already practised that goal against Uruguay. We played a warm-up game against [Republic of] Ireland and Campbell played exactly the same pass to me, which led to a penalty on that occasion.”
The telepathy and understanding La Sele showed in Brazil has once again been a hallmark of their ongoing bid to qualify for Russia 2018. With wins in their opening two matches of Round 4, Los Ticos have gone some way to easing the nerves of their fans, who have been less than happy with the side’s performances since their memorable Brazilian adventure.
“We’ve never had any doubts, though there’s no question our form wasn’t what it was at the World Cup,” said the forward, who plays his club football for Danish side Midjytlland. “Paulo Wanchope came in as coach and made a few tactical changes for the Gold Cup, which didn’t work out. Now we’ve got a new coach in Oscar Ramirez, who’s gone back to the tactics we like to play and has restored the confidence we needed as a team.”
No easy games
Next up for Los Ticos is a double header against Jamaica in March. Victory in those two games would secure them a place in the final six-team group in the CONCACAF Zone, though Urena is taking nothing for granted against the Reggae Boyz, who lie third in Group B: “We played them in the Gold Cup and we had to fight hard for a draw. Most of their players are based in England and they’re very strong and quick. We need to make sure we don’t give the ball away cheaply and let them counter-attack, which is what they did to us in that game.”
Nevertheless, Urena knows that Costa Rica, with their new-found reputation, will be expected to win. “Our opponents definitely look at us differently now,” he said. “They give everything they’ve got when they play us. No one sees us as underdogs any more. Just look at the last Copa America, when we were drawn against Paraguay, USA and Colombia and everyone said it was a very tight group.”
The best could yet be to be come for Costa Rica. With a clutch of stars based in Europe and a solid core of players who have been together for years, Los Ticos can continue to aim high.
“There’s Bryan Ruiz, who’s in the form of his life, while Keylor Navas has bided his time and is now showing why Real Madrid bought him, and Joel Campbell is finally getting the opportunities he needed at Arsenal,” said Urena. “They’re role models and a source of motivation for the rest of us. They are where they are because of their performances withLa Sele, and that spurs us on to give our best and try and follow in their footsteps.”
In seeking to do that, the smiling Urena will continue to lend his instinctive finishing skills to the Tico cause: “The squad and the coaches know they can rely on me. They know I can pop up with a winner at any time.”
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