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25/05/05 Benfica were received at Lisbon City Hall Tuesday by the deputy Mayor, Carmona Rodrigues (Mayor and former Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes is in hospital). Thousands flocked to the square in front of the City Hall to cheer the team as they came out onto the balcony. 24/05/05 Around 60,000 fans crammed into Benfica's Estádio da Luz Sunday night to welcome home their victorious team. They had to wait until 4 a.m. to see them, and when the players entered the pitch, there was a pitch invasion, the reduced number of stewards on duty unable to do very much to stop it. Sporting's awful week had a terrible conclusion (a 2-4 defeat at home to Nacional, thereby missing the chance to enter the Champions League directly). And things were also not good behind the scenes. Brazilian central defender Anderson Polga refused to play, possibly a reaction to being left on the bench for Sporting's UEFA cup Final defeat to CSKA Moscow. And Cameroonian winger Douala, substituted after just 25 minutes when Sporting were already 0-3 down, refused to shake hand with coach José Peseiro as he trudged off. The other games Sunday were as follows:
Final placings, promotions and relegations for the top divisions were as follows: SuperLiga: Promoted from the Liga de Honra: Promoted from the Segunda B (with one game remaining): Benfica became Portuguese Champions for the first time in eleven years Sunday when they drew 1-1 at Boavista. This result would have been enough as it was, but they could in the event have afforded to lose because their closest rivals FC Porto could only draw 1-1 at home to Académica. Simão scored from the spot on 38 minutes (handball by Cadú) but Boavista equalised four minutes later, Éder heading in from a corner. Benfica's triumph was celebrated all over Portugal and among the emgirant communities throughout the world. In Lisbon, thousands crammed the streets of the city centre: the traditional centre for celebrations of this type, the roundabout called Marqués de Pombal, attracted Benfica fans as soon as the final whistle went at the Bessa, and the square at Restauradores, further down towards the river, was later the venue for a huge open-air concert. Some Benfica fans who had been to the game tried to use the Avenida dos Aliados in Porto as a place to celebrate, but FC Porto fans reclaimed their turf and there were some scuffles which riot police had to intervene to quell. The Benfica team travelled from the Bessa to the airport in an open-top bus, and then flew to Lisbon. The Luz Stadium was packed to receive the heroes. At the Dragão, FC Porto, who needed to win to stand any chance of retaining the title, went in front in the second half through Ibson on the hour, but Joeano equalised for Académica in the dying minutes to make the result at the Bessa ... academic. Coach José Couceiro handed in his resignation after the game. It has been common knowledge for some time that Porto are in contact with AZ Alkmaar coach Co Adriaanse to take the reins next season. Sporting finished off a terrible week (defeat and goodbye to the title at the Luz, defeat in the UEFA Cup Final at the hands of CSKA Moscow) with another terrible result: a 2-4 home defeat to lowly Nacional. Nacional were in the driving seat for most of the match. André Pinto with two and Goulart gave the Madeiran team a three-goal lead approaching half-time, and it took an Ávalos own-goal - turning in a Liedson shot-cum-cross - to peg one back for Sporting. Ten minutes into the second half, Custódio made it 2-3, but a minute from time,. Bruno ran onto a long through ball and slotted it past Nélson in the Sporting goal to complete the humiliation. The result was met with whistles from the fans, and players and coaches were threatened with physical violence after the game. Benfica and FC Porto, second, qualify directly for the Champions League, while Sporting, third, will need to play in the final preliminary round. Sporting Braga, Vitória de Guimarães, fourth and fifth respectively, and Taça finalists Vitória de Setúbal go to the UEFA Cup. 21/05/05 There will be 700 police officers on duty in Porto Sunday evening: 300 for the Boavista v Benfica game, 200 for FC Porto v Académica and 200 in the city. Benfica need one point to win the SuperLiga. If they lose and FC Porto win, it will be Porto's title. Whatever happens, there will be dancing in the streets, most notably in the traditional place for such celebrations: Os Aliados in the centre of the city. Rumours have been flying that FC Porto have offered Boavista's players between 35 and 50,000 euros a man to beat Benfica. 18/05/05 The four games of the final jornada of the SuperLiga that have a bearing on the top places have been shifted back to 19.15 Sunday. These games are: Sporting
