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Porto injury problems over for final Posted: Tuesday May 20, 2003 7:18 PMSEVILLE, Spain (Reuters) -- Porto manager Jose Mourinho said two key players in his squad were off the injury list on Tuesday and ready to face Celtic in Wednesday's UEFA Cup final. With a strike force already weakened by the absence of suspended forward Helder Postiga, Mourinho rested midfielder Francisco Costinha after he pulled a muscle in a league match nine days ago and put him on a special training program. "He's fit. All other things being equal, he'll play," Mourinho told a news conference at Seville's Olympic Stadium. Mourinho listed nine players he planned to field on Wednesday, including defender Nuno Valente, who had also been a doubt. The list included just one striker and three midfielders, and Mourinho declined to say whether he would line up one or two players alongside Brazilian forward Derlei Silva, the UEFA Cup's top scorer this year. That leaves the coach with a probable choice of fielding Lithuanian striker Edgaras Jankauskas or former international Nuno Capucho up front, both of whom scored in Porto's 3-2 home win over Varzim in the Portuguese premier league on Saturday. If Mourinho decides to start with a more cautious four in midfield, then Russian Dmitri Alenitchev is most likely to line up beside Costinha, playmaker Deco Souza and Maniche Ribeiro. In defence, Mourinho said he would use his tried and tested back four of Paulo Ferreira, Jorge Costa, Ricardo Carvalho and Nuno Valente. He urged his players not to be overawed by the historical weight of Wednesday's match, Porto's first European final since they won the European Cup in 1987. "For this game, the players need to relax more and enjoy it," he said. The Porto manager was, however, less than happy with the scorched pitch at the little-used Olympic Stadium. "It's no good. It's very slow and full of holes, it's a bad surface. The ball doesn't roll in a straight line. It looks like pitch burned by the snow at the end of winter," Mourinho said. "But those are the conditions we have to play in, and, like any great team, we have to adapt to different conditions," he said.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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