The Portugeezer

From the home of Mourinho, Ronaldo and Xavier



Sergio Santos

Dragons roast Lions - plus more tunnel funny stuff

Monday 08 February 2010, 16:00

When Porto hosted Sporting in the Portuguese Cup quarter-finals, both teams wanted to prove a point. The Dragons had emphatically won at Nacional while Sporting were dealt a major title blow at Braga,...
Read more ...

Sporting out of the title race as Braga show credentials

Thursday 04 February 2010, 16:30

Round 17 Results: Fri Jan 29 Braga 1-0 Sporting Sat Jan 30 Naval 1-0 Belenenses, União de Leiria 2-0 Olhanense, Nacional 0-4 Porto, Benfica 3-1 Vitória Guimarães Sun Jan 31 Vitória Setúbal 2-2 Rio Ave...
Read more ...

Punches, prostitutes, payments & phonetaps

Friday 29 January 2010, 14:00

The Portuguese League has always enjoyed its share of controversy: corruption suspicions, never-ending accusations of biased refereeing and puzzling decision-making by its governing bodies. This season...
Read more ...

Why Baia's better than Shilton (and many others)

Tuesday 26 January 2010, 14:30

Last week the International Federation of Football History and Statistics released its All-Time World Goalkeeping Ranking – although in this instance "all-time" means from 1987 to 2009. Time...
Read more ...

Porto stumble as Sporting build momentum

Friday 22 January 2010, 17:30

Round 16 Results: Sun Jan 17: Belenenses 1-3 Leixões , Rio Ave 0-2 União Leiria, Académica 0-2 Braga, Marítimo 0-5 Benfica; Sat Jan 16: Olhanense 1-0 Naval, Vitória Guimarães 2-2 Vitória Setúbal, Porto...
Read more ...

The Portugeezer's Midseason Awards

Wednesday 20 January 2010, 10:00

Liga Sagres is halfway through and it has certainly witnessed some entertaining moments ranging from injury-time winners to Premier League-style goal-fests. And so, it's now time for The Portugeezer...
Read more ...

Impressive Arsenalistas and a rampant Rabbit

Friday 15 January 2010, 17:04

The first round of 2010 – which also signals the end of the first half of the season – didn’t bring many surprises, with the rain that has been hitting Portugal contributing for a lukewarm weekend. Still...
Read more ...

The Portuguese Liga team of the decade

Friday 08 January 2010, 11:00

As a new decade begins, and in response to Riccardo Rossi's Serie Aaaaargh! Team of the Noughties , The Portugeezer looks back to put together the best team in the Portuguese league over the last 10...
Read more ...

New Year's revelations in the transfer market

Wednesday 06 January 2010, 09:30

FFT.com's Portugal correspondent Sérgio Santos on the most hectic transfer market in Europe... People say that with a new year there’s a new beginning and 2010 is already witnessing a lot of activity...
Read more ...

Why Everton are a better bet than Arsenal

Tuesday 22 December 2009, 09:00

With Porto playing Arsenal, Sporting playing Everton and Benfica battling Berlin, The Portugeezer looks at his compatriots' chances in the European knockouts... The Champions League and Europa League...
Read more ...

Matchday 13: Title race going down to the wire

Thursday 17 December 2009, 13:00

Round 13 Results: Mon Dec 14: Belenenses 0-1 Vitória Guimarães. Sun Dec 13: Académica 2-0 Leixões, Marítimo 0-1 Rio Ave, Braga 0-0 Naval, FC Porto 2-0 Vitória Setúbal. Sat Dec 12: Sporting 0-1 União de...
Read more ...

Benfica: Where does the money come from?

Tuesday 15 December 2009, 14:30

When Benfica supremo Luis Filipe Vieira announced in October that the club would not only retain its major players but also invest during the January transfer window, he sent two signals to the footballing...
Read more ...

Dragons emerge as title fight tightens

Wednesday 09 December 2009, 12:00

ROUND 12 RESULTS Mon Dec 7 Vitória Setúbal 0-2 Sporting, União de Leiria 1-2 Nacional Sun Dec 6 Marítimo 5-2 Olhanense, Benfica 4-0 Académica Sat Dec 5 Naval 1-0 Paços de Ferreira, Rio Ave 0-0 Belenenses...
Read more ...