v Nacional All the other games are at the traditional time of 16.00. Benfica bought up, and have now sold, the 15,000 tickets destined for the general public for the last game of the season, at Boavista's Bessa Stadium. The decision by the Boavista administration to sell these tickets en bloc to Benfica prompted protests from Boavista fans, and the Boavista claque, As Panteras Negras , threatened to boycot the last two games of the season. Benfica are within touching distance of their first title since 1994 after they beat Lisbon rivals Sporting 1-0 at a packed Luz Saturday. Luisão got the all-important goal on 83 minutes, heading the ball out of Ricardo's hands from a Petit free-kick. Sporting captain Beto was sent off minutes later for words to a linesman. Both sides were too tense for the game to be a classic, but no one at Benfica will be minding. They now need just one point from their final game at Boavista to clinch the title. Sporting drop to third, on the same points as FC Porto, who won 2-0 at Rio Ave.with goals from Benni McCarthy and Leandro in the second half. The Três Grandes'
final games are: Sporting Braga said a final farewell to their slim title hopes when they let the relegated bottom club hold them to a draw at home. Tanque Silva put Beira-Mar in front on four minutes, while Cesinha equalised for Braga on 37. Vitória de Gumarães won a place in the UEFA Cup at the expense of Boavista. Romeu gave Vitória an early start with a tap-in on four minutes, and Luíz Mário finished it off in added time. Boavista ´keeper Carlos was sent off on the hour for brining down Silva, through on goal, Boavista captain João Pinto was sent off on 72 minutes for as second yellow, and Luíz Mário saw red in added time, also for a second yellow. Carlos and João Pinto will thus miss the final day's crucial match against Benfica. Estoril and Moreirense will join Beira-Mar in the Liga de Honra next season, despite good results on the day. Moreirense won in some style at Académica. Manoel set them on their way on 24 minutes, then two from Nei and another from Eriverton in the second half gave Moreirense a 4-0 win. Estoril took the lead at Vitória de Setúbal with a goal from Fellahi. But just after the break, Meyong equalised, and veteran Hélio put Vitória in front on 77. Amoreirinha got Estoril's equaliser in added time. A goal by Nandinho early in the second half was enough to give Gil Vicente the points at home to Belenenses. Penafiel continued their good run of form with an impressive 3-1 win at Nacional. They were 2-0 in front after only 20 minutes through Fernando Aguiar and Wesley. Marcelo pulled on back in the second half but Wesley got his second to keep the breathing space. Two first-half goals from Manduca saw Marítimo beat luckless União de Leiria 2-0 in Madeira. Saturday is potentially a crunch day in the SuperLiga, with title and relegation issues possibly sorted out. The highlight of the penultimate day of this year's championship is Benfica v Sporting, both on the same points. If Benfica lose, they cannot win the title, but even if they win, Sporting could still lose out on the last day to FC Porto, who are at Rio Ave. Fourth-placed Sporting Braga, at home to Beira-Mar, are still in with an outside chance, but their main hope will be a Champions League place. At the bottom, only one of Gil Vicente, Estoril and Moreirense can stay up, but the latter two are favourites for the drop. The Benfica v Sporting game will play out in front of 65,000 at the Luz. It is considered 'high-risk'; there will be 600 police officers on duty in and around the ground, and 500 stewards. 