The Sad Clown

New Friend, Benfica Up Front has an interesting article about this overpaid, underachieving, sad figure.
Although he is the captain of our team, and he deserves respect, he would be a lot more of a man if asked for his pay scale to be changed based on his performances, which have been atrocious in the past 2 years.

Then there's this recent sad display




As if he wasn't already the biggest target of the opposition's ridicule, this new episode is sure to make him a "legend".

It's hard to watch this and not feel embarrassed for this clown. Not to mention the choice of words he uses in this TMN commercial.
As Benfica Up Front puts it (and i share his sentiment):

Cheering for Quaresma is a bit overboard. I know it's a commercial for the national team, but it doesn't change the fact that Quaresma has blatantly cursed and disrespected our club or the fact that he plays for FC Porto.

Palhacada!

-END-

Type rest of the post here

Continue Reading..

Sal/S.Vicente 0 - Benfica - 2

Here's what Portuguese soccer daily "A bola" wrote about the game: (translation to English right below each paragraph)

SAL — Em terra de Kizomba, Di María mostrou a arte do tango argentino e inspirou os africanos Adu, Mantorras e também Binya, que jogou (e bem) a central. O jogo teve ritmo lento, a cheirar a férias, mas venceu a festa, a alegria de um povo em delírio.

Sal - Place of Kizomba, Dimaria showed the art of the Argentine Tango and inspired the Africans Adu, Mantorras and also Binya, who played(and well)as a centerback. The game was played at a slow place, and smelled of vacation, but the real winners were the party and the delyrious joy of the people.

Click on the link below to read the read of the post.

Frente a uma selecção das ilhas de Sal e S. Vicente que, mesmo sem beliscar o Benfica, se mostrou competitiva — até dispôs da primeira oportunidade de golo — os encarnados venceram com naturalidade, num encontro jogado sob intenso calor e a baixa velocidade. Alguns jogadores do Benfica aproveitarem até para mostrar algumas habilidades técnicas e proporcionarem momentos de espectáculo ao público. Casos de Di María, Adu, Léo e até Binya!

In front of a select team of the islands Sal and S. Vicente, who, even without ever threatening Benfica, played competitively, and even had the first good goal chance, the "Reds" won the game easily, in a game played under intense heat and slow pace.
Some of the Benfica players took advantage of the opportunity to show some of their technical abilities and give moments of great spectacle to the crowd. Namely DiMaria, Adu, Leo and even Binya!

Em solo africano, não deixa de ser curioso o facto de os golos terem sido apontados por Freddy Adu, que nasceu no Gana, apesar de estar naturalizado pelos Estados Unidos, e Mantorras, angolano Di María deu show de bola e vai-se tornando num sério caso de popularidade à medida que o seu futebol desperta.

In African soil, it's interesting that the goals came from Adu, who was born in Ghana, but American naturalized, and Mantorras who is a native of Angola. Di Maria put on a clinic, becoming a serious winner of fans as his playing quality blooms.

O jovem Fellipe Bastos (18 anos) estreou-se pela equipa principal, mesmo que num amigável, e deixou a promessa de um futuro risonho, ele que não pôde ser inscrito em Janeiro, por razões burocráticas, mas que ficou a trabalhar com o plantel principal, mesmo sem jogar. Uma forma de se ambientar e ganhar confiança. Oportunidade também para ver em acção mais duas promessas, Yu Dabao e Pedro Correia, regressados dos empréstimos a Desportivo das Aves e Olhanense, respectivamente.

The youngster Fellipe Bastos(18) made his debut with the senior squad, even if it was an exhibition, and left a bright future promise. For bureaucratic reasons, he wasn't able to be signed in January, but remained with the senior squad, even if he wasn't able to play. A way for him to adapt to the senior squad and develop confidence.
The game was also an opportunity for Yu Dabao and Pedro Correia, who were both on loan to D. Aves and Olhanense, respectively.

