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The night Sporting thought they had ousted Rangers

Refereeing gaff spurs Lions to apparent victory

The meeting between Glasgow Rangers and Sporting in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup brings to the fore memories of one of the most inglorious and somewhat surreal European nights ever seen at Alvalade.

Both teams will be vying to take a step nearer the Manchester final when the first act of the battle for a place in the last four of the competition takes place in Scotland on Thursday. And should the tie prove as packed with goals and incident as the meeting 37 years ago, both sets of supporters are in for a treat.

So what made the match so unique? Sporting were confident of making progress in the now defunct Cup Winners’ Cup after a late comeback at Ibrox had seen the Portuguese side come away with a 3-2 defeat after being three goals down with 20 minutes remaining.

On 3 November 1971, in front of a hugely expectant Lisbon crowd, twice Sporting went in front through Yazalde and Tome, but twice Colin Stein equalised for the Scots. Five minutes from the end of the regulation 90 minutes Pedro Gomes hit the back of the net to send the tie into extra time.

An own goal from Laranjeira made the score 3-3, and despite a Peres penalty which gave Sporting a 4-3 win, the Scots had won the tie on the away goals rule… or so it seemed.

New rule confusion

Dutch referee Laurens Van Ravens was not fully versed with the new away goals ruling, and as the tie had finished level on aggregate he ordered the commencement of a penalty shootout, oblivious to the furious protests from the Glasgow team.

It was at this point that Vitor Damas, one of Portugal’s best ever goalkeepers and a true Sporting legend took centre stage. The giant stopper saved the first spot-kick, the second penalty twice (the referee ordered it to be retaken) and the third in a glorious, albeit ultimately futile, show of goalkeeping brilliance.

The demoralised Stein struck Rangers’ fourth spot-kick wide to spark wild celebrations among the Sporting fans, led by Damas who was held aloft on his rejoicing team-mates’ shoulders.

However, the euphoria proved short-lived. Rangers’ players and coaching staff continued to protest vehemently that they had legitimately won the tie and a mistake had been made. Less than half an hour after the final penalty had been taken UEFA officials duly rectified the error and Rangers were awarded the win.

Painful memories

The encounter, and especially this moment is etched into the memory of Sporting and Portugal great, Hilario da Conceicao, veteran of 14 seasons at the Lisbon club, who had already won the Cup Winners Cup with the Lions a decade earlier.

“We went to the changing rooms celebrating exuberantly. There we were drinking champagne celebrating getting through to the next round when, twenty minutes later, one of the directors walked in and said that we had in fact lost on the away goals rule,” said one of Portugal’s heroes of the 1966 World Cup.

“We couldn’t believe it. Some players even started crying. As for the supporters, some of them only realised Sporting had lost the tie the next day. They left the ground happy thinking we had won.”

The Scottish giants, who were still in a period of mourning following the Ibrox Stadium tragedy which claimed the lives of 66 supporters earlier that year, went on to beat Torino, Bayern Munich and Dynamo Moscow to lift their one and only European trophy to date.

Confidence

As for the class of 2007/08, Hilario is confident Sporting can overcome the Scottish side, expressing his belief that they can make it to the UEFA Cup final for the second time in four years, this time going that one step further to lift the trophy.

“Sporting have played one good game followed by one bad game this season. But in the big matches they have played well. Against Benfica and Porto and in the European games they grow as a team, said Hilario.

“Sporting have done well against British teams recently. I’ve got faith that they can get to the final of the Uefa Cup this season and win the trophy.”


Related: Sporting leave for Scotland in good heart
Related: Full Hilario interview