“I’m also thinking about putting some money on Benfica to beat Braga with a 4 goal handicap if I can find good enough odds. Anybody else believe Benfica will wipe the floor with Braga next weekend?”

Oh, what a hopeless fool I can be sometimes. In the end, it was Braga wiping the floor with Benfica and the possibility of Benfica beating Braga by 4 clear goals seems as remote as Jorge Ribeiro getting another call-up for Portugal’s World Cup squad.

In this week’s podcast we focus on the fortunes of the big teams in Portugal. We say “big teams” because it’s hard to call Benfica, Sporting and Porto “Grandes” with Braga being so dominant right now. Then in part 2 we focus on the other teams in the league, Pecnik shines for Nacional, Kerrouche scores yet again for Naval and it’s two wins out of two for new Leiria coach Lito Vidigal. We also give the results of the Makers of Electrical Appliances First XI.

Thanks for all of your contributions over the last week and we’re sorry if we forgot any names when passing on the opinions of our listeners! Keep the comments coming and we’ll be back next week.

Steve and Phil

In part 1 we concentrate on the teams who played games with new managers last weekend, there were 5 games in total in which managers served their debuts for their new teams. Our favourite game involved Manuel Fernandes, moving from Leiria to Setúbal where his new team beat Leixões 1-0 in a highly entertaining game. His old team, Leiria are now managed by Lito Vidigal and they beat Naval 2-0. Marítimo played against Paços, a game featuring two new managers which the home side won 3-1. Ex-Paços manager Paulo Sergio’s new team, Guimarães, played well in a 1-1 draw with Sporting who are looking severely lacklustre. Finally we analyse André Vilas Boas’ debut in charge Acádemica, who put in a fine performance but lost 3-2 away at Porto, who are being described as the worst Porto team in a decade.

Part 2 is dedicated to teams with more stable management structures, Braga dropped points for the first time away at Rio Ave and Benfica thrash their opposition yet again, this time Nacional 6-1. The game had a fantastic performance from Fábio Coentrão in the unconventional position of left-back, leaving observers to wonder just what his future holds if he decides to maintain this position permanently.

Finally, in part 3 we talk about Portugal’s strange ticketing procedure for the World Cup play-off game, the Taça de Portugal draw and we invite listeners to help us form the Makers of Electrical Appliances 11. We’ve got Jean Sony of Leixões playing on the right flank and Cassio of Paços between the sticks, are there any other players from the world of football to complete the team?

Please keep the comments coming, give your electrical appliance maker suggestions and we hope you enjoy the podcast.

Steve and Phil

In part 1 of the podcast we’ll focus on the teams that went down from the Liga as well as those who came up. Going down are Belenenses, who lost 3-1 at Benfica. Brazillian striker Saulo will take a large share of the blame, needlessly being sent off before half-time with Belenenses level at 1-1. benfica coach Quique Flores did a lap of (dis)honour after the game and was generally applauded by Benfiquistas. Joining Belenenses will be Trofense, losing1-0 away to Paços, whose goalscorer William came back from a long lay-off to score the winner. Coming up from the Liga de Honra will be União de Leiria, who have had a magnificent turn-around this season largely due to their coach, Manuel Fernandes, who took them from 13th in November to 2nd at the end of the season. Going down from the Liga da Honra are Boavista and Gondomar, with Fátima and Chaves replacing them.

In part 2, we concentrate on the festas do título taking place at Olhanense and Porto as the two clubs take their Liga da Honra and Liga crowns, respectively. Olhanense win the prize for most imaginative face paint and hair dye, but Porto have the far bigger celebration, their open-top bus parading through the streets of the city until the early hours.

As mentioned at the beginning and end of the podcast, we want your votes for player of the season 2009 /2010. Please send an e-mail to info@footballportugalpodcast.com, specifying who you think were the top 5 players of the season and in what order. Get your votes in before midday on Monday June 1st and we’ll compile the votes to create a footballportugal Podcast player of the season.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions and receiving your votes.

Steve and Phil

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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