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After some shaky performances and compromising results, Portugal are back on the right track to Euro 2008 qualification. A potentially uncomfortable double-header in the far eastern reaches of Europe … more accurately Asia, in fact … became a turn around for the Selecção's fortunes this week. They had had trouble on their travels thus far: there was a defeat in Poland, with points dropped in Finland and Serbia (both more or less acceptable) and, of all places, Armenia. That last result (1-1) was a salutary lesson before these latest qualifiers: the game's not won till it's won. Fortunately for Portuguese aspirations, the Armenia hiccup was not … er … repeated this time. First up were Azerbaijan, and a Portugal in cruise mode in the first half wrapped it up before the break, FC Porto central defender Bruno Alves and Werder Bremen striker Hugo Almeida getting their first goals for the Selecção. Almeida started after Benfica's injury-prone striker Nuno Gomes tore a thigh-muscle during the warm-up. Gomes' former club colleague Simão Sabrosa, now at Atlético Madrid, travelled east injured and took part in neither game. "Are you happy you came with us?" a member of the coaching staff asks him in a captioned photo in the sports daily Record. "Very", he replies. "I've always wanted to visit Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, ever since I was a kid." National coach Luíz Felipe Scolari was absent from the bench for both games after being banned for aiming a punch at Serbia's Dragutinovic in the recent qualifier. In his place was diminutive assistant Flávio Teixeira, and doubts about his decision-making capabilities dissolved in the second game. If Portugal had started well and faded in Azerbaijan, the opposite was true in Kazakhstan . A lacklustre first hour was forgotten with the dynamising entry of subs Makukula of Marítimo and Nani of Manchester United, the former getting the first goal, the latter making the second for club-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. Byakov pulled one back for Kazakhstan in the dying seconds. Aziza Makukula, an emergency call-up after the Nuno Gomes injury, was making his début in the senior team (in Stuttgart defender Fernando Meira's boots after his luggage had been lost on the trip east); he had previously represented Portugal at all levels from U-15 to U-21. Born in Kinshasa, RD Congo, 26 years ago, he came to Portugal with his parents in 1988. The 1m 92 Sevilla striker spent the 2005-06 season on the treatment table with a leg injury, spent last season on loan to Spanish side Gimnástic, and is now on loan to Marítimo, where he's scored four goals so far in the Madeiran club's bright start. Being back in Portugal, and scoring this vital goal, should surely put him in the front of Scolari's mind for the upcoming qualifiers, especially given Portugal's current dearth of class strikers … although Record's reference to him as the new Pantera Negra ('Black Panther' – Eusébio's nickname) is more than a little generous. The wins put Portugal one point behind Poland at the top of Group A and three ahead of Serbia and Finland with just two games remaining: Armenia and Finland, both at home. An Internet poll for Record showed that 95% of Portuguese now believe the team can qualify. As Rui Costa told the same newspaper: "It would be Portugal's fourth European Championship in a row, and if in 1996 it was unusual to see Portugal there, now it would be unusual not to see them there."
Once the natural incredulity at 'the best coach in the world' being, shall we say, removed from office had passed, the Portuguese press and the povo's interest shifted promptly to what really mattered: the dosh involved. "Mourinho gets 24 million euros" trumpeted sports daily A Bola. "26 million to keep quiet" reckoned O Jogo. "Filthy rich" blared Record, trumping its rivals with 30 million. Weekly magazine Sábado thought it had the right figure: "25 million … less tax". "Mourinho has shown that he's number one on and off the field … even at getting compensation," jested Benfica coach José António Camacho. Sábado had a graphic showing the rise and rise of Mourinho's income over the years, starting in 1978 with the 500 escudos (two and a half euros) he would get from writing reports on opponents for his dad, a goalkeeper with Vitória de Setúbal, and ending with the 7.5 million euros a year he was getting from Chelsea. The excitement at the prospect of all that lolly having subsided somewhat, the focus turned to where Mourinho would now be heading.
