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Derlei determined to push on to the summit

Derlei says Sporting Clube de Portugal "really want that first place" in Group C after his goal against FC Shakhtar Donetsk earned the Lisbon team their first passage to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.

Derlei celebrates his winner against Shakhtar
Derlei celebrates his winner against Shakhtar ©Getty Images

Instant impact
The Brazilian striker had been on the field for just four minutes as a substitute for Hélder Postiga when he struck from Marat Izmailov's cross to break through a stubborn and determined Shakhtar rearguard. Derlei has spent much of the intervening period since winning the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto in 2004 beset by injury, and is enjoying being back in the spotlight.

Objective achieved
"I was the hero of course because I scored," he told uefa.com, "but our collective efforts made it possible." Derlei, who also scored in the previous Group C game at the Alvalade, against FC Basel 1893, thinks his side's qualification is the result of setting themselves smaller targets rather than thinking too hard about the bigger picture. "The most important thing was to win the game, which was our first objective, and this put us on our way to qualification for the last 16," he said.

Tough competition
The 33-year-old was quick to dampen any suggestion that Sporting's success was down to a favourable draw. "It was a difficult group, as was proved by [FC] Barcelona not managing to beat Basel tonight," he pointed out. The win at the RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium on Matchday 3 had been the crucial point in determining Sporting's fate, according to the striker. "Fortunately we managed to gain a lot of important points, especially in the first half of the group phase."

Aiming for the top
Derlei insists that Paulo Bento's men will not take their foot off the pedal despite their achievement, as they are ambitious to finish the group stage with a flourish. Such is confidence at the Alvalade that Sporting are daring to dream of overhauling 2006 competition winners Barcelona at the group's summit. "Now we can be calm going into the final two games," he explained. "We'll try to pick up as many points as possible and we'll try to get into first place. We'll be ready for the game against Barcelona. We will respect them, but we won't be afraid of them. We'll try and get a win because we really want that first place," he concluded.