"I don't know where people got my phone number. They've been bothering me, insulting me. A [French fan] said that if he knew where I lived, he could shoot me. That what I did, shouldn't be done...", revealed the former player, in an interview with the Lusa agency.

At 63 years old and settled in Australia, where he teaches football and follows the growth of his children, Vata, who represented Benfica between 1988 and 1991, acknowledges that the goal scored at 83 minutes is still a hot topic.

Benfica faced Marseille at the Estádio da Luz, in the second leg of the semi-finals of the European Cup, after having lost in France by 2-1, and it was the Angolan forward's goal that sealed the victory and Benfica's qualification for the final of the competition.

For Vata, there is still no illegality in the move, despite the images showing that he may have scored with his arm, something that the forward continues to deny, 34 years later, saying that he has no advantage in denying the situation.

"When Valdo took the [corner], and before the ball reached me, Di Meco was holding me. He was behind me, he was holding me. I had no other choice, I had to put my shoulder in...", he said.

For the former international, there is only one reason for the 'evidence' of the shoulder being denied, the importance that the game had at the time, what it represented for Marseille and the constant controversial statements by the club's former president Bernard Tapie.

"Now, why would I lie? What would I gain? What? Now, what I said, anyone who was on the other side, from Marseille, honestly, at that moment, the problem was the moment of the game, the importance of the game, which caused that controversy. (...) The importance of the game makes the goal still talked about today, people still bother me about it today", he admitted.

The explanation for the move is still clear to the player, it was in the movement in which he tried to free himself from the full-back Di Meco -- with whom he recently spoke --, that he put his shoulder on the ball, a fraction of a second after a first deflection by Magnusson.

The player also recalled his entry into the field, pressured by his former teammate Mozer, a Brazilian international central defender who in the previous season wore the colours of Benfica and had transferred to the French.

"When I entered the field, the first thing that happened was that Mozer slapped me, he, Mozer, together with [Franck] Sauzée, squeezed me there and Mozer said: 'black guy', you're not coming here to spoil the party", said the former forward.

Vata assured that he was not intimidated and that, shortly before entering, the coach Sven-Goran Eriksson showed that he was counting on his help, he who had already scored against Marseille (1-0) earlier in the year, in a friendly for Mozer's transfer.

"When it was the second leg, I remember that I was in the medical office, and I remember him [Eriksson] saying 'when things get complicated I'm going to need you'", also revealed the former striker.

Currently, Vata follows Benfica's games whenever he can, despite the big time difference for Melbourne (plus 10 hours), and believes that the 'incarnates' will once again keep the French out of a European competition.

In history, Marseille fell to Benfica in the 1989/90 European Cup, a competition in which the 'eagles' would lose in the final to AC Milan (1-0), but also in the round of 16 of the Europa League in 2009/10.

"I'm sure that Benfica will go through. Marseille has a trauma, you know? At the Estádio da Luz, they won't have any peace. (...) I think that Benfica will get a good result, the home result will solve the game in Marseille. They will do everything to get revenge for the game, but Benfica always has a 60 or 70% chance of winning this tie", predicted the forward.

Benfica and Marseille will face each other on Thursday (20:00), in a game at the Estádio da Luz, in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Europa League, with the second leg scheduled for April 18, in France.

Leia Também: Benfica nunca deixou uma equipa francesa vencer no Estádio da Luz (Portuguese version)