Sporting chance for Malmö

By Rui Matos Pereira

Wednesday's UEFA Cup first-round first leg between Sporting Clube de Portugal and Malmö FF will mark another first for the new José Alvalade stadium.

Unhappy memories
The newly built venue, which will host five games at UEFA EURO 2004™ next summer, will be staging its first European game as Sporting look to improve on last season's display in the UEFA Cup, where they were knocked out in the first round by FK Partizan.

Swedish visitors
This will be the third occasion that Sporting have welcomed Swedish opposition in Lisbon. In the 1987/88 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Paulinho Cascavel scored a hat-trick at the old Alvalade as they beat Kalmar FF 5-0 to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit.

Halmstads crushed
More recently, they overcame Halmstads BK in the second round of the UEFA Cup in 2001/02, winning 1-0 in Sweden through a Marius Niculae goal before thrashing their opponents 6-1 at the Alvalade - with another Brazilian, Mário Jardel, scoring a hat-trick.

League concerns
A similarly emphatic win would welcome at the new stadium, following a defeat in added time against Moreirense FC at the weekend. However, they are likely to enter Wednesday's match without Brazilian midfield player Fábio Rochemback, who has a back injury.

Brazilian hope
Rochemback may well be joined on the sidelines by left-back Rui Jorge, who is nursing a knee injury, but Brazilian striker Liedson could yet make a name for himself after being included in coach Fernando Santos's squad for the second time since his arrival in Portugal.

'Play to win'
Santos did not lack confidence ahead of the game. "We are Sporting," he said. "We have to play to win from the kick-off and not wait for the game to come to us. Malmö are a very awkward opponent and very strong on the counterattack."

Surface tension
Aside from injuries, Sporting have also been struggling to come to terms with the surface at their new stadium. After only three games, a fungus called Pithium took hold and, under protest from players and club staff, the club have brought in new turf from France to patch up the pitch.

Familiar faces
Nonetheless, Malmö will go into the first leg as underdogs - a fact acknowledged by coach Tom Prahl, who led Halmstad on their ill-fated trip to the old Alvalade. "I know Sporting's players, as I met them two seasons ago," he said "They've changed some elements, but João Pinto still is a great player.

Good form
"Playing in Lisbon is not easy, but, if we have all the players fully focused and flawless, we might have some chance. We have been playing well in the last month and we played very well this weekend as we defeated Djurgårdens [IF] in the Swedish league."

Death threats
Malmö will be without defender Daniel Majstorovic, who is out for six weeks after sustaining ligament damage, but will travel with Nigerian striker Peter Ijeh. The African-born player has received death threats in recent weeks following so far unsuccessful negotiations over a new deal with the club, but has decided to ignore them and persevere.

Any goal will do
Should he score, it would be the perfect response from Ijeh, but as Prahl acknowledged, a goal of any sort would be a bonus for Malmö. "If we score, 1-1 is a good result, but even if we lose with a goal scored, then a 2-1 defeat can be good, too," said the coach.