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

In part 2 we’ll discuss Benfica’s talismanic match-winner Pedro Mantorras, who scored Benfica’s winning goal in their 1-0 victory over Rio Ave, played in atrocious conditions at Estadio da Luz. Finally we’ll discuss some of the latest transfers to take place before the closing of the transfer window.

Please keep the comments coming; it’s great to hear alternative points of view.

Thanks for listening!

Steve and Phil

In part 2 we review Carlos Queiroz’s first game in charge of the Selecção, who won 5-0 against that mighty power of international football, the Faroe Islands. Less successful were the U-21 side, who were comfortably defeated 3-2 by the Czech Republic in a game where Inter Milan midfileder Pelé completely lost his head with a dangerous tackle that saw him taking an early bath.

Finally, in part 3 we talk about recent transfer speculation involving FC Porto’s Ricardo Quaresma, Benfica’s Nélson and the loan of Sporting’s Fabio Paim to Chelsea. We also look forward to next weekend’s fixtures, especially the Benfica v FC Porto clássico, and the European games involving Braga and Guimarães.

Please contact us with any feedback either here on the site or by e-mail at info@footballportugalpodcast.com

Thanks for listening.

In Part 1 we review Sporting’s 2-0 Supertaça victory against FC Porto (the Supertaça is played between last season’s Champions and the Taça de Portugal winners). The best team definitely won, Yannick Djalo scoring both goals to defeat what looked like a very much weakened Porto side still trying to recover from the loss of José Bosingwa and Paulo Assunção. Beyond the two Supertaça finalists, SL Benfica have assembled a group of new and exciting players and finally look a bit organised thanks to the modern techniques of coach Quique Flores. Although they lost last night’s first ever Eusébio Cup to Inter Milan on penalties, the future is certainly looking bright for Benfica.

In Part 2 we look at the outside contenders for the Liga title, Vitória Guimarães and Sporting Braga. Neither team were particulalry impressive in European competition this week, and with Porto’s cold shouldering of Guimarães, the family of Dom Afonso look a lot weaker team than they did last year, and with the addition of Benfica rejects Luis Filipe and Nuno Assis, one can only fear the worst for Guimarães. On the other hand, Braga seem rejuivenated, stealing Portista Alan from their neighbours and rivals and making shrewd signings in Meyong and Eduardo. Alongside the great and somewhat psychotic manager Jorge Jesus, they are definitely the team to watch this season.

In Part 3 we look over Carlos Quieros’ first squad as National Team coach and give our opinions on whether he is the right man for the job.

Please leave any comments you might have via the message function on the site, and if you have any queries about the podcast you need us to answer, contact us by e-mail at info@footballportugalpodcast.com .

Thanks for listening.

In Part 1 we look at which clubs will be sharing the Champion’s League millions, the UEFA Cup thousands and the Liga da Honra loose change. All three Champion’s League contenders win at home, sparking scenes of joy for Sporting and Guimarães. However, despite the disappointment of only qualifying for the UEFA Cup, there are some heart-warming scenes at the Estadio da Luz as Rui Costa plays his final game of competitive football. At the other end of the table, a dramatic last minute goal scored by Leiria against Paços condemns them to the Liga da Honra next season. Leixões lost at home to Maritimo but stay up regardless.

In Part 2 we give a round up to the decisions made by the disciplinary committee of the Liga de Clubes. Boavista suffer harsh treatment whilst Porto escape lightly for committing what was more or less the same crime. We give our opinions in full.

In the final part we’ll inform you of the players who will travel to Austria and Switzerland to represent Portugal in Euro 2008. Do we agree or disagree with “Mister” Scolari? Listen and find out.

Due to server space, some of our earlier podcasts are going to be removed (probably the first 5), so if you have any desire to listen to them and haven’t already done so, get in quick!

Don’t hesitate to give us your feedback on the topics we’ve discussed, post your opinions here on the site or e-mail us at: info@footballportugalpodcast.com

Thanks for listening.

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Benfica dropped points yet again with a 0-0 draw away to Estrela Amadora, their 13th draw of the season. Sporting won 1-0 against the run of play at Paços and Guimarães drew 1-1 away to Belenenses but they’ll be somewhat dismayed at how on earth Belenenses left-back Rodrigo Alvim managed to stay on the pitch after a horrific 2 footed tackle on Carlitos earned him only a yellow card whilst poor Carlitos left the pitch and the game on a stretcher.

