In our last Podcast of the season, we cast an eye over this year’s Taça de Portugal Final, won … perhaps inevitably … by FC Porto over first-timers Paços de Ferreira. A single, early goal by Lisandro López, possibly his last for Porto, gave Porto the 6th dobradinha (‘double’) in their history. Phil describes a bit of the atmosphere surrounding the Big Day, and we talk about the controversy regarding the use of the National Stadium (Jamor) for the Final. Elsewhere in the first part, there’s mention of an eerie mist and a tasty but tooth-ruining pão com chouriço.
In the second part, we reveal the listeners’ Top Five Players of the Year (thanks to all those who sent in their votes!) and give our own ideas on Best Players, Best Coach, Best Club … and Worst Hair, among other prestigious awards (trophies delivered to footballportugal Podcast Towers under armed police escort).
And so we leave you for the summer. We’ll be back in late August, at least in written form (here and at www.footballportugal.com.pt), with the podcasts to be resumed in mid-September.
Hope you’ll join us then.
Have a great summer! (… and for those of you in the southern hemisphere … as good a winter as possible …)
Steve and Phil
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Yazalde, on loan at Rio Ave from Braga. Braga picked him up in January ‘09 (I believe!), the boy signed a 4-5 year contract with Braga.
Thanks Marco … of course! I wonder if they’ll have him at Braga next season? Depends on the new coach, I suppose.
Phil
Have a good summer lads, looking forward to following the new Portuguese season through your podcasts.
Cruzeiro are currently on tour in Portugual with a reserve side of player’s their looking to sell. Last year Nene featured in for them!
Also Internacional, Sao Paulo and Gremio are hoping to sign Porto’s Ibson (currently on loan with Flamengo) on a permanent deal.
Many thanks for a greatly entertaining season of FootballPortugal guys! Enjoy your summer and we’ll be here to hear from you in September, with Porto predictably in the pole-position since Jesualdo is staying.
Lisandro might be off (apparently Zenith St Petersburg is offering close to €20 Millions) as will Bruno Alves (Chelsea, Barcelona, Milan or even Real Madrid). And if we can replace Alves quite comfortably, Lisandro’s departure might be a bit more troublesome – will Farias step up? I sure hope so.
I also hope Benfica and Sporting give a bit more struggle to the tetra-champions as this business of Penta and Hexa is all lovely but a weak league produces relatively weak champions.
Cheers!
Thanks, Matt and Hugo. Good summers for you, too.
You know, Hugo … I sensed a bit of anti-climax from the Porto fans on Sunday. Winning all these trophies with not much opposition does seem to be getting a bit repetitive and boring for them. And as you suggest, a bit more competitiveness will make Porto stronger in Europe, too.
Christmas comes early for Phil!
http://www.abola.pt/nnh/ver.aspx?id=166639
Steve … all my future Christmasses!
YOU BOAVISTÃO!
An ecstatic Phil
(Until they find a way to relegate the Axedrezados anyway …).
Hi there, my first comment here
Just a quick note regarding the best deals of the season, Cristian Rodriguez was not free, he cost Porto 7 million euros for 70% of his “ownership”, with his agent still keeping 30%. He was loaned to Benfica by his agent, and Benfica didn’t want to pay that much for him at the end of the season.
Thanks for that, Nuno.
Hope you keep listening (in the new season) … and commenting!
Phil
If anyone’s still there…
Has the reaction to CR7’s transfer been positive?
I keep reading that Real Madrid were Ronaldo’s childhood club, but wasn’t that Benfica?
Is it also true that to a lad growing up in Portugal, RM and Barca far outshine any English club and all kids there would prefer Spain to England, as I also keep reading.
Hi kt, news of Ronaldo’s move has been generally positive but I think a lot of the press are focusing on what Ronaldo will be earning per day of per minute in relation to most people in the country being pretty hard-up for cash more than ever right now.
Another aspect that isn’t spoken about so much but is very much in most people’s feelings is the inferiority complex this enforces with the Portuguese. With Benfica and Sporting struggling to find two cents to rub together, I think it’s quite a kick in the nuts for a lot of people’s national pride to see another big club across the border, in a similar sort of crisis, splashing the cash so freely.
I’d guess that most kids growing up would like to play for any big club in Italy, Spain or England but I’d say the English league is the one they dream of these days. It could well have been different in the 1990s when Ronaldo was a boy, but I’d imagine Italy would’ve been the dream league in those days. Overall, even though there are lots of Spanish games broadcast on Sport TV, I find the general level of interest amongst Portuguese people to be fairly low. This will all change of course next season, with both the lovers and the haters of Ronaldo eager to track his progress at Real Madrid.
I’ve just heard Saviola has joined Benfica for €5 million. I think this could be a great piece of business for Benfica, great player who was stuck at the wrong club for too long.
If he’s as good at Benfica as Aimar, Matt, then the club will have splashed out on another waste of space.
Agree with Phil, can only see him being another Aimar. Big name but not much to show for it.
Estrela da Amadora have been relegated to the ‘Segunda’ (third tier). They were going to be my Boavista-substitute in the top divisions. Back to square one …
Hey are you guys on Twitter? I listen to your podcast every week! Thanks heaps, can’t wait for the season to begin!
Has there been much coverage or nostalgia in Portugal about Bobby Robson?
I don’t know if Phil was in Portugal during Robson’s time and what he remembers about it.
There’s very little (that I’ve read anyway) in English about his time there. I think going abroad at that time you might as well have been going to the moon.
I haven’t read yet any of his (many!) autobiographies yet so there might be more in there.
Was his time at Sporting seen as a flop? Did they play bad football? If so, why did Porto want him?
What was his communication like, could he manage any Portuguese sentences by the end?
Really looking forward to the big kick off now. (For those who have the new ESPN game in UK, their showing Benfica v Maritimo on Sunday evening!).
I have a strong feeling about Benfica this year. I think this could finally be their year.