His departure from Stamford Bridge coincided neatly with the fall-out from national team coach Luíz Felipe Scolari's mean left hook to Serbian defender Dragutinovic during the 1-1 draw in the recent Euro 2008 qualifier. That incident and Portugal's disappointing results in the group had pundits calling for Scolari's blood
and the transfusion of Mourinho's. The FPF
(Portuguese Football Federation) convened an 'emergency' meeting, but only for almost a week later, possibly to see how the Mourinho situation would pan out. He has always said that he would be interested in the job towards the end of his career, but he soon quashed all speculation about any appointment at this time. "I don't want to work in Portugal, neither at clubs nor with the
Selecção," he said. "Portugal are going to qualify with ease and have a great Euro … and they're going to do it with Scolari, who's done great things and will continue to do so." The FPF had their meeting
and backed Scolari in his appeal against UEFA's four-match ban. So where else could Mourinho go? Weekly magazine Focus asked the question: "Should they be afraid?", 'they' being Ranieri,
Schuster, Mancini and Rijkaard. Milan's Carlo Ancelotti volunteered himself to that group: "Even if I'm careful, Mourinho's a floating mine," he said. "I want a team with pressure, a real challenge, if not there's
no fun. And everyone knows that Italy and Spain are places I want to go," Mourinho has said. Notwithstanding the inevitable speculation, his self-imposed blackout will keep his final destination under wraps for the
foreseeable future, though. Before the blackout, the Portuguese were hopeful of some under-the radar nuggets from Mourinho, sworn to silence
by the terms of his compensation package. Indeed, in an interview with State TV channel RTP, he launched a sly mortar bomb: "When I said goodbye to the players, 23 of them were crying." But Mourinho is a man of his word, and meaty
sound-bites, the Special One's speciality, have all but dried up. He couldn't avoid the scrum of reporters that met him at the airport on his return to Portugal, though, and loath to appear ungracious, he had a
brief impromptu chat with them (which caused former PM Santana Lopes to walk out of an interview with TV channel SIC when they cut to the airport scenes). What he said was generally unrevealing, but we did find out that
to avoid rumours of his joining one of the Portuguese Big Three
(FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting) he wouldn't be going to any stadiums, apart from possibly that of his home-town club Vitória de Setúbal, and that it is indeed Tami who wears the trousers in his house.
Mourinho sells, though, and in the absence of newsworthy snippets, magazines and newspapers are tripping over themselves to put out features. Focus devoted ten pages to him: "Controversial? So what?"
it began, finishing with a flourish. "He came, he saw, he conquered." Its suggestion that "English football will forever be divided into the pre- and post-Mourinho periods" was perhaps tainted with a little hyperbole, but that he had a profound effect on the English game was a source of generalised pride here. Carlos de Abreu Amori, writing in the national daily
Correio da Manhã, likened him to some of the greatest figures in Portugal's rich history: "The Portuguese who is proud of himself and doesn't hide it." Meanwhile, Zé Mário, as he is
affectionately known locally, has returned to his luxury house in Setúbal, (with a sauna, a view of the Arrábida hills and a gang of expectant reporters camped out at his gate) to watch footy on the telly, go fishing
and await the next phase of an already remarkable career. (This article appeared in the October issue of
10/10/07 1939/40. That was the last time FC Porto had a better start to the season, with 13 straight wins under Hungarian coach Mihály Siska. So far this time it's seven, and it's difficult to see where the first defeat will come from, such is the team's solid assuredness (just one goal conceded). At least one punter got 80/1 from the English bookies recently for them to win the Champions League – a good outside bet, perhaps. Across the city at neighbours Boavista. things aren't looking so rosy. They've had an awful start to the season after getting a big broom to the squad in the summer. They managed to treble their goals scored at the weekend … to three … but still went down 2-4 at home to useful Belenenses. The card-carrying sócios had had enough, and so had club president João Loureiro; he resigned on Tuesday, with two months of his mandate still to run. Loureiro, who took over the reins of the club from his father Valentim in 1997, won a Taça de Portugal in his first season and oversaw the club's greatest ever feat in 2000/01, winning the Liga title. Since then, though, it's been downhill all the way and the team are currently second from bottom without a single win. For the time being, coach Jaime Pacheco holds on (Loureiro said it was up to him and his conscience whether he stays or not), but it will surely be just a matter of time. Belenenses were one of the Portuguese sides involved in Europe last week, all of them except FC Porto seeking to expunge poor results