Cissé clings on to Beşiktaş hope

Edouard Cissé insisted Beşiktaş JK will not be "giving up yet" after a late Ricardo Quaresma goal for FC Porto handed them a second Group A defeat.

Encouraging display
The French midfielder was left disappointed after his side conceded in added time in their second UEFA Champions League fixture to go down 1-0 at home, but was encouraged by Beşiktaş's performance. "If we can continue to play like this, we might be more successful," he said. "This game showed our supporters that our team have hope for the coming games. We could not score but everybody saw that Porto goalkeeper Helton was on form tonight. We played well. We are not giving up yet."

Missed chances
Beşiktaş captain Ibrahim Üzülmez was less optimistic than his team-mate as he reflected on the game, and could barely forgive his side for having missed a number of presentable chances from close range in Istanbul. "We gave a good account of ourselves in this game, but you have to put the ball into the net," he said, conceding that their best chances of progressing may already have dwindled away.

Points a priority
By contrast, spirits were high in the Porto camp with Ricardo Quaresma – whose trickery impressed throughout – thrilled to have capped a Man of the Match performance with the winning goal. "The most important thing was to get the three points," he said. "We have to collect all the points in order to qualify for the later stages and there is no doubt that, in two weeks' time, we will go to France with the aim of beating [Olympique de] Marseille."

Awesome atmosphere
Former Trabzonspor defender Milan Stepanov, who made his UEFA Champions League debut in place of the injured Pedro Emanuel, said the awe-inspiring atmosphere at the Inönü Stadium had surprised the Porto players, but he was pleased they kept their composure to claim victory. "Before the game, I told everyone about the crowd but nobody really believed me," said the Serbian. "After the game they said: 'We never expected such an atmosphere.' After the first 45 minutes, our coach told us to play our game, because we were not ourselves in the first half. I can say that God gave us the points in the last minute."