Camacho wishes Benfica players “all the luck in the world”

Spaniard says his goodbyes to squad

The day after his resignation, Jose Antonio Camacho passed by the club’s training facilities in Seixal to say goodbye to the team before heading towards pastures new.

The Spaniard, along with former assistants Pepe Carcelen and Fernando Gaspar, all removed themselves from their coaching duties immediately after Benfica’s disappointing 2-2 draw with Uniao de Leiria on Sunday.

The ex-Benfica coaching staff spent about 20 minutes speaking to the team and passing on their best wishes before speaking to the Portuguese press one last time.

“It’s a disappointing day for me because I am leaving Benfica. Here I felt at home with the fans and everyone else. I wish the best for all Benfiquistas. Time will tell if my work here was good or not,” said Camacho.

“I spoke to the players and now I feel like a supporter. From now on they can consider me a friend. Many who were here before will remain as my friends. Football is like a family; sometimes we are present and other times we are not.”

Football Politics

“I am not sorry I came back. When I arrived some things were not good, but that was due to the politics that is football. I could not do anything about that.”

“The best thing right now is to wish everyone the best of success. I wish Chalana (interim coach) the best, and as for the players, I can only wish all the luck in the world for them.”

Camacho returned to Benfica in September for a second spell with the club, replacing Fernando Santos, and has endured a tumultuous time since his arrival. The club are out of the race for the championship, sitting in second place lagging a huge 14 points behind leaders FC Porto, and the Eagles are yet to win a league match at home in 2008.

As a result, Benfica have allowed rivals Vitoria Guimaraes and Vitoria Setubal, not to mention Sporting, the chance of snatching the automatic Champions League berth for next season.


Related: Camacho quits after embarrassing draw
Related: Benfica 2-2 Uniao de Leiria - match report