Sporting Lisbon’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nacional-c39984 despite the first-leg ending 2-2.
The Lions took on Nacional in the semi-finals of the Portuguese Cup and in the first leg at Estadio Jose Alvalade drew 2-2 despite playing at home.
Domingos Paciência’s men were heavy favourites before the tie but gave a poor account of themselves in the first half of the game. Star striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valeri-Bojinov-c35853.
The home side failed to mount significant pressure on the visitors and as a result suffered their first set-back when Nacional took the lead through Rondon, who scored from a Stojanovic cross.
Things got worse for the Sportinguistas as Candeias nicked the ball off http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anderson-c5565 Polga and then added to his side’s tally by comfortably beating Rui Patricio.
After the break, the Lisbon giants came out stronger and were able to get into the match, following goals from Brazilian forward http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Elias-c12267 and Stijn Schaars. Although the game ended all square, the Dutch International claims that his team can bounce back in the 2nd leg of the tie.
Speaking to reporters, the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Netherlands-c753 International said that although his team had not performed to the best of their abilities in the first leg, they could reach the Portuguese Cup finale if they managed to win at Estádio da Madeira.
"We will be able to turn this around; we have a good opportunity to reach the final."
He also added that his team had performed well in the second half and reiterated that they would be looking to win when they met the White-and-Black once again.
"We were better in the second half, when we were playing against ten. We are aware of all this and we want to win in the return leg: the Cup of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Portugal-c2984 is ours to win!" Stijn Schaars was quoted as saying.
Sporting Lisbon play the 2nd leg of the Portuguese Cup on the 8th February at the Madeira Stadium and given that the club have a plethora of talented players they should come out on top.
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