Rui Patrício right to follow his hunch

Sporting Clube de Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patrício had a hunch he could make his presence felt in the FC Twente penalty area and it proved right as his dramatic late intervention from a corner led to the goal that earned the Portuguese side a place in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

'Good feeling'
Trailing 1-0 on the night and on aggregate, Sporting were facing elimination when they won a corner five minutes into added time. Rui Patrício signalled to the Sporting bench then made his way forward, and got enough contact on the ensuing cross to bundle it goalwards and in off the outstretched boot of Twente defender Peter Wisgerhof. "I had a good feeling," Sporting's improbable hero said. "The match was already beyond the 90 minutes and I asked the coach if I could help the team with the corner. I did not head the ball correctly, but in the end we scored and that was the most important thing.

'Lucky'
"That moment was very important for us," the 21-year-old Portuguese international added. "I was lucky to touch the ball and we scored but I must congratulate the whole team." It was not the first time Sporting had pulled off a remarkable last-gasp recovery in the Netherlands. In May 2005 Miguel Garcia headed past AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Henk Timmer two minutes into extra-time added time to earn Sporting victory over the Dutch side on the away-goals rule and a place in the UEFA Cup final.

'Belief'
Coach Paulo Bento praised his side's determination. "We believed until the end," the 40-year-old said. "The players deserved this after all they did in the tie. This result is entirely for them. Sometimes you win with the heart and that's what happened here. We deserved to qualify against a good and very organised team. It was very important to continue in the UEFA Champions League. We will now try to reach the group stage." Sporting will learn their play-off opponents at Friday's draw in Nyon, when FC Twente will also discover who they now meet in the UEFA Europa League play-offs.