Convenient Alliteration Day: Transfer Tuesday
By: Greg |
Add Comments
Concerned that all league-related news would be overshadowed by the naming of the twenty three brave Portuguese (Cape Verde, Brazilian, Congolese, etc) players that Phil Scolari will be bringing to the Euro 2008 finals this year, I drank a bit and struggled to come up with some content for today’s blog. I also was staring straight into the face of a noon flight to Chicago for a seminar that I had no desire to attend. So, as I perused whatever seats were still available at Wrigley Field for a night time showdown between the Cubs and San Diego (California) Padres, I came across news of Sporting’s three year agreement with Fabio Rochemback.
Seeing as this blog is probably going to have transfer news regarding the pseudo-pornographic poaching of Portuguese teams rather than them bringing in players, I was somewhat thrilled with the news of the Brazilian midfielder’s signing. Then I realized that his versatility in the midfield basically signaled the inevitability of the sale(s)? of Sporting Captain João Moutinho and/or holding midfielder and all around pretty boy Miguel Veloso.
As nice a player as former Middlesborough and Barcelona midfielder Rochemback is, he’s realistically nowhere near either of the men he’s been brought in to potentially replace. At the same time, at least Sporting are being proactive and realistic in trying to fill holes that will be left in their squad this summer from Euros burning the deep pockets of monster clubs across Europe.
Jornada 30 Recap: Final Whistle Blown On Season
By: Greg | 2 Comments
With the league still smarting from the Golden Whistle punishments handed down on Friday, the players took to the pitch to earn their money finish out the end of a controversy-filled season. Here’s how it all shook out:
Nacional 1 - 2 Belenenses
Braga 2 - 1 Académica
Naval 0 - 2 Porto
U.d.Leiria 1 - 1 P. Ferreira
Leixões 0 - 1 Marítimo
Sporting 2 - 1 Boavista
Benfica 3 - 0 V. Setúbal
V. Guimarães 4 - 0 E.d.Amadora
** Final Table **
1. Porto 69 *League Champions / UEFA Champions League berth*
2. Sporting 55 *UEFA Champions League berth*
3. V. Guimarães 53 *UEFA Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round berth*
4. Benfica 52 *UEFA Cup berth*
5. Marítimo 46 *UEFA Cup berth*
6. V. Setúbal 45 *UEFA Cup berth* (Spot from Taça de Portugal, given Sporting and Porto’s final positions)
7. Braga 41 *Intertoto Cup*
8. Belenenses 40
9. Boavista 36 *Relegated due to Golden Whistle punishment, currently in appeal*
10. Nacional 35
11. Naval 34
12. Académica 32
13. E.d.Amadora 31
14. Leixões 26
15. P. Ferreira 25 *Relegated, finality pending Boavista’s appeal of its relegation*
16. U.d.Leiria 16 *Relegated*
Hero of the Week - Evandro, Rio Ave - With his team staring plainly at another year in the Liga Vitalis, he tallied the match tying goal against Feirense in the 86th minute. Being that Rio Ave have had enormous amounts of problems paying their players this year as well, they are appropriately going to be replacing dead beats Boavista in the top flight. Since Rio Ave play in front of what amounts to the local butcher, baker, and candlestick maker, I unfortunately do not have YouTubage or any other video whatsoever of this for you. I am sorry.
Goats of the Week - Paços de Ferreira - They had the ideal situation brewing for them. They were playing the dead last team at home. The other potentially relegation bound team, Leixões, lost 1-0 away to Marítimo. Paços de Ferreira had a lead going into the 90th minute against a team that was playing for pride. However, they couldn’t keep out a cross converted by Patrick in the dying stages of the game to salvage a point for Leiria. Paços de Ferreira can probably take solace in the fact that Boavista’s appeal against their relegation probably has very little chance of working out. Therefore, with Leiria already relegated and Boavista going down as punishment from the Golden Whistle trials, Paços de Ferreira will probably be saved from the relegation axe. They’ll stay up not on the merit of their play but on the backs of cheaters.
Clean Sheets of the Week - Ace Ventura (Porto), Marcos (Marítimo), Nilson and Nuno Santos for six minutes (V.Guimarães), and Quim (Benfica).
