Due to technical problems at footballportugal Podcast Towers, we won’t be able to do a podcast this week. Our apologies.
Do tune in next week, though, when we’re sure to be back with all that’s happening in Portuguese football.
Steve & Phil
Podcast w/c 08/02/10
Written by admin on February 7th, 2010footballportugal Podcast – 01/02/10
Written by Steve Burrows on February 1st, 2010Scandal and controversy are the main themes of this week’s podcast, with phone taps, bribes, prostitutes, punch-ups and mass brawls taking the headlines in the Portuguese football newspapers.
But we’ve still got some football to report and report it we shall! In part 1 we give the once over on another Braga win which was blessed with as much good fortune as it was stoic defending. Porto’s new signing Rúben Micael makes an impressive debut at his old club Nacional but in their 0-4 they had a bit of help from the referee. Benfica impressed at home to Guimarães, especially Carlos Martins, who must’ve eaten three Shredded Wheat for breakfast that morning.
In part 2 we talk about Braga allegedly attempting to bribe Leixões; Hulk and Sapunaru going ape in the Benfica tunnel and getting caught on camera; Pinto da Costa getting his phone tapped and calling Sporting’s kit man “a retard”; and Sá Pinto choosing a well placed punch on Liedson’s face over a career as Director of Football for Sporting,
Please keep your comments coming. Say anything you like, but just let us know that you’re listening and hopefully that you appreciate what we’re doing.
Thanks for listening,
Steve and Phil
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footballportugal Podcast – 18/01/10
Written by admin on January 18th, 2010Another podcast from Steve and Phil, those English senhores of Portuguese football knowledge and opinion.
It’s back to the traditional three parts this week as we let you know about this weekend’s round of games. In Part 1 we focus on the contrasting fortunes of Porto and Sporting; the former are looking very ordinary as they drop points at home to Paços de Ferreira, while the latter look red hot as the rejuvenated Lisbon team beat Nacional 3-2 thanks to 2 excellent Liedson goals.
In part 2 we focus on a familiar old topic, dodgy refereeing. Benfica definitely benefitted from some outrageous refereeing decisions as they smashed Marítimo 0-5 in Madeira. Braga were also fortunate to get a dubious penalty as they broke André Villas Boas’ impressive 100% home record in charge of Académica to come away with a 0-2 victory.
Finally, in part 3 we focus on the other games we failed to cover in the earlier parts. Setúbal are impressing Steve without actually winning games, Castro might be Olhanense’s answer to Steven Gerrard, Belenenses are awful again and Rio Ave really missed Fábio Farias and the player André Vilas (with one ‘l’) Boas as Ronny-tastic Leiria beat them 0-2.
Please do leave us some comments and let us know you’re out there and listening. It was very sad for us to have nobody to talk to but ourselves this weekend!
Thanks for listening,
Steve and Phil
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footballportugal Podcast – 11/01/10
Written by admin on January 11th, 2010Welcome back for our first podcast of 2010 … and the second anniversary of the footballportugal Podcast!!!
With all the players fresh from their Christmas break you’d expect the fans to be flocking back to the stadiums to watch some live football once again. However, the stadiums were noticeable for their vast areas of empty seating, nowhere more so than FC Porto’s Dragão, which was half-deserted for their fortunate 3-2 win over União de Leiria, Helton providing the heroics in the last moments of the game. Attendances were better at Braga and Sporting, both teams putting in fine performances to beat Nacional and Leixões respectively. Sporting striker Saleiro is catching our eye right now and we talk about his chances of making the Portugal squad for WC 2010. Benfica took thousands of fans to Rio Ave as they struggled to beat a strong side, the class of Saviola proving to be the difference between the two.
In the second part of the podcast we go over the winter transfers so far, Naval’s alleged forged documents which could see them thrown out of the league, and the 25th anniversary of the death of the legendary José Maria Pedroto.
Please keep your comments coming. We’ll be back for another podcast next week.
Thanks for listening,
Steve and Phil
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footballportugal Podcast – 21/12/09
Written by Steve Burrows on December 21st, 2009Welcome to our Christmas, New Year, last of 2009 and last of the noughties footballportugal podcast special! With 3 special parts, each more festive than the one before.
In Part 1 we concentrate on one of the most special Portuguese football fixtures of the year: the Benfica v Porto clássico. As ever, it was a tight game, fought tooth and nail between the two rivals, but the result was a little different from normal: Benfica won! It was their first victory (1-0) in this fixture for 4 years, the winner scored by Saviola.
In Part 2 we focus on all the other games in the league this weekend, which weren’t quite as special as the clássico but which all had their interest. Nacional fought Académica and fog to win 4-3 in a game which was delayed for a total of over 55 minutes. Braga failed to impress against Paços, but still got the three points. And Sporting narrowly beat Naval in a game that was so awful it was perhaps … special. Setúbal beat Marítmo with two goals from Keita, who looks a bit special. And Belenenses manager João Carlos Pereira was sacked after Belenenses lost 0-1 in a tight game away to Leiria. You can’t be feeling very special if you lose your job just before Christmas, so our best wishes go out to Pereira, who comes across as being quite a nice chap.
In part 3 we concentrate on “bits and bobs” as Phil likes to call them [edit: Thanks, Steve ...]. The bits are reports from the lower leagues and news on clubs in crisis, like Atlético de Valdevez and Boavista. The bobs are our mid-season awards, including player of the year so far, best buy, worst buy, most impressive team and most disappointing team.
Please let us know your opinions, especially regarding the mid-season awards we gave. We both hope you have a very special Christmas and an even more special New Year.
Steve and Phil
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