Soccer: Porto duo wary of Liverpool threat

Porto's two English imports have told their team-mates they must match Liverpool's fighting spirit in their Uefa Cup quarter-final clash on Thursday.

Porto have two men in the squad who know all about the English desire and will to win, having recently played in the Premiership.

Defender Fernando Nelson was at Aston Villa two years ago and midfielder Silvio Maric left Newcastle in a £2million move to Porto last summer.

Both Nelson and Maric figured in Porto's 2-0 win at home to Farense on Sunday and can expect to retain their places in the squad in the Estadio das Antas for the first-leg showdown against Liverpool.

Nelson admits he fears the Merseysiders' fighting spirit.

"Liverpool are a typical English style team, they never give up, they never turn their faces away from a fight," said the Portuguese international.

"They have strength and are very dynamic and at the moment they are one of the very best teams in England."

And Nelson, who joined Villa from Sporting Lisbon for £1.75million in July 1996 before returning to Porto two years later, does not believe Liverpool will be affected by their surprise 2-0 defeat at Leicester on Saturday.

He added: "I do not believe they will be effected for long by their defeat at Leicester, they were obviously tired from so many games close together and then with so many players away on international duty.

"But the English teams are used to playing games every three days during their season, I have no doubt they will bounce back and that defeat will be forgotten very quickly, it will not affect their confidence.

"To face them and to compete with them we will have to match their attitude as much as anything else.

"They will fight and battle to the last whistle, they don't give in. English teams don't. And Liverpool have skill to go with the right attitude to the game.

"I do not believe either side can be considered the favourites. We are both very much on the same level, but Liverpool are one of the toughest sides we could be meeting at this stage of the competition."

Maric, who signed for Newcastle in a £3.65million deal from Croatia Zagreb in February 1999, also believes his new club Porto face a tough tie.

He said: "I think that Barcelona and Liverpool are the best outfits in the competition, but they will have to prove that on the field."

The 26-year-old believes that the first leg in Portugal will be of particular importance for his team.

He added: "If we can win at our stadium, then we will have pretty good chance of reaching the semi-finals, but it's not going to be an easy task.

"My guess is that the Roma players thought they could win at home in the last round, but Liverpool literally demolished them in Rome."

Maric's former Zagreb team-mate, Igor Biscan, is cup tied for Liverpool in this competition and is unlikely to travel to Porto.