Bobo glad to keep Beşiktaş buoyant

Bobo is glad Beşiktaş JK will travel to FC Porto with "some hope of qualifying" after his winner against Olympique de Marseille kept the Turkish club in contention in Group A.

'Some hope'
Having scored in the last ten minutes on Matchday 3 to seal a 2-1 win against Liverpool FC at the Inönü Stadium, Bobo struck again at the death to give Beşiktaş a chance of progressing to the last 16 on Matchday 6 with a win in Portugal. "We still have some hope of qualifying for the next round like the other teams in the group," said the 22-year-old.

'We took a risk'
Signed from SC Corinthians in his native Brazil at the end of the 2005/06 season following a successful six-month loan, Bobo characterised the tie in Porto as "a final", and was thrilled with Beşiktaş's efforts to subdue Marseille. "We started well but sat back from the start of the second half," he said. "After conceding the equaliser, we took a risk and scored the winner."

Proud debutant
While Bobo may have been the hero, the man of the match was Chilean midfielder Rodrigo Tello who broke his duck in the competition to give the Black Eagles a 27th-minute lead. "The team showed everybody that we are very strong at home," he said. Defender Baki Mercimek also had reason to be proud after impressing on his debut at this level, saying: "I think I put in a great performance. I always keep myself ready and showed that tonight."

Aggressive approach
Meanwhile, Marseille's Boudewijn Zenden preferred to look ahead to the decisive final game against Liverpool as OM look to avoid a home defeat to progress. He said: "Whether we drew or lost tonight didn't change much - our game against Liverpool will still shape the group. With that in mind, we played the second 45 minutes for the win." Midfielder Mathieu Valbuena: "I am really disappointed because we didn't deserve that. They didn't play better than us. It was the same scenario as in Porto [when Marseille lost 2-1 on Matchday 4] - we played, they won."