<i>Zico's second coming</i>

Zico has enjoyed many great moments during his illustrious career but the Brazilian football legend ranked Fenerbahce's Champions League quarterfinal qualification as among the best.
The former Japan national team coach saw his Turkish team triumph with a 3-2 penalty shoot out win over Sevilla on Tuesday, after the Spaniards had won the second leg 3-2 after extra time to leave the score at 5-5 on aggregate.
"It's been one of my proudest days because of all the effort," beamed the Fenerbahce coach in the early hours of Wednesday morning after the tension of the climactic finish had subsided.
"We have learned from our mistakes a lot and now Fenerbahce players are all experienced enough to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Champions League." "We fought and worked really hard to win because everyone knows that I am not that kind of person who gives up just like that," added Zico, who was once described by fellow Brazilian Pele as "the one player that came closer to me."
After his playing days ended in 1994, the Brazilian earned his coaching spurs in Japan, firstly with Kashima Antlers and then with the Japan national team, winning the 2004 Asian Cup and taking them to the 2006 World Cup.
Now he has proved he can hold his own among the best in the business on the old continent.
"We all knew that it was going to be a very tough game but we won it and that's what matters to me. I thank my players for this very precious gift."
The gift of qualification was also a late birthday present as Zico turned 55 on Monday.
"Sevilla had shown themselves to be an attacking team and in the first few minutes we made a lot of errors. Under pressure from them we were quickly two goals down," he reflected.
"But we recovered; we played without fear and with courage right up to and including the penalties."
Zico had special praise for his goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, who was at fault for Sevilla's first two goals which were scored within the first 10 minutes but then showed his mettle by stopping three penalties in the shoot out.
"I had full confidence in him. He made errors at the start but I told him he had to concentrate throughout the whole match. In the end, he has done just that and has was crucial when penalties came along," added Zico.
After eliminating the 2006 and 2007 UEFA Cup champions on Tuesday, Zico and his Fenerbahce players are unlikely to fear whoever the have to face following the Champions League quarterfinal draw on March 14.
However, they will probably want to avoid 2006 Champions League winners Barcelona, who cruised rather more comfortably into the quarterfinals with a 4-2 aggregate win over Celtic on Tuesday.
Memories are still raw in Istanbul from the last time Fenerbahce played the Catalan club, which was in the 2002 Champions League.
Barca overcame the habitually intimidating atmosphere in the Sukru Saracoglu stadium to embarrass Fenerbahce with a 3-0 victory on that occasion.