in the first legs of their ties. The Blues of Restelo fought with dignity but went out of the UEFA Cup to Goliath Bayern Munich. Also out are União de Leiria and Paços de Ferreira, but both acquitted themselves well against Bayer Leverkusen and AZ Alkmaar, respectively. Sporting Braga had perhaps the easiest task against Swedish side Hammarby and, sure enough, are the only Portuguese team through to the UEFA Cup group stage (where they meet Bayern, Red Star, Bolton and Aris Salónika). But they will have to improve on their Liga form if they are to make an impression. In the Champions League, Porto and Sporting both won, but Benfica have no points from their two games after going down 0-1 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk. On the international front, national team coach Luís Felipe Scolari saw his appeal against a four-game ban for 'hitting' ("I didn't harm a hair on his head") Serbian player Dragutinovic in the recent Euro 2008 qualifier changed to three months. This conveniently allows him to be in the dug-out for the last, possibly vital qualifying game against Finland. Strangely enough (or not), Portuguese Football Federation president Gilberto Madaíl is on the UEFA Executive Committee. Meanwhile, Portugal are in Eastern Europe for the upcoming qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. It's just this kind of uncomfortable trip that Portugal's stars don't relish, but these are must-win games and no excuses will be accepted. Finally, who's currently the best Portuguese coach in action? That'll be José Manuel. Who? you may ask. Well, he's just qualified Egyptian side Al-Ahly for their third consecutive African Champions Final, against Tunisian side Étoile du Sahel, to be played over two legs at the end of the month. Al-Ahly won the last two Cups, under Manuel. The Portuguese veteran was mooted for the Portugal National team before Scolari but was not appointed, reportedly through pressure from the players. One club that would certainly welcome him back is Boavista, where he was in charge from 1991-96, but the chances of that happening are as remote as the Axedrezados winning the title this season. And pigs flying.
02/10/07 FC Porto appear to be sailing away with the Portuguese Liga, even at this early stage. They've won all of their six games, conceding just one goal in the process. The latest victims were neighbours Boavista (2-0) who, although slightly improved from recent dismal performances, were no match for Porto's ruthlessness and the Liga's top scorer, the Argentinian Lisandro López, who netted both goals to bring his tally to six. It was a weekend of derbies. In the Lisbon clássico, Benfica and Sporting ground out a 0-0 draw, a result that only benefited arch rivals Porto, leaving the Lisbon clubs eight and seven points behind, respectively. The game was marked by a series of controversial refereeing decisions, par for the course so far in the young Liga season. There was another one in the northern derby between Vitória de Guimarães and Sporting Braga. Early in the second half, Geromel headed goalwards from a corner and it looked like Andrés Madrid had cleared off the line, but a goal was given. The result puts pressure on Braga coach Jorge Costa, the former Porto captain, who will be looking over his shoulder after a disappointing start. Vitória, on the other hand, are having a whale of a time; they have just returned to the top flight and currently lie third. If they keep up their momentum, they will be one of the surprise teams of the Liga. The other one at the moment is Madeiran side Marítimo, led by former Brazil coach Sebastião Lazaroni, who are second, despite only drawing 1-1 at Estrela da Amadora. Last week saw the first appearance of the top teams in this year's new competition, the Carlsberg Cup (Taça da Liga), which only involves teams from the top two divisions. The Big Three saw it as a chance to rest some key players, and that decision came back and hit FC Porto on the nose. In any given tie in the first three rounds, the team that finished lower in the league last season played at home, which meant that Porto had to travel to minnows Fátima, newly promoted to the Liga de Honra. Fátima ran Porto ragged at times and got their just reward by killing the giants on penalties after the game had finished goalless (cue a wave of 'Miracle in Fátima'-style headlines). Fátima have been drawn at Sporting in the next round. Sporting also needed penalties to see off Vitória de Guimarães , as did Benfica at Estrela da Amadora … but they did benefit from an invented one during normal time to equalise and take the game to a shoot-out. Those mysterious refereeing decisions, once again … This week, Portugal's European representatives (FC Porto, Sporting and Benfica in the Champions League, Sporting Braga, Belenenses, Paços de Ferreira and União de Leiria in the UEFA Cup) return to duty. They will hope to improve on a disastrous series of results two weeks ago: out of seven games, six were lost, with just Porto getting a point from their home draw against Liverpool. (This article appeared on the international football website Extra Football)
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