11/05/05 The three games of the penultimate jornada that have a direct bearing on the title race will all kick off at 19.45 Saturday: Benfica v Sporting All the other games will start at 16.00. The referee from Porto Paulo Paraty has been nominated to officiate the vital Benfica v Sporting Lisbon derby. Benfica have been fined 5,000 euros for the bad behaviour of their fans at Penafiel at the weekend. Near the end of the game, a lighter thrown from the Benfica section of the crowd hit Penafiel defender Odair in the face. Sporting returned to the top of the SuperLiga Monday after 16 jornadas off the top spot. A single goal by Tello from a free-kick on the hour was enough to beat Vitória de Guimarães and take Sporting level on points with Benfica, but they go above them on head-to-head results. The two teams meet at the Luz next Saturday in what could be the game in which Sporting clinch the title if they win, and FC Porto fail to win at Rio Ave. But Sporting will be without their top scorer Liedson, who in added time kicked the ball into the crowd in frustration at not reaching a through pass, saw a yellow and will be suspended for one game. Sporting are on 61 points, the same as Benfica, with FC Porto on 58. Their last games are: Benfica:
Sporting (h); Boavista (a) Vitória de Guimarães remain in fifth, the final UEFA Cup place, one point ahead of Boavista ... who they meet at home next weekend in what will be another classic battle. FC Porto squandered a supreme opportunity to attack the SuperLiga top spot Sunday with a 1-1 draw scraped at practically-doomed Moreirense. Moreirense led from the ninth minutes, Nei chasing a through ball, beating Pedro Emanuel to it and slotting it through the legs of the oncoming Baía. Porto had much of the subsequent play, but it was not until a quarter of an hour from the end that they secured what could still be a vital point. Hélder Postiga flicked the ball over the head of 'keeper João Ricardo and had the presence of mind to follow it up and head in. Ricardo Quaresma was sent off in the dying minutes for words directed at one of the linesmen. Luís Fabiano had seen a yellow previously for the same reason. Both will miss Porto's next game. Porto are on 58 points, three behind Benfica. Sporting can go top if they beat Vitória de Guimarães Monday. It's not only the top that is tight. At the bottom, two of the three relegation palces will be decided in the last two games. Moreirense's draw with Porto gives them a very slim chance of survival. But Beira-Mar are down. Their 0-0 draw at home to Académica means they cannot now escape relegation, while Académica, who have enjoyed a miraculous revival under Nelo Vingada, are safe. Beira-Mar take with them to the Liga de Honra one of the stadiums built for Euro 2004. The other two teams involved in the relegation dog-fight are Estoril and Gil Vicente. The former beat the latter 2-0 at home and leave the decision for another day. Vargas and Hugo Santos, in each half, offered Estoril a thin lifeline. The other games of the day had no bearing on top or bottom. Vitória de Setúbal won 2-0 at União de Leiria with two goals from Igor, and Rio Ave drew 0-0 at home to Marítimo, their 17th draw of the season.
Benfica suffered an almighty hiccup Saturday in their quest for a first title in 11 years, going down 0-1 at Penafiel. Lowly Penafiel, who could still theoretically have gone down, produced some fine, organised football to thwart a nervous and rather aimless Benfica, and stole all three points with a neat goal from Senegalese N'Doye, loping onto a Clayton through ball and flicking it past the oncoming Quim. Benfica remain top, but only if Sporting fail to win at home to Vitória de Guimarães Monday. Penafiel jump to tenth. Earlier in the evening, Boavista seriously jeopardised their hopes of a European place with a 1-2 defeat at home to Sporting Braga on the début as coach of Pedro Barny, taking over from Jaime Pacheco. Two headed goals in the first half by João Tomás, unmarked both times, did the damage, while Guga pulled one back from the spot in the second. Boavista remain one point behind Vitória de Guimarães, who are in fifth. Sporting Braga join FC Porto in third, both on 57, four points behind Benfica. José Pedro on 23 minutes got the only goal to give Belenenses the win over Nacional Friday, taking them up to seventh. 