Elementos como Freddy Adu e Moreira — o primeiro tem sido muito utilizado e o guarda-redes, ontem capitão de equipa, não teve sequer um minuto em jogos oficiais, esta temporada.

Freddy Adu and Moreira also had an opportunity, the first has been utilized by Chalana while the keeper, did no play a single minute this season.

Makukula e Butt não jogaram por opção, Nélson e Fábio Coentrão por lesão. Pormenor interessante: o Benfica jogou com um equipamento criado para a ocasião, com o patrocínio da Cabo Verde Móvel, empresa participada pela PT. Alcino António, vice-presidente encarnado, deu o pontapé de saída, em tarde de festa rija e emoções fortes para o povo do Sal.

Makukula and Butt, did not play as a technical option, and Nelson and Fabio Coentrao did not play due to being injured.
An interesting detail - Benfica played with a uniform created specially for the occasion, with a "Cape Verde Mobile"(an affiliate of PT) sponsorship on their shirts. Benfica vp Alcinio Antonio kicked off the the game, in an afternoon of strong emotions and great party for the peoples of Sal.


Individual description of player performances:

Moreira — Capitão de equipa, no primeiro jogo a titular da época, mesmo tratando-se de um amigável. Espectacular defesa logo aos dois minutos. De resto, trabalho tranquilo.

Moreira - Team captain, starting for the first time this season, even as if it was an exhibition match, had and spectacular save right at the 2 minute mark, but had a tranquil afternoon for the rest of the game.

Maxi Pereira— Exibição descolorida a lateral-direito.

Maxi Pereira - "Discolored" exhibition at right back.

Binya — Actuou a central, ao lado de Edcarlos, e foi uma excelente surpresa. Um dos melhores, embora deva atender-se à menor valia dos opositores.

Binya - Played as a center back, beside Edcarlos, and he was an excellent surprise even if the quality of the opposition wasn't the best.

Edcarlos — O patrão da defesa. Seguro, sem sobressaltos.

Edcarlos - The boss of the defense. Solid, without fail.

Léo — Não sabe jogar mal, mesmo a brincar. Bela jogada, no lance do 2-0.

Leo - Doesn't know how to play bad, even in an exhibition. Great play in the sequence that resulted in the 2-0.

Fellipe Bastos - «Quem é o número 13? Onde jogava?», perguntavam os adeptos. Estreia em grande do jovem brasileiro de 18 anos.
Foi rei no meio-campo

Fellipe Bastos -"Who is number 13? Where did he play" asked the fans. Great debut by the 18 year old Brazilian youngster. He dominated the midfield.

DiMaria - Passe para o golo de Adu, momentos de pura magia para o público delirar e uma tentativa de chapéu, desde o seu meio-campo, que quase dava golo de eleição

DiMaria - Pass for Adu's goal, moments of pure magic for the fan's delight, and a shot from midfield, trying to put the ball over the keepers head, that would have been a memorable goal.

Nuno Assis — Muito esforçado e combativo, mas inconsequente.

Nuno Assis - Very combatitive and with a lot effort, but without any consequence.

Rodriguez — Passou ao lado do jogo e saiu ao intervalo. Aproveitou:filmou a festa do público.

Rodriguez - LEt the game go by him, and was substituted at half time. Took advantage of being subbed, to film the crowd and their involvement in the game.

Freddy Adu — Grande golo de pé direito, num remate à entrada da área, aliado a uma forte entrega ao jogo e pormenores de classe. Porque não joga mais?

Freddy Adu - Great goal with his right foot, in a shot right at the entrance of the box, a strong desire to play and technical skill details of class.

Cardozo — Sem inspiração. Nem de livre directo.

Cardozo - Without inspiration, not even on a free kick.

Sepsi — É defesa lateral, mas continua a ser utilizado, na maior parte das vezes, como médio interior. Será que o ajuda?

Sepsi - He is a side back, but continues to be used, for most of the time, as an interior midfield. Could this help him?

Yu Dabao — Esteve perto do golo em duas ocasiões, mas sem sucesso. Quer mostrar serviço.

