We’re both beginning to believe here at footballportugal that this 2008/09 season of the Portuguese Liga has to be one of the most exciting and competitive for many years. Porto have extended their lead at the top of the table to 4 points over Benfica and Sporting, but their place at the top of the table is by no means secure, the sports papers in Portugal accusing the Dragões of over-reliance on the as-ever excellent Hulk, who put in another superb display against Paços de Ferreira. The Lisbon derby saw Sporting deservedly beat Benfica 3-2, Liedson the man of the match, but all of the Leões played well and they must be hoping for a good result at home against Bayern Munich in the Champions League this Wednesday. One team that is proving themselves in Europe is Sporting Braga, whose 3-0 demolition of Standard Liege left Phil running to the bookies, eager to place £5 of his hard earned cash on the Arsenalistas to win the UEFA Cup. Braga suffered from tired legs the following weekend but still managed to grind out a 1-2 away win against Naval.
In part 2 we report on the problems at Vitória de Guimarães, whose likeable manager, Manuel Cajuda, seems to be under pressure following the 0-1 home defeat to plucky Trofense. One manager whose time is up is Marítimo’s Brazilian Lori Sandri, who, despite guiding the Madeiran team to just outside the UEFA qualification places, is not deemed good enough by the Marítimo president following his team’s 3-1 defeat at Academica.
Along with the reviews of the rest of the weekend’s games, we touch on the main topic of conversation in Portuguese football right now: Liedson’s probable Portuguese naturalisation and the subsequent availability for the Portuguese national team. Will the Brazilian be able to resolve Carlos Queiros’ striker headaches?
Please keep the comments coming, especially your opinions regarding Liedson … and any corrections regarding who Paulo Bento played for in Spain will be gratefully accepted.
Thanks for listening,
Steve and Phil
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Ah … it came to me that Sporting’s Marat Izmailov could never play for Portugal as he’s played for the Russian senior side.
But the principle still stands … good foreign players that have been naturalised Portuguese (and that haven’t played for their own countries at senior level) could find themselves called up in the future to play for the Selecção – the gates are open after Deco and Pepe.
Paulo Bento did indeed play for ‘los carbayones’ of Real Oviedo…
Rather than pick up Liedson at 32, why not wait 4 years to have Hulk? Or get him to marry a Portuguese girl? This used to be the way of getting around the foreigners limits a few years ago (before the Bosmans)…
Great podcast (as ever).
After 2 completely distinct performances in the Champions League this week, how do you guys think the upcoming “Classico” will end?
Just come back from Alvalade and the only possible explanation I can give for Bento’s refusal to start Vukcevic is that he’s saving him for the weekend. Absolutely insane tactics from Bento tonight, the animosity from the stands towards him was quite intense even before the first half had finished. If I were a Sporting supporter I would be absolutely livid with tonight’s team selection.
So who knows what team Sporting will turn up with at Porto? If it includes Vukcevic and Pedro Silva, I’ll say that Sporting will win, just because I can’t see how Porto will cope on the wings given the injuries they have. If Romagnoli starts, Porto will walk all over them.
Vukcevic out of tomorrow’s game with flu, Adrien Silva likely to start. Oh dear, tomorrow’s classico could be a stroll in the park for Porto.