It was a fun season, even though Porto locked it up after the first month or so. We still have the Taça de Portugal final between Sporting and Porto this coming Sunday (May 18th). That considered, we can now turn our attention towards the transfers (which have already begun with Jose Bosingwa in London to discuss terms of a 20 million Euro transfer to my Chels, yay) and the Portuguese National team’s bid to win its first major international championship at the 2008 Euro. I hope you had a great weekend and will see you back here tomorrow, as always, same Chop time, same Chop Channel.
**Breaking News** The Final / Golden Whistle Punishments
By: Greg | 14 Comments
I know I was kind of toiling in anonymity earlier when I was throwing up an impromptu live blog of the events below, seeing as there’s about six people a day that visit this, but I wanted to try it out anyways. Here’s the transcript from the aforementioned live blog as well as a commentary below it…
** The primary referee involved, Augosto Duarte, has received a SIX year suspension, stemming from allegations of bribery and match fixing involving, among others, Porto and Boavista during the 2003/4 season.
** The president of relegation-bound Leiria João Bartolomeu is suspended for one year and Leiria are fined 40,000 Euros for their attempted match fixing against Belenenses in 2003/4. Leiria have already announced that they will be filing an appeal of the fine.
** FC Porto president Pinto da Costa has been suspended two years and fined 10,000 Euros. This stems from allegations involving matches between Porto and Estrela da Amadora and now Liga Vitalis side Beira-Mar in 2003/4.
** FC Porto will be docked six points and fined 150,000 Euros.
** Boavista will be relegated to the Liga Vitalis.
** Former Boavista chairman João Loureiro is suspended for two years due to match fixing allegations involving matches between Boavista and Belenenses, Benfica, and Académica during the 2003/4 season.
These punishments had already basically been leaked to the media some time ago, with the exception of the actual exact fine amounts and suspension lengths. Boavista have been a fucking mess all year (who really hasn’t in this crazy league?) so going down a division may actually be good for them in some weird kind of way. I’m interested to see if Paços de Ferreira and Leixões, who are fighting for their SuperLiga lives this weekend will be spared the axe due to the fact that Boavista now makes the second team being relegated after Leiria. I wonder if they’ll simply keep the two league relegation spots in tact, add Boavista as a third team and take the third place team up from the Liga Vitalis as an extra promotion spot.
Most people in Portugal who don’t support Porto hate them as well as Pinto da Costa, so the news regarding the Dragons will probably be extremely well received by those who aren’t Porto fans. Porto supporters can kind of shrug at the point deduction, since they made the league their bitch this year. Therefore, if this year’s performance is any indication of what we can potentially expect next year, six points is such a “so what” in the grand scheme of things that the Porto punishment amounts to a light tap on the wrist at best.
Pinto da Costa had to see this suspension coming and two years out of the spotlight won’t further damage his already sullen reputation. The only person conspicuously absent from major punishment is Valentim Loureiro, former Boavista president and father of apparent “fall guy” João Loureiro. When the initial accusations came out, he was a prominent figure and major “person of interest.” As the days pass, I’m sure more will come out as to why we didn’t hear his name called when the Final Whistle was blown.
Have a lovely weekend. I’ve given you much more than you deserve today, with two bloggings here and one over on the Euro2008 site. Be thankful for what you have been given. For, as the man who is often regarded as the “Father of the American Revolution” Thomas Paine once said, “That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly.” Kisses ALL AROUND!
Jornada 30 Preview: Final Preview of the Season and a Tribute to Rui Costa
By: Greg | 1 Comment
*** Completely Unrelated, Somewhat Breaking News *** The final verdict in the Golden Whistle trial is going to be handed down at around 10:30 Eastern time today. I’ll do my best to give you whatever information becomes available around that time. That is, as long as this thing called “work” doesn’t get in the way.
Well, kids, it’s been a beautiful journey this season. Porto won the league after about eight weeks of play. Apparently no one is getting paid for doing their job. Rui Costa is playing his final match this weekend and then retiring to Benfica’s front office. While these weekly previews will go on hiatus until next August, I’ll still be here updating you on transfer information and anything pertinent to the Portuguese Liga that might come out while the summer break hits us. Don’t forget to keep up with Portugal’s quest to win its first ever European Championship over on the Euro2008 World Cup Blog. If you hadn’t noticed, I write that blog as well. I’m just as excellent there as I am here, so if you haven’t had a chance to take a look, please do so. Even if there aren’t any league matches to be played, there’s still plenty to talk about in the world of Portuga football. If I proved anything last summer, its that I can certainly fill a fucking blog page with nonsensical blathering that’s somewhat topical and somewhat not.
