Millennium Cup: Sport Lisboa e Benfica 0-1 Vitória Sport Clube‏

Last Sunday, SL Benfica, was beaten by the team of Guimarães, for the Portuguese Cup.

The possibility of winning the second most important trophy in Portugal, on the present season, vanished last weekend with a defeat from Benfica at Estadio da Luz. The team of Vitória Sport Clube, came to our place and took us away the possibility of accessing Jamor (Final). Paulo Sérgio appeared in Luz with a dynamic team and with guts to win the eliminatory. Players like Nuno Assis, Desmarets, Sereno and the goalkeeper Nilson were in good plan, destroying the creativity of the reds. A lonely goal obtained on a corner kick, by Gustavo Lazzaretti was more than sufficient to give the victory to northern team.

The lack of ideas of the eagle players was in evidence, and the team tried hard, but the goal did not appeared. A poor first half, from the reds demonstrates that not all the games can be resolved on the second part. Players like Moreira, Sidney and Keirrison could have done better, to grab the opportunity given by J. Jesus, but when the rest of the team does not help, things become harder.

A player that wants to demonstrate his value and conquer his space on the team is Felipe Menezes. The young Brazilian played few minutes on this Cup game, but demonstrated once more good qualities that may be useful on a near future.

Game Info:

Stadium: Estádio da Luz – Attendance: 25 000 spectators

Referee: Elmano Santos (Madeira island)

SL Benfica: Moreira, Rúben Amorim (F. Menezes 84'), Sidnei, David Luiz, Fábio Coentrão, Javi Garcia, Ramires, Di Maria, Aimar (Weldon 67'), Saviola, Keirrison (N. Gomes 80').
Coach: Jorge Jesus.

Vitória Sport Clube (Guimarães): Nilson, Andrezinho, Lazzaretti, Moreno, Sereno (Milhazes 69’), Custódio (Alex 80’), Flávio Meireles, João Alves (Douglas 90’), Desmarets, Nuno Assis, Targino.
Coach: Paulo Sérgio.

Goals: 0-1 Lazzaretti (25’).

Robert Enke

SL Benfica traveled to Açores islands to dispute and win, against Clube Desportivo Santa Clara, the Pauleta’s Trophy. The result was a one goal draw at the end of the 90’. Two of the best players from the Eagles in action were Keirrison who scored the goal in the regulamentary time (35’) and, Jean Silva who scored also with success the last of the 5 penalties.

What better way can be done to demonstrate and elogiate the qualities of a player than a football game. That is precisely what hapened with the portuguese player Pauleta in the last Friday night game and will for sure occur in the Portuguese Cup game coming next where SLB will face Vitória SC (Guimarães) and Robert Enke, who tragiclay died recently, will be remembered.

One week ago, the world football become more poor, Robert Enke died. A train took his life near Hanôver. A possible suicide was annouced by the police. Near friends and family also confirm that possibility.

Enke was born on the 24 August 1977, in Jena. He played for the local team Jena Pharm, then in FC Carl Zeiss. He was representing Borussia VFL 1900 Monchengladbach when SL Benfica decided to sign him.

When R. Enke arrives to Luz, in 1999, he was already the Under-21 goalkeeper of his nation. Robert’s task wasn’t easy he had to do better than Bossio and to try to make the fans forget the Belgian Michael Preud’Homme. Neverthless, he reached the titularity of the reds main team and cativated the public, although the Club was on a results crisis, and on that years the reds were far from obtaining trophies.

Enke is still remembered by his kindness and the Portuguese coach Toni still remembers the abondoned dogs Enke frequently took to his place. A very disciplinated player that could and should have had a different life. Unfortunately to him and to the ones near him things weren’t easy. The Turkish experience in Fenerbahce was so bad that he only played a game. Even, before that, when he left SLB, to sign with Barcelona FC and all the newspapers were after him, things didn’t smiled to him as expected.

The return to Germany in 2oo4, after CD Tenerife, to assume the Hannover 1896 nets, was very positive to his career and he had a new oportunity in his hands to prove his true value. He grabed that chance and reached later in 2oo7 also to the National Team. The access to the German shirt was difficult because of two other big goalkeepers, Kahn and Lehmann.

Health problems were prejudicial to Robert Enke and also to his daughter, who had died ealier. The question Why (Warum?) apears, more than to ask why that train robbed his life, to ask Why can life be, sometimes, so unfair?

http://www.hannover96.de/CDA/top-stories/robert-enke-youtube-fanvideos.html

Liga Sagres: Sport Lisboa e Benfica 1-0 Associação Naval 1º de Maio

Walls do come down.

Yesterday was celebrated the anniversary of the Berlin's wall fall. The majority of the people present on that moment think that it took too much time, near 30 years, to fall down. To commemorate the reunification of the West and Eastern Germanys in 1989, was produced an event watched all over the world, where pieces of Domino fell down. Well, also yesterday our team SL Benfica played for the Portuguese League and the difficulties faced were so much that it seemed that the Eagles were playing against a wall. The similarity of the Berlin wall and the Naval wall cannot be made in terms of suffering, but one thing is coincident, both walls took too long to fall.

Last night, Benfica received the team of Naval, coming from Figueira da Foz. The visitant team disposition proportionate almost 90 minutes of game in only one side of the pitch. The away team coach A. Inácio, probably to honour the Berlin event, told his players to defend with all their forces. The strategy delineated made that the almost every players of Naval hardly passed midfield. When a counter attack occurred only two or three players expected to score benefiting from some mistake of the red defenders.

When a game has this type of characteristics and we do not see many goals, there are only two reasons possible. The first is that the red players are inefficient and the other is that the defenders were much better than our attackers. I frankly believe that this last hypotheses is the most correct and the public also in Luz, more than 40 000 spectators, probably would agree. A strong factor called Peiser, the goalkeeper of Naval avoided the success of the Benfica players for several times. A tremendous actuation from the French goalkeeper almost guaranteed the success of his coach and team. The red players felt on their legs the European game played on the middle of the week before, nevertheless they had plenty of good opportunities to score, unfortunately to us only one, break the wall, but it was worth it. It was almost at the end of the game, 89', when J. Garcia scored a great goal, responding positively with his head to a cross from a free kick marked on the left.

Maxi Pereira told the Press, that they the team needs to get used to difficult victories, like this one against A. Naval 1º Maio. Probably many other teams that will visit Benfica will play like that. We need to adapt to that kind of posture.

Rúben Amorim and Di Maria are two players who were evidently with "low batteries" yesterday. It is strange to say, but they were tired, for a good reason. They made a brilliant game in Liverpool, last Thursday against Everton FC. This two young players, with the rest of their companions, made a very good exhibition which allowed an important victory. Their performance in Goodison Park was so good that they took all the possibilities, of the English team to reach a positive result. Everyone knows that the games of the Portuguese teams in England are not easy and the European home games of the Toffees , are always very difficult to the visitors. It is needed to say that the goalkeepers from both sides, Tim Howard the USA Squad goalkeeper and the Brazilien Júlio César, made a good job. Saviola and Oscar Cardoza scored the two red goals and silenced Goodison Park.

As always the British remembered and honoured our "Black Panther". Eusébio went to the middle of the pitch before the beginning of the game and received a deserved gift from the Everton FC people. A return to a stadium where he scored 6 goals in the 1966 World Cup tournament representing Portugal and where he would have faced England in the semi-finals but the Football Association decided to switch the game to Wembley at the last minute. It is good to know that the star he was, is still remembered by the ones who had the opportunity and the pleasure of seeing him playing in the land of the Beatles.