Group G is for Gruelling, not death

Tuesday 08 December 2009, 11:00

Sometimes, prayers can be answered. After saying Portugal would benefit from a ‘Group of Death’ draw , The Portugeezer watched as Carlos Queiroz's man were paired with Brazil, Ivory Coast and North...
Read more ...

Why Portugal would benefit from Group of Death draw

Friday 04 December 2009, 11:30

All eyes will be on South Africa today to see what the 2010 World Cup draw holds in store for the 32 qualified teams. The official announcement of the seedings confirmed that we’re in for some intriguing...
Read more ...

Derby and moan as Lisbon lacks fizzle

Wednesday 02 December 2009, 10:00

Round 11 Results: Mon Nov 30 Sporting Braga 2-0 União de Leiria Sun Nov 29 Académica 3-0 Vitória Setúbal, Paços de Ferreira 1-1 Leixões, Belenenses 2-2 Marítimo, FC Porto 2-1 Rio Ave Sat Nov 28 Nacional...
Read more ...

The biggest derby of the weekend

Friday 27 November 2009, 09:30

Amigos, this weekend will bring you one of the biggest matches in the footballing world. And I'm not talking about Liverpool vs Everton, Arsenal vs Chelsea, Aberdeen vs Rangers or even Barcelona vs...
Read more ...

Cup time: Gallant Guimaraes vanquish Goliath Benfica

Thursday 26 November 2009, 16:55

Everyone loves to watch David vs Goliath match-ups, especially those that have the underdog claiming a surprising win at the end. Round 4 of the Portuguese Cup was far from spectacular, but it witnessed...
Read more ...

Carvalhal unveiled as Sporting manager

Wednesday 25 November 2009, 14:00

In a rather surprising turn of events, Carlos Carvalhal has been appointed as the new manager of the Lions. Carvalhal – who was sacked from CS Marítimo earlier this season after a poor run of results ...
Read more ...

Goodbye Bosnia, hello South Africa!

Thursday 19 November 2009, 11:00

Portugal finally reached the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa after seeing off Bosnia-Herzegovina with a 2-0 aggregate success. The Bosnians were looking to record what would have been an incredible...
Read more ...

Half time: Advantage Portugal

Wednesday 18 November 2009, 12:00

Well, Portugal did manage to win and without conceding a goal, but a 1-0 victory means everything is still to play for. With both sides fancying their chances to reach the World Cup, the only thing certain...
Read more ...

The Portugeezer's perilous play-off preview

Friday 13 November 2009, 11:30

On Saturday, Portugal begin their play-off against Bosnia & Herzegovina. I won’t claim the Balkans were the team to avoid in the draw – that was Ireland – but they are still capable of giving the Selecção...
Read more ...

Who's next for this Sporting life?

Thursday 12 November 2009, 11:00

In a moment that has been flash-forwarded countless times, Paulo Bento has resigned as Sporting CP manager. Even though Bento had the backing of club president Eduardo Bettencourt, the pressure was insurmountable...
Read more ...

An emotional rollercoaster of a matchday

Tuesday 10 November 2009, 15:30

RESULTS: Mon Nov 9: Benfica 1-0 Naval 1º de Maio Sun Nov 8: Leixões 2-4 Nacional , Marítimo 1-0 Porto , Rio Ave 2-2 Sporting Lisbon , União de Leiria 1-1 Académica Sat Nov 7: Vitória Guimarães 1-0 Sporting...
Read more ...

European Matchday 4: Well done Portugal

Friday 06 November 2009, 11:00

Matchday 4 of the European competitions is over and the rubble is starting to settle. Again, the Portuguese teams did well in the main. FC Porto guaranteed qualification for the Champions League knock...
Read more ...

Braga get bragging rights, Sporting's Bento gets bent

Tuesday 03 November 2009, 15:30

ROUND 9 RESULTS Monday Nov 2: Académica 2 - 0 Vitória Guimarães Sunday Nov 1: Olhanense 0 - 1 Rio Ave , Paços de Ferreira 0 - 1 União de Leiria , Nacional 2 - 1 Vitória Setúbal , Sporting Lisbon 1 - 1...
Read more ...

