28/06/05 Hugo Cunha, the União de Leiria midfielder who died Saturday while playing a game of football with friends, will be buried Tuesday. The Portuguese
Players' Union is to arrange a benefit match at the stadium of Barreirense in the coming week (the player was from Barreiro, on the other side of the River Tagus to Lisbon). Proceeds will go to Cunha's family.
Popular English club Manchester United, including Portuguese favourite Cristiano Ronaldo, arrived in the Algarve Monday for a week's pre-season training. The group, made up of about 90 people, will stay
and work at the Vale de Lobo luxury resort in Almancil. 26/06/05  (courtesy ASF)
União de Leiria player Hugo Cunha, 28, died Saturday morning during a kickabout with friends in the town of Montemor-o-Novo. Heart trouble is
suspected. The midfielder played for Barreirense, Campomaiorense and Vitória de Guimarães before moving to Leiria. 25/06/05 Former player Aloísio has been named coach of FC Porto's B Team
, taking over from another former player, Domingos Paciência. Benfica beat arch-rivals Sporting 7-4 after extra-time of the play-off Final to win the National Futsal title. 22/06/05
If all goes to plan, Benfica will have their own cable TV channel as from September. The club hopes to earn 1.5 million euros a year from the channel. Sporting
are about to close a joint sponsorship deal that will net the club 34 million euros over the next five years. Three of the sponsors are thought to be
EDP (energy company), PT (Portugal Telecom) and BES (Banco Espírito Santo). They will have their names placed at strategic points around Alvalade XXI Stadium and at the training complex (the Academia
). The different stands in the stadium will be sponsored by the companies, as happens now at Benfica's Luz. 20/06/05 Taça de Portugal winners Vitória de Setúbal will meet Spain's
Real Bétis, winners of the Taça del Rei, in the first edition of the Taça Ibérica, to be played in Ayamonte on 28 July. The winners of this Taça will go into the Final of the
Torneio Internacional do Guadiana, to be played in the Estádio do Algarve on 30 July, and will face the winners of Sporting v Middlesbro. 18/06/05 Valentim Loureiro
handed in his resignation Friday as president of the Liga de Clubes, the institution that organizes the Portuguese football leagues and refereeing. Loureiro has been under investigation in the so-called
Apito Dourado ('Golden Whistle') referee-bribery scandal and has only recently returned to his functions at the Liga. Former Benfica coach, the Italian Giovanni Trapattoni
, has signed a two-year deal with German club Stuttgart, who have Portuguese international Fernando Meira in their ranks. The move is something of a surprise since Trapattoni claimed
the reason for leaving Portugal was to be with his family. Benfica will plan the new season in Nyon, Switzerland, as they have done in
recent years. They will be there from 6 to 14 July, with two friendlies organised for 10 July (Sion) and 13 (Étoile Carouge). Former Boavista captain Martelinho is claiming 140,000 euros
from the club in unpaid salary and bonuses stretching back to the 2001/02 season. If the club do not pay up, they may be prohibited from signing any new players for the upcoming season. 17/06/05
Benfica have called in former player Fernando Chalana to be one of new coach Ronald Koeman's assistants. 15/06/05 Trapattoni's assistant at Benfica,
Álvaro Magalhães, has been released by the club. The new coach, Ronald Koeman, will be bringing his own coaching staff to the club. Magalhães, who was also Antóinio Camacho's assistant when he was at
the Luz, was angry about the timing of the board's decision as most of the coaching jobs in Portuguese football have been taken up. 14/06/05 Chelsea and former FC Porto coach José Mourinho
will be awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Setúbal next Saturday. Mourinho is from Setúbal, and the award by the City Council will be to show the city's gratitude for Mourinho's feats
in the last couple of years, which have helped to put the city on the international map. German club Stuttgart are interested in former Benfica coach Giovanni Trapattoni
. If 'Trap' goes to Germany, it will contradict somewhat the reasons given by the Italian coach for leaving Benfica and Portugal: that he was missing his country and family. Manuel Cajuda
has been named as coach of Naval, newly-promoted to the SuperLiga. 12/06/05 The vice-president of the Assemblei da República (Parliament), Manuel Alegre,
lodged a formal complaint Thursday with the Assembleia over State-controlled TV channel RTP's airing of commercials during the playing of the Portuguese national
anthem before this week's game against Estonia. Alegre believes RTP should uphold the values befitting a 'public service'. 09/06/05 Ronald Koeman is Benfica
's new coach (theoretically on a two-year contract) and was presented to the media Wednesday. Although recognizing the good work done by Trapattoni last season and the sound inheritance, he said that he could
not guarantee any titles, but that he would work hard towards that end. The press conference to present Koeman came to an abrupt end when one journalist dared to question the financial health of the club, president
Luís Filipe Vieira marching off. 07/06/05 Benfica captain and top scorer Simão Sabrosa, released from the National Team, will undergo surgery on a hernia in Munich Wednesday. 02/06/05 After taking Vitória de Setúbal to only their third national trophy, the Taça on Sunday, and to a respectable tenth place in the SuperLiga, coach José Rachão
has been given the push by the club. He was offered the job of 'B' Team coach but declined. It is widely thought that Luís Norton de Matos, formerly of Salgueiros, will take over some time next week. Benfica
will be sponsored by Portugal Telecom for the next five years, it was officially announced Wednesday. The club's shirts previously bore the name of Vodaphone. 01/06/05
Giovanni Trapattoni announced Tuesday what had been expected for some time now - that he will not be Benfica's coach next season. After a season in which he gave Benfica its first title in 11 years
, the call of his homeland and family were stronger than the chance of taking the club into the Champions League. |