Whoah… I started writing that above paragraph as a type of “season winding down summation” but then it turned into some corny speech and advertisement for my Portugal Euro Blog. Do me a favor and just ignore most of what I wrote above and continue to read my musings on both blogs, like you probably have been already. Don’t change anything; just because the league games are not going on doesn’t mean I’m not here… Don’t youuuuu forget about meee! You’re all my children and I love you dearly. Wow, I need a scotch.
Keep in mind that there’s still plenty to be played for at both the top and bottom of the table. A relegation spot is to be decided (by either P.Ferreira on 24 points or Leixões on 26) and some European Champions League goodness (one group berth and one qualifier berth) can still be had by Sporting, V. Guimarães or Benfica, with the lowest of the three going to the UEFA Cup. The only thing apparently NOT available to the players is wages.
-= Jornada 30 =- All times are local. The final edition of this season’s FixtureFacts is in honor of Rui Costa’s final match. Instead of pertinent facts about each team, each team will be accompanied by a fact about Rui Costa.
Saturday, May 10th @ 17:30 — Nacional (Born March 29, 1972) v. Belenenses (O Belem play in the same city of RC’s birth, Lisbon)
Saturday, May 10th @ 17:30 — Braga (Scored the tournament-winning penalty in the 1991 U21 World Cup) v. Académica (Was a key member of the “Golden Generation”)
Saturday, May 10th @ 19:45 — Naval (Named one of football’s greatest living players by Pelé) v. Porto (Began with Porto rivals Benfica at the age of 10)
Sunday, May 11th @ 18:00 — U.d.Leiria (Was loaned by Benfica to Portuguese side AD Fafe in 1990) v. P. Ferreira (Played 91-94 for Benfica)
Sunday, May 11th @ 18:00 — Leixões (Won the Taça de Portugal in 93 and the league in 93/94) v. Marítimo (Was sold in 94 to Italian side Fiorentina for the equivalent of 6 million Euros after Benfica hit a financial crisis)
Sunday, May 11th @ 20:15 — Sporting (Plied his trade at Fiorentina from 94-2001 until they went bankrupt) v. Boavista (Bought by AC Milan for a then club record transfer fee of 35 million Euros, and won practically every conceivable piece of silverware)
Sunday, May 11th @ 20:15 — Benfica (After 5 years and relegation to the bench, returned to his boyhood club to see out the end of his career) v. V.Setúbal (Scored 26 goals in 94 international appearances)
Sunday, May 11th @ 20:15 — V.Guimarães (Retired from International football after Portugal’s 2004 upset loss to Greece in the final ) v. E.d.Amadora (After his 150th appearance for Benfica this Sunday, he will hang up his #10 jersey and remove his boots for the last time)
We’ll be back Monday with a Jornada 30 recap as well as a summation of the 2007/08 campaign. Until then, marvel at the three well put together highlight videos in tribute of Rui Costa and his career. Obrigado, Number Ten. You’ll be missed.
PS — COME ON THE CHELS!!!! COME ON WIGAN, BEAT UNITED!!!! I will hopefully be writing Monday’s blog with a severe hangover after Chelsea slide by United into first place and take the league this weekend. If not, I’ll still have a severe hangover regardless.
Tags: Super Liga, Golden Whistle, Rui Costa, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Porto, Benfica, Sporting, Tag IndexList of Clubs Up To Date on Wage Payments Is Released
By: Greg | 1 Comment
Since there’s been a whole huge hullabaloo over getting paid this past season, the Players’ Association did us all a favor and released a list of clubs who have paid all of their players in full through the end of April. The list is as follows:
1. Porto
2. Benfica (I guess at least Sven’s recent offer will be valid)
Annnd… That’s all. Yikes. Only two teams out of sixteen in the top flight of Portuguese football are up to date in paying their players’ wages. Even Sporting, the SECOND PLACE CLUB IN THE LEAGUE and supposed “Big Three” team, is late in paying its players. This can’t be good. Who is going to want to come to play in the country if this type of information is readily available and true?