The Big Braga-Benfica Bunfight Weekend Preview

Saturday 31 October 2009, 11:00

Round 9 of the Portuguese League is about to start and looking at the battles that will take place over the country, it will provide some interesting insights. Are Braga genuine title contenders? Do Benfica...
Read more ...

Portugal's fab four on the European front

Wednesday 28 October 2009, 13:30

The latest European round produced a decent showing from the four Portuguese teams. None of the results were particularly shocking, but Benfica still managed an eye-catching result that might put Europa...
Read more ...

A cupful of joy

Thursday 22 October 2009, 14:00

The midweek attention may have been on continental competition but in this blog we're looking at last weekend's Portuguese Cup Third Round – the stage at which the top-flight sharks join the competition...
Read more ...

Working out the play-off contenders

Monday 12 October 2009, 15:00

To have a chance of reaching the World Cup finals, Portugal knew they had to win against Hungary on Saturday. And guess what? They did so comfortably, 3-0, with a polished performance against a team that...
Read more ...

Breaking through the glass ceiling

Saturday 03 October 2009, 08:00

Guess who's the only team to achieve a perfect haul of 18 points from the first six games in Liga Sagres. No, not them. No, not them either. Or them. That fact that SC Braga top the league is even...
Read more ...

The breakdown of Atlético’s breakdown

Wednesday 30 September 2009, 12:30

INVASION! Ahead of the FC Porto vs Atletico Madrid game, Tim Stannard of FFT.com blog La Liga Loca crosses the border to describe the weirdness that is Atletico Madrid The original mission the FourFourTwo...
Read more ...

The Curious Case of Freddy Adu

Wednesday 23 September 2009, 16:47

Just like Brad Pitt’s life in the 2008 movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Freddy Adu’s career seems to be moving backwards. At the tender age of 14, the American forward was regarded as one of...
Read more ...

Portuguese League: State of the Nation

Friday 18 September 2009, 12:00

After four games, the Portuguese League is starting to take shape. Not many would have predicted that SC Braga would be the only team to register a 100 percent record, but the ‘Arsenalistas’ seem to be...
Read more ...

2009/10: A European Odyssey

Wednesday 16 September 2009, 18:00

Even though it’s not the remake of Stanley Kubrick's groundbreaking sci-fi movie, the race to the millions provided by continental competitions is still a very important event for every team. The group...
Read more ...

Five reasons why Portugal will fail to qualify

Wednesday 09 September 2009, 08:00

Winds of change are starting to blow through Portugal after the national team failed to win against group leaders Denmark. The Selecção played well in Copenhagen, raining in 34 shots as Brazil-born Liedson...
Read more ...

The Usual Suspects part three: Benfica

Sunday 30 August 2009, 12:00

Team Name: SL Benfica Nickname: The Eagles Introduction The third of Portugal's Os Tres Grandes (The Big Three, or for our purposes, The Usual Suspects) is SL Benfica, perhaps the biggest club in Portugal...
Read more ...

The Usual Suspects part two: Sporting

Tuesday 25 August 2009, 10:00

Team Name: Sporting CP Nickname: The Lions Introduction OK folks, time for Sporting CP, last season’s runners-up. Though the summer has seen little activity off the field, the team has already had to overcome...
Read more ...

The Usual Suspects part one: Porto

Wednesday 19 August 2009, 10:00

Team Name: FC Porto Nickname: The Dragons As promised, here I start a series of posts providing a more in-depth analysis of the title contenders in Portugal, the so-called ‘Big Three’. Can an outsider...
Read more ...

Portuguese 101

Monday 17 August 2009, 10:00

Before I delve any deeper into the Portuguese League, I thought it may be of use to give you all an overview of how football is organised here. Currently, there are 4 main competitions: Portuguese League...
Read more ...

Bloga Bonito

Thursday 13 August 2009, 14:00

Hi folks, there's a new blog in town. From Oporto to the world, 'The Portugeezer' will provide you with a genuine insight on the often-overlooked world of Portuguese football. I won’t try to...
Read more ...