This is The North East | Sport | Football

AN ECSTATIC Steve McClaren last night paid tribute to his European heroes after Middlesbrough bounced back from three goals down to book a place in the UEFA Cup semi-finals for the first time in the club's history.

If trailing 2-0 from the first leg wasn't a difficult enough task to overturn, Boro allowed Basle to gain a third and that left the Premiership outfit needing four to go through.

And, having witnessed an incredible night's action unfold, McClaren feels Boro should have the momentum to go all the way in the competition, with Romanian side Steaua Bucharest standing between them and a trip to Eindhoven in May for the final.

The Boro boss also believes the high drama that unfolded during the victory over Basle may never be repeated.

"I'm delighted for the players, the staff, the supporters and the chairman on an historic night," said McClaren.

"You won't get a better night like that in Middlesbrough's history. I can't praise them enough. To go 1-0 down and to show the character to come through was incredible.

"We showed a video of our European adventure so far before the game and it was a motivational thing for them all. There was a flag on that video which said 'we're a small town in Europe'. That's exactly what we are but that small town in Europe is still in there.

"This season we have beaten Stuttgart, Roma and we are in a semi-final. Middlesbrough will be well known around Europe now, that's for sure."

Having dispatched of Basle, there is a growing sense of glory emanating from Teesside and McClaren admits he is starting to believe they can become the first English team since Arsenal ten years ago to win the UEFA Cup.

"You have to gather momentum and we are doing that," he said. "The quarter-final is the difficult one to get through.

"We have come through adversity and we have to take advantage of that. We must get in the final. It was an incredible night for English football and an incredible night for this club."

With a lot of talk in recent days centering around whether or not McClaren is the England manager in waiting, this result will only act to strengthen his hand to take over from Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But he maintains he is only thinking about club football.

"People have said nice things about me but really I'm focusing on Middlesbrough," he said.

"If I'm successful then they will talk about me.

"We have to come through adversity and we have done. I have to thank everyone for sticking by me through that patch."

After Mark Viduka pulled a goal back before half-time, Boro needed three after the restart to go through.

In their search for goals McClaren added Massimo Maccarone and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink to his forward line and both scored.

"We had quite a few plans - all the way up to Z," joked McClaren. "I said there would be many twists and turns and the 11 who started weren't necessarily going to be the heroes.

"Those who arrived off the bench were always going to have a part to play.

"Massimo has come on and scored before and I don't know how he managed to score from that angle in the last minute. As for Jimmy he is a professional and he showed that once again."

Chris Riggott will be suspended for the first leg in Bucharest after picking up his third booking of the UEFA Cup run last night.

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