Sheriff make their breakthrough

European success has been a long time coming for FC Sheriff, but after winning the Moldovan title for nine successive seasons they have finally broken through on the European stage.

Olympiacos next
Victory on away goals against SK Slavia Praha in the third qualifying round earned Leonid Kuchuk's side a place in the UEFA Champions League play-offs, and at the very least a UEFA Europa League berth. Though the draw has pitted Sheriff against the might of Olympiacos FC, they are determined not to let their chance slip with the UEFA Champions League tantalisingly within reach.

Belief
"We believed in it," said Kuchuk. "Before the start of the season I told everyone I believed in this team and that some day we would reach this round. Now I think this club is ready to deliver more. We have got one of the strongest opponents, but we fought Slavia until the very end and we are not thinking about the UEFA Europa League now. We want to win and reach the Champions League group stage."

Nadson heroics
Sheriff had gone out in the second qualifying round in each of the past eight seasons. To get this far this time, they have had to do it the hard way. They were without key defenders Constantin Arbănaş and Abdul Mamah for their second qualifying round tie against FC International Turku and later lost striker Aleksandr Erokhin to a severe head injury, but still advanced 2-0 on aggregate. After a goalless draw in Moldova against Slavia, they were on the way out after falling behind early on in the return. José Nadson's strike three minutes into added time, however, turned the tie on its head and made history for Sheriff.

Prague miracle
"We knew Slavia would be much stronger at home and were ready for them to push on to us," Kuchuk said. "We played defensively and waited for our chance, which came in the last minute. Previously we had lacked such luck and this time it was Slavia who suffered, but we deserved this success."

High standards
Nadson, the hero of Prague, will be absent against Olympiacos on Tuesday through injury, and coach Kuchuk is suspended. Even so the Belarussian has complete faith in his side. "Who thought FC BATE Borisov would have reached the UEFA Champions League last season? We have raised our standards very high this season and now we can try to go even higher," he said.