I’m sure with a club like Sporting that there’s a decent explanation for this, but what’s with the other teams? Boavista and Estrela da Amadora have been in the headlines this year almost exclusively due to the fact that they’re more than a month in arrears. With this report, it has come out that, in addition to these two hugely delinquent clubs, Nacional are a full two months behind as well.
I understand that Sporting haven’t seen all the money from Manchester United for Nani so that may be causing a hold up in cash flow, but so much so that they can’t at least afford to pay the guys who put the asses in the seats? Something is seriously amiss here.
I prefer the Goodfellas mentality of “Fuck you, pay me” rather than “Okay, boss, we’ll play, and you ‘promise’ we’ll get paid? Well, that’s good enough for us!” Forget the players who make bazillions, what about the grinders who literally put food on the table with their wages? Where’s the food coming from if they aren’t getting paid? If I were these guys, I wouldn’t step near the field until some reasonable amount of money is made available.
Hump Day Quickies
By: Greg | 2 Comments
Since there’s no one huge news story today, I figure I might as well take it easy, enjoy the 78 degree New Jersey weather, and give you some quick hit news stories and links away from this beautiful site…
-*- Estrela da Amadora players suspended training today due to non payment of wages. Is anyone reliable in the Portuga League as far as paying these dudes? Apparently not.
-*- However, the Portuguese League Overlords want to start punishing teams who don’t pay their players by docking points. What a novel concept.
-*- Manchester City have apparently approached Big Phat Phil Scolari with a 3.2 million pound deal. He also wants an answer before the 2008 Euro. Awesome, this is just what we need: a distraction up to and potentially during the tournament! Yay!
-*- The league is investigating Yannick’s goal celebration in Sporting’s 1-0 win this past weekend over Estrela da Amadora. Apparently he made the “shhh” gesture to a stand of fans who were racially abusing him up to that point. That this type of shit still takes place pisses me off to the point that if I start a diatribe about it, I may pound the keys on the keyboard into uselessness.
-*- In spite of me stating on the Portuguese National Team blog that my wife has certain duties that are expected of her, my male equipment remains in tact. For now.
I provided all English-translated links. I know a bunch of us speak Choptuguese, but since this is an English language site, I think you’re all smart enough to see why I gave English Googlefied links. Plus, they’re funny to read most of the time. See you tomorrow, and until then… You are loved.
A First Look At Summer Transfer Targets
By: Greg | 10 Comments
Every summer, Manchester United (especially recently) and other prominent clubs look to strengthen their teams by purchasing a number of young Portuguese league stars. As I watch the matches during the season, I wonder how hardcore fans of Portuguese teams can endear themselves to any given player. How can you, with the knowledge that if a player excels on the pitch that they’re more likely than not going to be headed out in the coming transfer season? I suppose you can look at the player from a parental type of viewpoint, to say that he’s shining on the pitch on your watch and then when you release him for twenty five million Euros, you then get to watch him grow further at a larger, more prestigious club.
Meanwhile, your league will continue to lose European spots as a result of poor performance abroad and achieving the pinnacle of European glory will be an infrequent realization at best. So let’s have a quick look at a handful of targets whose highest probability of tasting European glory will not come from staying with their present club. I’ll start off with four guys who are almost definitely gone at the end of the season and then subsequent posts will feature more fringe or less talked about targets…
Ricardo Quaresma, Winger, Porto – He already had a stint (albeit an unsuccessful one) at Barcelona a few years ago. However, his Spanish odyssey was plagued with inconsistent play and constant clashing of heads with manager Frank Rijkaard. Quaresma has since become a more complete player, willing to cover his position going back as well as forward. His international and club play has moved him back to the top of a number of teams’ lists, including the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, and Liverpool.
My Guess: I want to see him flying back and forth on the Chelsea flanks rather badly next year. However, I don’t think there’s a huge amount of interest coming from Stamford Bridge at this point. I think the potential for going to Real Madrid and kicking Barcelona’s ass in a sort of “told you so” kind of way will be too alluring for Ricky Q. Therefore, I’ll guess Real Madrid for 37.5 million Euros.
