Grieving Lucho dedicates Porto victory to father

Grieving Lucho dedicates Porto victory to late father

Sep 19, 2012 1:30:00 AM

The Argentine international playmaker took to the pitch for the Dragoes just hours after learning about the sad news of his parent

Lucho Gonzalez scored to set Porto on their way to a 2-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb having promised his dying father he would find the net ahead of the game.

The new Porto captain, appointed following the departure of Hulk to Zenit St Petersburg earlier this month, confirmed the news of his parent's death to reporters after the game.

"I had told him I would score a goal," the midfielder said.

"When I heard the news I spoke with the bosses and the coach, who gave me all their support."

Porto coach Vitor Pereira saluted the Argentine's professionalism before calling on his team to repeat their impressive performance in future games.

"We were the better side throughout the match and we should have scored that second goal earlier, because we were dominating and creating chances," he said to uefa.com.

"We need to keep up this standard in the upcoming matches."

Pereira's Dinamo counterpart was circumspect.

"It's a pity we conceded just before half-time," said coach Ante Cacic.

"In the second half we looked to be closer to getting an equaliser than Porto were to scoring a second goal. This loss is not going to destroy us because my team were not crushed, we were playing against a very good side."

The Croatians will look to bounce back in their next Champions League tie against Dynamo Kiev, while Porto host French league runners-up Paris Saint-Germain in their next round of games.

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