04/05/05 Penafiel, who play league leaders Benfica at home this wekend, have hired a temporary stand that was recently used at the Estoril Open (tennis). The stand will increase the capacity of the ground to 8,000. The club originally wanted to play the game in Paris. Vitória de Guimarães replaced Boavista in fifth and stepped up into the European places Monday with a 2-1 win at home to Penafiel. Penafiel played the much more attractive football throughout, with some excellent approach play, but they failed to pack the killer punch and gave Guimarães the points thanks to two dead ball situations. Vitória went in front on nine minutes, Dragoner scoring from the spot after Sidney had pulled down Orahovac. Roberto equalised on a quarter of an hour with a neat swivel and shot from the edge of the area. But then 13 minutes from time, Marco Ferreira curved a free-kick around the wall to send 15,000 Guimarães fans home happy. They now just depend on themselves to claim fifth spot and a UEFA Cup place; they are one point ahead of Boavista. Despite the defeat, Penafiel are safe from the drop. Sporting's Chilean striker Pinilla, who has had rather a stop-start season so far, produced a hat-trick Sunday to give Sporting an emphatic 3-0 win at title rivals Sporting Braga. It was all square at half time, but then the Braga defence went AWOL and Pinilla said thank you very much. On 56 minutes, he beat the off-side trap to dive in and head home a cross from compatriot Tello. Then on 62, Braga had the stuffing well and truly knocked out of them with his second, a shot cracked in at the near post from a superb through ball by Moutinho. And then on 78 minutes, Tello was once again the supplier, his dipping shot from the left only parried by Paulo Santos into the path of Pinilla, with the Braga defence looking on. The Três Grandes have now found themselves rising to the top: Benfica lead, three points ahead of Sporting and four ahead of FC Porto. Sporting Braga seem to have blown their title hopes; they are now seven points off the pace with just three games left. The remaining games of the top three are: Benfica: Penafiel (a); Sporting (h); Boavista (a) Benfica maintained their top spot for at least another week Saturday when they beat Belenenses 1-0 at home. They deserved the win for all the pressure and chances they had, but the winning goal came from a very dubious penalty decision on 68 minutes by referee Mário Mendes: Ricardo Rocha shot at goal, Amaral closed it down and the ball deflected up and hit him on the arm. Simão tucked the spot kick away. FC Porto beat Marítimo by the same score and also with a controversial goal in a game marked by several equally controversial decisions by referee António Costa. FC Porto got the decisive goal on 25 minutes, Hélder Postiga shooting and Benni McCarthy following up to knock in the loose ball after Marcos could only parry. But the South African striker was in an offside position at the moment of Postiga's shot. On 33 minutes, Diego scored with what seemed like a good goal, a shot from outside the area, but it was disallowed for offside, presumably because McCarthy was in the 'keeper's line of vision. Then on 52 minutes, Briguel was adjudged to have fouled Postiga in the area, but Diego's spot kick was saved by Marcos. The same Briguel was sent off on 73 minutes for a second yellow. Vitória de Setúbal put recent poor results in the SuperLiga behind them with a 2-0 win at home to Rio Ave. Ricardo Chaves and Meyong, both in the first half, got the goals. Gil Vicente drew 1-1 at home to União de Leiria. Carlitos put Gil in front on the hour, but Edson salvaged a point for União a minute from time. Nacional thrashed Estoril 4-1 in Madeira. Alexandre Goulart put Nacional in front on 26 minutes, Vargas equalised on 29 but it was all downhill from there on for Estoril. Goulart added another ten minutes into the second half and Adriano and Gouveia finished it all off. Estoril remain favourites for the drop along with Moreirense and Beira-Mar, who drew 0-0, a result that helps neither side. Académica look likely to remain in the SuperLiga after their 11th game in a row without defeat, coinciding with the arrival of coach Nelo Vingada. They beat Boavista Friday with a single goal from Luciano on 36 minutes. Boavista, still in fifth, now see their dream of European football jeopardised with Vitória de Guimarães just two points behind. Coach Jaime Pacheco handed in his resignation after the game and it was accepted by the board.
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