José Bosingwa, Right Back, Porto — Reports are already coming out of England that the 25 year old Portuguese international has agreed to join Manchester United. Porto have slapped a 30 million Euro transfer valuation on José and he seems an ideal fit to replace an aging Gary Neville. However, there will be strong interest from Spain and Italy as well and I see no reason why he couldn’t end up pairing back up with former Porto center back Pepe at Real Madrid. Bosingwa is another one of those players who is partly club-owned and partly owned by an agency. Therefore, whatever team goes after him may have to pay a bit of a premium so that Porto feel assured that they’re getting their fare share of his valuation.
My Guess: With Carlos Tevez, Manchester United have experience in dealing with convoluted ownership schemes. They also have plenty of cash, a genuine need to fill, and a hard on for all things Portuguese. With the increasing number of Chops on ManU, the move seems to make way too much sense: Manchester United for 30 million Euros.
Miguel Veloso, Defensive / Holding Midfielder, Sporting — The new young star “trinco” or holding midfielder in the Portuguese international side is Veloso. He’s an excellent holding midfielder who shuts down the advanced-middle of the pitch, and is the epitome of why there is so much outcry over the position itself: he closes attacks down before they have too much of a chance of getting started. He’s been on a meteoric rise of late and has been popping up all over English radars.
My Guess: All the talk here is Manchester United. I have no idea why. From what I can tell, they really have no serious need for a Miguel Veloso type of player. Not to say that they have any “serious” needs, but Bosingwa certainly makes a ton more of sense. Arsenal and Liverpool are on the radar as well and I see him as more of a fit in Arsene Wenger’s side than any of them. Therefore, I’ll go out on a limb and say Arsene swoops in for around 28-32 million Euros and takes the 21 year old prospect.
João Moutinho, Midfielder / Attacking Midfielder, Sporting — He’s one of the Portuguese players whose status as far as the twenty three Big Phil Scolari will be selecting for the trip to the mountains this summer is up in the air. I like the diminutive kid’s spunk and energy as well as his ability to find the open man. However, I find I can go twenty to twenty five minutes at a time during a match and not even notice he’s there. He’s a young (21) captain for Sporting and shows great maturity as well as field vision for manager Paulo Bento’s side. For me, his game is not suited well to the Premier League’s style of play. He’s probably the type of player that can see real time and benefit from the Spanish or Italian leagues.
My Guess: Again, as with all Sporting players, the big talk has been from Old Trafford and Sir Alex. He could serve as a good back up to a player like Michael Carrick but since Moutinho’s still honing his skills, planting his ass on the bench, two rows behind Sir Alex won’t do his game any good. Almost every single Premier League side that wasn’t facing relegation was supposedly tracking him. Since fun shit never happens in the transfer market, he’ll end up at Manchester United for 20 million Euros.
As the season winds down and the frequency of league news gets quieter, we’ll continue to speculate and obviously report on all the transfer news, Portuguese style, as it happens. Until then remember, Baba loves you.
Jornada 29 Review: Nacional Take Six Points From Porto
By: Greg | 3 Comments
When the boys of Nacional are sitting around the dressing room at the end of the season to discuss what took place over the course of the thirty jornadas that comprised the 2007/08 season, they can proudly stick their chests out and say: “We handed Porto two of their three losses this year.” In the final match of the season at the Dragão, young, promising Portuguese winger (surprise!) Fábio Coentrão (on loan from Benfica) netted two and Juninho (the other, other, other Juninho) put one in during injury time to see tenth place Nacional win 3-0 and take all six points available from league kings Porto this year. Second place Sporting now move within twenty points of Porto with one match remaining. I have to do the math, but I think Porto have already clinched the title. While I crunch the numbers, here are the scores from the other contests…
Porto 0 - 3 Nacional
Académica 1 - 1 Naval
E. Amadora 0 - 0 Benfica
Belenenses 1 - 1 V.Guimarães
V.Setúbal 2 - 0 Leixões
P. Ferreira 0 - 1 Sporting
Boavista 0 - 0 Braga
Marítimo 2 - 0 Leiria
And, of course, the week’s docket of very important superlatives…
Hero of the Week — Yannick Djalo, Sporting — I originally wanted to put Fábio Coentrão here for scoring two goals against Porto at the vaunted Dragão, but then I realized that Djalo’s goal is far more important in the complexion of the season than Fábio Coentrão’s double. The aforementioned overhead / sideways tally netted by Yannick in the thirty-fifth minute effectively put Sporting in the driver’s seat for the second (and only remaining direct-to-group stages) Champions League spot. They currently lead third place V.Guimarães by two points and fourth place Benfica by three heading into the final weekend of play.
