Substantive Nigeria skipper Joseph Yobo is pleased with the performance of Fenerbahce after the Turkish side defeated Benfica 1 -0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi - final on Thursday night.

Speaking to the official website of UEFA, the central defender said: ''Benfica are a very good team – I give them a lot of credit – but today we deserved to win.

''Everybody can miss a penalty like we did tonight, but afterwards we showed character, and did not allow ourselves to be discouraged. On the contrary, we fought really hard to get victory.

''Tonight, they lost for the first time after not being defeated for 38 games consecutively. That is an amazing achievement, and it shows just how good they are.

''But we showed the will to win, and this is just what happened tonight. The next game will be very, very tough. We cannot and will not underestimate them.''

In addition, Joseph Yobo thanked the fans for their support during the game at  Å�ükrü SaracoÄ�lu Stadium, Istanbul.

''It was a joy to play in this atmosphere – this is something we need to thank our fans for. And of course we've got every reason to rejoice over the win, especially having kept a clean sheet.

''Everybody knows the importance of not conceding a goal at home in this sort of competition. We had the chances to score more, but still the result is something to be proud of,'' Joseph Yobo told uefa..com.

Photo Credit: tff.org