Yu Dabao - Came close to scoring in two occasions, but without success. Wants to show his qualitites.

Pedro Correia — Exibição tranquila, sem complicar.

Pedro Correia - Tranquil exhibition, with simple playing.

Mantorras — Entrou e... marcou. À Mantorras.

Mantorras - Came in and....scored. Typical Mantorras.



Benfica will now travel to Angola where they will play another exhibition match against the angolan national team. The match will take place Wednesday May 21st.

Continue Reading..

Adu returns...

Benfica won today's exhibition match against a select team from Cape Verde.
the 2-0 score line was obtained by Adu(5m) and Mantorras(90m)

Here's the starting 11 chosen by Chalana:

Moreira in goal; Maxi Pereira, Binya, Edcarlos and Léo were the back four; Felipe Bastos, Nuno Assis, Freddy Adu, and Rodriguez formed the midfield diamond. Di María and Cardozo teamed up the front line.

Also getting some playing time were:

Yu Dabao for Cardozo at the 64m
Pedro Correia for Adu at the 74m
Mantorras for DiMaria at the 90m



You don't have to be Carnac the Magnificent to guess what is probably going through Adu's mind.


-END-

Continue Reading..

Cape Verde Trip

Benfica will travel to Cape Verde today, where they will play an exhibition match against San Vincente e Sal select team. The game will take place tomorrow, 5/16.
The following players will be making the trip:

Keepers: Butt and Moreira;
Defenders: Pedro Correia, Edcarlos, Nelson, Léo e Sepsi.
Midfielders: Fellipe Bastos, Binya, Maxi Pereira, Nuno Assis, Di María, Freddy Adu, Rodriguez and Fábio Coentrão.
Forwards: Yu Dabao, Cardozo, Mantorras and Makukula.

19 players in all, but Chalana will probably add one more to the lot.

Quim, Nuno Gomes as well as Petit will be left behind as they will have to report to National team Camp on the 19th. Also integrating their national teams are Zoro and Katsouranis, which explains why they have been absent from training.

In the defensive group, Pedro Correia is the new face, Correia was on loan at Portimonense. In Midfield, Adu will make the trip and possibly have some playing time. Coentrao who had an excellent end of year, will also be part of the team. Fellipe Basto's, who up until this time, has been unable to play with the senior squad, will finally get to play with the senior squad.
Dabao, who had returned to the team this week from loan, is the only fresh face in the forwards group.
The 20th player will most likely be Wagner, a junior central defender.

This trip is in addition to the Angola trip the team will be making on Monday, the 19th.

****EDIT***

Luisao was excused from the trip as his wife is pregnant. Nelson who will not be able to play will still be part of the roster as Cape Verde is his home country.

-END-

Continue Reading..

Leo for 2 more years

Although Benfica has yet to officially confirm Leo's contract renewal, all 3 major Futebol Dailies are reporting that Leo and Benfica have reached an agreement for the left back to remain at Estadio da Luz for another 2 years.
Good News from Lisbon, in what was most likely Rui Costa's first action under his new functions.
Next up...... Cristian Rodriguez.

***EDIT***
In the press conference that served as the introduction of Rui Costa as Sporting Director, Rui Costa confirmed Leo's renewal and has also put the Eriksson option to bed, claiming that Benfica could not wait for the Swede's situation to develop.
In the meantime, Jose Peseiro has left Panathinaikos.
Rui Costa has also confirmed Benfica's signing of Ruben Amorim, but has claimed that Jorge Ribeiro has not signed with Benfica, but is part of a group of players that are of interest to Benfica.


-END-



Type rest of the post here

Continue Reading..

Benfica News - May 14th, 2008

Benfica is scheduled to officially introduce Rui Costa as their new Sporting Director today at 8pm(local time).

The Champions League might be a reality for Benfica after all.

Benfica prepares for trip to Angola.

Leo's contract renewal should happen this week.

Eriksson option now fading.

3 Benfica players on Scolari's Euro List


Click below to read more about these topics.