Goat of the Week — Fernando Chalana, Benfica – Yes, he’s the manager and can’t actually go out on to the pitch in boots and guards to score for his club, but what he can effect are the tactics and team attitude. He did a thoroughly poor job on both accounts. In their 0-0 draw with twelfth place Estrela da Amadora, Benfica looked flat and uninspired. Their tactics and formation played right into Amadora’s defensive alignment and they were never really capable of putting more than a few serious chances together. As a result of their apathy and poor showing, Benfica now need a miracle to leap frog both Sporting and V.Guimarães into second position’s Champions League berth.
Clean Sheets of the Week — Rafael (Nacional), Pedro Alves (E.d.Amadora), Quim (Benfica), Eduardo (V.Setúbal), Peter Jehle (Boavista), Kieszek (Braga), and Marcos (Marítimo)
With their wins this past weekend, Marítimo and V.Setúbal have secured UEFA Cup spots for the upcoming campaign. Farther up the table, Sporting, V.Guimarães, and Benfica are all still possibilities for that second “group stages” Champions League spot. On the other side of life, relegation hasn’t been fully decided yet, with Leixões enjoying a two point lead on Paços de Ferreira for that not-so-coveted final relegation spot.
Keep it real and enjoy the rest of chris and Mat’s favorite day. We’ll see you back here tomorrow for more fresh musings.
Jornada 29 Preview: Thank God It’s Friday My Ass
By: Greg | 4 Comments
Man, do I love Fridays. Actually, the only thing I hate about Friday is that people over acknowledge the day as being one to celebrate. I think that’s basically what I did with my first sentence, but I hate myself, so it’s okay.
I’m going to go out of my way to ask every person I speak to today, via the phone, interwebs, or in person how they’re doing. I’m then going to keep a running count of those who respond with something referencing the fact that it’s Friday. I know I can count on at least five people as a given to respond to my “How are you today?” with a standard-issue “Hey, it’s Friday, right?”
Oh please. Yeah, it’s Friday, but are Monday through Thursday really that bad that you need to go OUT of your way to tell me that your life sucks but since it’s Friday, it sucks less? The truth of the matter is that unless you have something going on that’s as horrible as living on the street, dying of some terminal illness or losing someone you care for, your life is probably fine. Friday’s more a bonus than the sole reason for you inhaling air and expelling carbon dioxide. So let’s all hold hands, sing Reverend Marvin V. Frey’s hit single “Kumbaya” and enjoy this week’s preview, shall we?
-=Jornada 29=- All times local. This week’s edition of FixtureFacts gives you each team’s top scorer to date and the amount of times he has tallied for his club this lovely season. Do with this information whatsoever your little heart desires…
Saturday, May 3rd @ 19:30 — Porto (Lisandro - 24) v. Nacional (Lipatin - 6)
Sunday, May 4th @ 16:00 — Académica (Lito - 7) v. Naval (Marcelinho - 11)
Sunday, May 4th @ 19:15 — Boavista (J. Ribeiro - 8 [recently signed by Benfica]) v. Braga (Linz -11)
Sunday, May 4th @ 19:15 — P.Ferreira (Wesley - 11) v. Sporting (Liedson - 11)
Sunday, May 4th @ 19:15 — Marítimo (Mossoro - 6 [Makukula - 7*]) v. U.d.Leiria (Joao Paulo - 8 )
Sunday, May 4th @ 19:15 — V.Setúbal (Matheus - 5 [Edinho -6**]) v. Leixões (Goncalves - 7)
Sunday, May 4th @ 19:15 — E.d.Amadora (Anselmo - 6) v. Benfica (Cardozo - 12)
Sunday, May 4th @ 19:15 — Belenenses (Weldon - 11) v. V.Guimarães (Ghilas / Mrdakovic - 6)
* - Makukula scored these goals over the first seventeen rounds until he was transferred to Benfica
** - Edinho scored these goals over the first sixteen rounds until he was loaned to AEK Athens FC
Hopefully a gap is opened up somewhere in the standings with these matches this weekend. If not, then we’ll be forced to have a fantastic, exciting final week with relegation and European spots all hanging in the balance. If that dreadful turn of events takes place, at least we can take comfort in the fact that it’s Friday.
