BASEL: FC Basel coach Paulo Sousa promised that his team will take risks and show the same courage and ambition which helped them eliminate Liverpool in the group stage when they face Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Sousa insisted that his side, attempting to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1973/74 would not be overawed against the twice former champions, who are unbeaten in eight Champions League games this season.
"For us, it's an extraordinary challenge and I like these challenges," the Portuguese told reporters as he prepared to face his countrymen in Wednesday's last-16 first leg tie.
"For me, the special thing is to compete at his level, it's where we want to be and gives us the possibility to keep growing."
Sousa said he was looking for his team to repeat the first half of the 1-1 draw at Anfield which took the Swiss champions into the last-16.
"Especially in the first 45 minutes, we were almost always in our opponent's half. Individually, the team was almost perfect and we have to be perfect to face teams like Porto," he said.
Sousa's coaching career so far has been a mixed bag but he has settled in well at Basel after initially baffling supporters with his tactical switches.
The former midfielder began at Queens Park Rangers in the English Championship (second division) but was sacked after only six months after the club claimed he had divulged sensitive information.
He spent the 2009/10 season at Swansea City, once again in the Championship, just missing out on the playoffs, and then moved to Leicester City where he was fired after three months.
That was followed by 18 months at Videoton in Hungary and finally one season Maccabi Tel Aviv where he won the Israeli league title at the first attempt.
"I always bet on my team playing to win," he said. "We have to accept risks, we want to play, we want to have the ball, create difficulties and get into the other half of the field, and we must also have personality."
His opposite number Julen Lopategui was considerably less effervescent, repeating a line of cliches such as "there are no favourites".
"Basel are very complete, they have a very clear idea of how to they want to attack and how they defend, and we have to try and counter that," he said.
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