Setúbal and Marítimo both secured their places in next season’s UEFA Cup, with 2-0 victories over Leixões and Leiria respectively. We also give the latest on the unfortunate events that occurred between Guimarães and Leixões supporters at a service station on their way back to the north after games in the south of Portugal.

In Part 2, we report on Trofense’s promotion from the Liga da Honra, Penafiel’s relegation and Steve attempts the impossible by trying to explain the procedure to decide which two teams from the various Division II leagues will be promoted to the Liga da Honra.

Finally in Part 3 we talk a little bit about two players whose stars are ascending and descending: Cristiano Ronaldo and Mário Jardel. We also give our opinions on the recent form of Deco and Manuel Fernandes.

Keep the comments coming – either leave them here on the site or e-mail us at: info@footballportugalpodcast.com

Thanks for listening.

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In Part 1 we celebrate Boavista’s 2-3 victory at Belenenses and discuss whether Jorge Ribeiro’s current form is good enough to sneak him into the first 11 of the Portuguese national team, maybe at the expense of his more famous, older and fatter brother Maniche. Sporting go back to their normal habit of losing, going down 0-2 at Guimarães whose chances of European football next season seem assured whilst Sporting’s are looking ever more precarious. Porto win as ever and somewhere in the podcast we might mention that José Antonio Camacho has left Benfica. We’ll have an analysis of why Camacho left and also review the names already being bandied about as possible replacements, like Fatih Terim, “The Turkish Option”.

In Part 2 we review the mixed fortunes of the Portuguese teams in Europe. Large sighs of despair as Porto’s target men miss their chances and the team go crashing out on penalties against Schalke 04. Sporting produce an impressive display away at Bolton and Oscar Cardozo proves that for every sweet left foot there is a sour right elbow.

Finally, in part 3 we look at the budgets of Portuguese clubs in the Liga BWin, which go to show just how excellent a job Carlos Carvalhal is doing at Vítoria de Setúbal and why he may well be the next foolhardy manager to warm the Benfica hotseat.

This being our 10th podcast, we’d like to thank all of you that have discovered us, bookmarked us in your favourites or subscribed to one of our RSS feeds. We’d like to give a special thanks to any of you who may have mentioned us in football messageboards or on blogs, your support is greatfully appreciated.

Contact us by email at info@footballportugalpodcast.com or by leaving a message on the site. We always want your questions, even if sometimes we take a bit too long to answer them!

Thank-you for listening.

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Welcome once again to our special “clássico” podcast. As weekends go in Portuguese football, you’ll rarely find one as exciting as this and that’s why we’re running a little bit longer than normal.

Part 1 reviews the weekend’s games, specifically Sporting’s shock 2-0 demolition of Porto . We’ll let you know what we think about Porto ’s Brazilian international keeper, Helton, and I’ll have to eat my words regarding Paulo Bento’s faith in Sporting’s 19 year old goalkeeping prospect Rui Patrício. Kind words will be heaped upon Oscar Cardozo as his two goals helped Benfica beat Vítória de Guimarães 1-3 in Guimarães, but Phil doesn’t like the attitude of Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira. Also, shock of shocks, Leiria won (as I predicted), beating Académica 3-1.

Part 2 reviews the January transfers, or rather lack of them, and looks at the possibility of Portugal ’s new goalscoring hope, Makakula, joining Benfica on Tuesday (29/01/08).

Part 3 concentrates on the “Selecçao” and Luíz Filipe Scolari’s recent comments that Miguel Veloso’s arse may be a bit too big to fit on the bus to the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland this summer.

As always, don’t hesitate to contact us by either leaving a comment or by e-mailing us at info@footballportugal.com

The podcast will be a little bit late next week because it’s Carnival weekend, so don’t expect the fifth podcast until Wednesday 6th February.

Thank you for listening.

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On this week’s podcast, we discuss the big fight between Luisão and Katsouranis of Benfica in their away draw at Vitória de Setúbal, Carlos Parede’s exit from Sporting and the increasing pressure upon trainer Paulo Bento after their 2-0 away defeat to Boavista. Porto keep winning and we’re heaping the praise upon Sunday’s match-winner, Raul Meireles, a.k.a “syringes”, and we’ll be describing in minute detail the own-goal of the season, scored by Ricardo Esteves of Marítimo in their 2-1 home victory over Leixões. Last but not least, we’ll be telling you what a “chapéu” is in Portuguese football and why the Vítoria de Setúbal forward Cláudio Pitbull would’ve liked to have made one for Benfica goalkeeper Quím this weekend.

Please contact us with any questions you may have on our new e-mail: info@footballportugalpodcast.com

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