You Raise Me Uppp… Oh Man. Why, WHY Did I Just Quote That?
By: Greg | Add Comments
Sorry. I sincerely apologize for the Josh Groban quote in the headline, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when I thought of a title for the blog on what teams are going to be promoted into the First Division. It was kind of like a Ray Stantz thinking of roasting Stay-Puft Marshmallows by the fire at Camp Waconda moment, but instead I got a worse kind of monster: I got a Groban Songasaurus. Again, I offer my sincerest of apologies. Now that you have that awful song stuck in your head which will pop in and out during your commute and your post-lunch elimination, why don’t we take a peek at the top of the Liga Vitals, formerly known as the Liga da Honra, also known as the league right below the top league…
1 - Trofense – 50
2 - Rio Ave – 47
3 - G. Vicente – 46
4 - Olhanense – 44
5 - Vizela – 44
Now, most people tend to think that regardless of who is going to be promoted, they won’t be able to make an immediate impact on the higher prestige division, if they manage to even stay up at all. However, just this past season, Vitoria Guimarães were promoted after finishing second and are now sitting third in the SuperLiga, tied on points with Sporting at 49. Therefore, with this piece of fantastic, irrefutable evidence, I refute any potential assertions that these teams are simply lambs being lead to the slaughter. Let us completely ignore the fact that last season’s first place team from the Liga Vitalis / da Honra, Leixões, is a mere two points away from being relegated as we speak. On a symmetrical note, both newly promoted teams are equidistant, from a place standpoint, from the extremes of the table: Guimarães are two places from the top and Leixões are two from the bottom. I love symmetry.
Since I’ve run out of drivel to drool out of my mouth, how about a quick peek at where each of the five teams looking to play in the elite of Portuguese football next year currently stand…
1st place Trofense - 50 points
Remaining Matches: v. 13th place Gondomar (1st leg W 2-1), @ 12th place Portimonense (1st leg W 1-0)
Holds Tiebreak advantage (head to head record) over: Rio Ave (1-1 aggregate, Away Goal), Gil Vicente (2-1 agg.), and Vizela (2-2 agg., Away Goals)
My prediction of their finish: Promotion: 1st place, 54 points
2nd place Rio Ave - 47 points
Remaining Matches: v. 11th place Sta. Clara (1st leg L 0-1), @ 14th place Feirense (1st leg L 0-1)
Holds Tiebreak advantage (head to head record) over: Gil Vicente (2-1 agg.) and Olhanense (4-1 agg.)
My prediction of their finish: 4th place, 49 points
3rd place Gil Vicente - 46 points
Remaining Matches: @ 4th place Olhanense (1st Leg D 0-0), v. 6th place Beira Mar (1st leg D 0-0)
Holds Tiebreak advantage (head to head record) over: None
My prediction of their finish: 3rd place, 50 points
4th place Olhanense - 44 points
Remaining Matches: v 3rd place Gil Vicente (1st Leg D 0-0), @ 5th place Vizela (1st leg W 1-0)
Holds Tiebreak advantage (head to head record) over: Trofense (3-2 agg.) and Vizela (1-0 agg.)
My prediction of their finish: 5th place, 45 points
5th place Vizela - 44 points
Remaining Matches: @ 15th place Penafiel (1st Leg D 0-0), v. 4th place Olhanense (1st leg L 0-1)
Holds Tiebreak advantage (head to head record) over: Gil Vicente (3-2 agg.) and Rio Ave (2-1 agg.)
My prediction of their finish: Promotion: 2nd place, 50 points
I obviously went with the safest and least likely clubs to be promoted with these predictions, but I can see it happening, so why not be bold and say that Vizela will be partying like it’s 84/85. During that glorious season, their only one spent in Portugal’s top flight, they finished with fifteen points on thirty games. They were then asked not to come back the next year. Annnd they haven’t been back since. So, for the last two weeks, it’s Go Vizela!
If you’re still awake after a quick examination of second league Portuguese Football, remember to come back tomorrow for the always fun and fulfilling Jornada Preview!
PS - We love you, Chelsea!!!!
Category: Super Liga
Home 
