Sporting indebted to José Dias

Sporting Clube de Portugal squeezed into the semi-finals of the UEFA Futsal Cup after the most dramatic match of the tournament so far. José Dias was the last-gasp hero with barely a minute to go to give Sporting a 5-5 draw against AS Roma and the point they needed to make it through to the knockout stage.

Stung the hands
With time running out, Roma were on course to take the second qualification spot from Group A, when Gonçalo Alves stung the hands of Roma's goalkeeper Gianfranco Angelini. The ball spilled out to José Dias and he made no mistake from two metres to send Sporting through with MNK Split 1700.

'Right place, right time'
Despite scoring the crucial goal in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Lisbon's Pavilhão Atlântico, the goalscorer was humble about his achievement. "I was lucky, I was just in the right place at the right time," he said.

A see-saw encounter
Roma had stunned those watching with the first goal of the night in what proved a see-saw encounter. After a tense six minutes, Marco Angelini broke the deadlock but Miguel Fernandez pulled Sporting level before Bibi gave the hosts the lead for the first time with his third goal of the tournament.

Roma pegged back
Roma were not finished, though, and Mirko Antonazzi hit a hat-trick as Roma first restored parity and then took the lead three times. However, they were pegged back on each occasion, most significantly when José Dias found himself unmarked as time ran out.

Decisive defeat
The Italians are now out of the tournament, and are left to rue a first match 2-0 defeat by Split that ultimately proved decisive. Piero Gialli, the head coach, who identified João Marçal and Bibi as Sporting's best players, said: "The difference was the first game. We were not in the best form and it has cost us."