Then they could have moped let their heads go down and

“Then they could have moped, let their heads go down and results slip. They didn’t.”Vernazza added: “The best response is to do what we’ve been doing, go on an FA Cup run and climb the table. Each round been a bonus to the club.” The income is still needed but for the players it is now about glory and, for Vernazza, the chance to create memories to dwell on.. England face the threat of being forced to play their next European Championship qualifier behind closed doors after Uefa yesterday charged the Football Association over racist abuse during last week’s international against Turkey. Uefa’s disciplinary body has already punished Slovakia this season for racist abuse of England fans by making them play one game in an empty stadium.A decision will be made on 1 May, with England’s match against Slovakia at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium the one which would be affected by any penalty. The FA has until April 21 to submit its response.However, Uefa’s communications director, Mike Lee, said that it was by no means automatic that England would receive the same punishment as Slovakia. “I cannot make any predictions about this current case, but we do believe there is a serious case to answer,” he said.

“You cannot compare cases, you have to deal with them individually, look at their track record, what occurred and whether it was inside or outside the stadium, and what was the scale of the incident and the nature of the offence.”Disciplinary proceedings have also been instigated against the Turks for the improper conduct of their players in the tunnel after the match.* Chelsea have been warned by the FA that they are likely to face a misconduct charge if their fans throw any more missiles at players. The club have already banned 27 supporters after two incidents of objects being hurled at Thierry Henry during their two FA Cup quarter-final games with Arsenal last month.. THEY DID it at Anfield, they will have to do it in Oporto too. Celtic’s quest to reach the Uefa Cup final will rely on conjuring up the same kind of roadshow that proved to be Liverpool’s undoing. Martin O’Neill’s side had to recover from an own goal by Joos Valgaeren, with Henrik Larsson supplying his habitual goal.

However, Celtic’s prolific striker wasted a great chance to give them a crucial lead for the return leg in a fortnight, missing a penalty with 14 minutes remaining. Boavista celebrated at the the end as if they were in the final already.There was a characteristically defiant response from O’Neill, who also took exception to the Portuguese side’s spoiling tactics. “You have to try and play the game fairly, but unfortunately rolling around, staying down and feigning injuries is a major part of the game and it’s very disappointing,” the Celtic manager said.”They came here to do a job and that’s what they did,” he added. “They tried to kill the game at every opportunity.”This was an occasion that Celtic supporters had waited 29 years for. The last time a semi-final was staged here, in the European Cup in 1974, Atletico Madrid came to Glasgow and produced a remarkably cynical performance, fielding a shadow side who had three men sent off but achieved their goal of a 0-0 draw to take home to Spain.Celtic almost had the start they wanted after seven minutes when Larsson, released by John Hartson’s clever pass, tried to loft the ball over Boavista’s goalkeeper Ricardo but saw his effort just clear the bar. A loud appeal for a penalty was then denied when Paulo Turra appeared to handle in the box, with Boavista taking heart from their let-off. Seven minutes later, Mario Loja went on a piercing run into the box and the ball was cut back to Duda, but his right-foot shot took a deflection which kept it out.However, there were precious few opportunities like that in a first half that was full of toil but had little inspiration.

Yet the deadlock was broken five minutes after the break as both sides exchanged goals within 90 seconds of each other.A huge silence engulfed the ground in the 49th minute as Celtic went behind. Filipe Anunciac?delivered a cross that tempted a lunge from Valgaeren, who turned the ball past Rab Douglas.Larsson, though, had Celtic level instantly. Neil Lennon and Stilian Petrov combined for the latter to pick out the Swede in the area and he found a yard of space to drill a low shot past Ricardo from 10 yards for his 37th goal of the season.Celtic began to turn up the heat, with Petrov contributing some of his trademark searing runs. A Pedrosa free-kick which beat the Celtic wall tested Douglas, yet 14 minutes from the end Alan Thompson’s driven free-kick was handled by Eder to give away a penalty. Larsson took it, but Ricardo read the striker’s intentions, sprang to his right, and beat the kick away.Celtic (3-5-2): Douglas; Mjallby, Bald?Valgaeren; Agathe (Sylla, 74), Lambert, Lennon, Petrov (Fernandez, 78), Thompson; Larsson, Hartson.