Benfica is scheduled to officially introduce Rui Costa as their new Sporting Director today at 8pm(local time). Rui Costa has already started working under his new functions and currently has several issues that he is dealing with.
The first issue is obviously finding a coach.
The second issue will deal with players whose contracts and/or loan periods are expiring(Leo and Rodriguez)


The Champions League might be a reality for Benfica after all. According to UEFA's rule book, namely 1.04 line D, any club found guilty of match fixing/correuption or attempt to match fix/corrupt will not be eligible to participate in European competition. As you may recall, Porto was recently found guilty of attempting to match fix, by the Portuguese Disciplinary Commitee, and were sanctioned with the loss of 6 points, these points were deducted off this season, with no significant impact to Porto, as they had a 20+ point lead to second. The decision came as the result of the "Golden Whistle" case. This UEFA law, is a fairly new law which was put in place at the time of the famous "Calcio Chaos" case. At the time Milan entered European competition, despite being heavily penalized by the Calcio Ruling Body, because there was no legislation by UEFA to prevent Milan from competing in Europe. UEFA was then prompted to insert that law, however, the law states that the "match fixing/corruption or attempt to match fix/corrupt" has to take place during the season in which the team earned an European berth, so a loophole.
Benfica has requested that the Portuguese Futebol Federation submit the results of the "Golden Whistle" case to the UEFA.
If UEFA does in fact get this report and sanctions Porto's ineligibility,both Guimaraes and Sporting would have direct access to the group stages of the Champion's League, while Benfica would have to play a pre-qualifier.


Benfica prepares for trip to Angola.
Benfica will travel to Africa, namely Angola, to play an exhibition match against Angola's national team, a team which was present in the last World Cup. The trip will take place between the 19th and the 23rd of May, the match will be played on the 21st. Trip roster should be announced sometime this week. In the mean time, both Yu Dabao and Pedro Correia were at practice today. Both players were on loan and are now back with the main team. Dabao was on loan at Desportivo das Aves, while Correia was on loan at Portimonense. Butt, Zoro and Katsouranis were not present in today's training session, no formal explanation was given by Benfica.
Rodriguez whose loan period ends in July will be part of the Angola trip.


Leo's contract renewal should happen this week.
Leo's representative arrived in Lisbon today, with the purpose of resolving Leo's future at Benfica. Leo has stated that he would not like to make the trip to Angola if his future is not decided before then, claiming an injury might affect any chances of him being picked by another club. Leo's situation is at the top of the list of Rui Costa's "to do" list, and it can very well be the first decision as the Sporting Director.


Eriksson option now fading
Apparently Eriksson is fading quick as an option for next year's coach. Benfica had initially approached Eriksson with an offer, but Eriksson had not heard anything from City president Thaksin Shinawatra as far as his future goes, and travelled with the team to Malaysia for an end of year tour. Shinawatra ordered Eriksson to get on the plane with the team, as he is still under contract, Eriksson wanted to stay in England to take care of his future.
Man City will return from Malaysia on the 23rd, a time which Benfica considers to be too late to name a coach, as finding and signing a coach is Benfica's top priority this week. Eriksson's agent has also revealed that the Swede has received a very attractive offer that he is considering. The offer and the offerer are unknown, but reports have surfaced that the Mexican Federation is interested in Eriksson's services. Friend blog - Starting 11 had previously explored the possibility of Eriksson coming to Benfica and how Benfica could be used as a bargaining chip.



3 Benfica players on Scolari's Euro List
Quim, Petit and Nuno Gomes, were named in Scolari's list of 23 players that will represent Portugal in Euro 08. Quim had a great year and fully deserves a shot at a starting job. Petit and Nuno Gomes had a year much like Benfica. Petit was affected by many injuries and wasn't able to play at 100% consistently. Nuno Gomes, was also affected by injuries, but his form never really reached anything significant. Scolari remains confident that both these players can bring a lot to the National team, claiming that Petit will be fully rehabilitated by the time Euro comes around.

Continue Reading..