28 August 2006, by Marco Pereira

Naval off to a flyer

Naval 2-0 Estrela da Amadora

Naval got all three points at the Jose Bento Pessoa stadium when they opened their championship campaign with a 2-0 victory over Estrela da Amadora.

The first goal came at the 13th minute and was an excellent individual effort by Brazilian striker, Nei. The forward brought the ball into Estrela’s box, where he put a tricked his way past his marker and fired into the net rendering the goalkeeper, Paulo Lopes, helpless.

Naval’s second goal did not come until the 75th minute when winger, Mario Sergio, did all the work by running down the right flank and crossing into the box, allowing striker Lito an easy tap-in.

Just before full time, Estrela had substitute, Jones, sent off with a straight red card for kicking Naval midfielder, China. Jones can expect more than just a one-game suspension for his actions.

Naval coach, Rogerio Goncalves, was satisfied with the win, but not euphoric, because he did not want to go overboard after the first game of the season.

“We started well and it was important to win the first game at home. We deserve this victory for what we did during the 90 minutes. In the first half we controlled everything in a tight manner and in the second half we were still good creating one or two good chances.”

“We must be calm because there is still a lot that we have to improve on. We started (the season) well, and many of the players are from last year’s team, they know me as I do them, so it will be a little easier.”

“There is always anxiety, but we have to lessen this to collect as many points as we can. We will never forget that our main objective is to stay at the top flight and the players are aware of this.”

Naval:
Taborda, Mario Sergio, Orestes, Fernando, China, Solimar (Tiago Fraga, 70), Gilmar, Tony, Fajardo (Saulo, 78), Nei (Cazarine, 88), Lito

Estrela da Amadora:
Paulo Lopes, Rui Duarte II (Rui Borges, 68), Hugo Carreira, Amoreirinha, Tiago, Louis Loureiro, Sergio Marques (Jones, 55-rc, 90), Tiago Gomes, Tony, Dario, Cleiton (N’Daye, 78)

Goals:
[1-0] Nei, 13
[2-0] Lito, 75