Strike duo face the music in tense Benfica camp

Gomes admits “bad year”; Makukula tells of frustration

Benfica striker Nuno Gomes rustled up courage and faced the slings and arrows of the media as the Portuguese international talked about the team’s dismal season.

Benfica shot themselves in the foot on Sunday when they could only manage a goalless draw against Estrela da Amadora. The failure to gain maximum points has now complicated the club’s chances of finishing in one of the allotted Champions League spots for next season.

“It has been a bad year for Benfica. We must accept that,” bluntly said the Benfica frontman. “We started badly and we are ending badly. It has been a season to forget. We must accept and recognise our mistakes.”

The 31-year-old also touched upon his future with the club saying he would like to see out his playing days with his boyhood team. “I would like to stay with Benfica until the end of my career. It is a club that I like and where I feel good, but I have yet to speak about renewing my contract.”

Makukula unhappy

Gomes’ strike partner Makukula has also spoken out, with the big target man expressing his disappointment at his lack of playing time. The forward arrived in January from Maritimo but has endured an indifferent four months since he joined the Lisbon giants.

“I believe I could be happy. Benfica invested so much in me and I am not given the opportunities that I believe I deserve to show my worth,” lamented Makukula on Portuguese radio channel Antenna 1.

“I arrived here, played five matches and scored two goals. I then got injured, recovered and now I feel good, but I’m not being picked. I want to repay the confidence and the investment Benfica have shown in me.

“I did not come to Benfica to stop! I did not come to Benfica to end my career! I am not dead! I do not want to be here and earn my pay packet without doing anything. I want to show what I can do but if I don’t play that’s difficult,” fumed the Portugal international.

Dressing room bust-up denied

Although stating his displeasure at the current situation, Makukula strongly refuted rumours of a dressing room bust-up after the goalless draw on Sunday.

“I warmed up and did not play. It’s normal to feel unhappy with the situation. I left, as we all did, frustrated from the Reboleira. It would have been abnormal if we had left happy and laughing, wouldn’t it?”

The former Sevilla striker has not yet given up hope of snatching Champions League qualification on the final day of the season.

“We need to beat Vitoria Setubal, but it does not depend solely on us. But I do believe that Boavista will win against Sporting and that Estrela da Amadora will complicate Vitoria Guimaraes’ mission. Why not? In football, anything is possible.”