Sorry, meant to say DeJong is interesting.
auto spell got me. Lol

I must say that I hope these are just rumours regarding the Gaitan deal to Man United and Fabio and Macheda coming to us. Personally I wouldn't want either of those players, and neither are quite good enough for Benfica, with all due respect, and I'm sure both would just be on the bench next season anyway. I would like to see us play hard bargain for Gaitan, and make sure we don't end up losing him for less than we should, just as what happened with Di Maria.

If Man United are not willing to pay up what Gaitan is worth, then we must negotiate with other teams who will, such as Man City or Chelsea. Both of these have many quality players that could be used in the deal that would benefit our team.

What we really need the most, imo, is some steel and power in our defensive-midfield. A good deal for us, for example, would be to get Nigel De Jong on loan for a season as part of Gaitan moving to City. Or if it was Chelsea, perhaps Michael Essien or Obi Mikel for a season's loan. Either De Jong or Essien or Obi Mikel could give us the steel in midfield and protection of our defence next season that has been missing all of this season. None of these 3 players are regulars in their first team, and any of them could be a realistic deal for us, if it were for just a season long loan, in relation to Gaitan moving in the opposite direction. LFV, I hope you're reading this LOL!!

Gary, football is a business, we are in the business of winning, I work in sales and when we have a huge deal to get done we dont send rookies to close it!!!!
Our rookies start in the office and go to small deals to learn and when they screw up its not a big deal because is small.
So euro cup is a big deal lets not send rookies to do a pro's job.
Like I say he can train in the minor leagues and work towards prime time in Benfica, when he gets a permanent spot in benfica and builds a resume then we can talk.
This is not a Benfica/Sporting thing is a National team thing and to close the deal we need our best.
I have nothing against the player I dont even know him, I call at as I see it and it is your right to disagree.
I hope I can see him in Brasil in 2 years I will be there to cheer him and our great country.
Viva Portugal!!!

i was exactly like you guys when i was HATING on ronaldo in euro 2004 when he was "killing it" for us and not passing to anybody most of the time. boy did i eat my words LOL

How does a player gain maturity? This is a practical sport. Can he get maturity by sitting in Benfica's class rooms and practice fields watching diagrams and doing little drills and practice games? Yes this is a game of intelligence and wit, but everybody who has played the game knows that, to be comfortable and become experienced ie. playing smart making good decisions and moves etc, you have to do it on the field. A player becomes better when he has a manager that sees his potential and trusts him! Trusting him and giving him encouragement and playing him. Regardless of what all of your opinions are, I believe that Nelson Oliveira has the MOST potential out of all the forwards in Benfica!

But potential needs to be seized, valued, and nurtured, and developed. Maybe the fact that he's made some selfish decisions is precisely because he feels undervalued by the manager, and that every time he plays he has to "prove" his worth, by doing something extraordinary in the limited time he's given. Because to be honest, I watched all of the U20 World Cup games, and Nelson Oliveira was not a selfish player there! He worked very hard for the team, moved all over the forward line, and always made passes to teammates, as well as scored crucial goals. Honestly the way that he will grow is by having a manager that puts faith in him, and plays him, ALLOWING him to make mistakes AND grow AND still show the brilliance that we all know he possesses. Some of you are quite hypocritical or just impatient or just not understanding. People grow by doing good, making mistakes, learning, getting back up and then becoming better. Its a continuous cycle of life that is natural. But that is how you get better, by playing, by doing, by learning.

Sit and really consider has this been a year of good "development" for Nelson Oliveira since the last summer in U20 World Cup? Yes he has gained some minutes and been "in" the team for some big games and seen some decent action; but this is not good enough. This is not any old young player we have here. This is an U20 World Cup Finalist and Silver Ball Winner. Also what makes it even more important is that he is a striker! An area that we all know Portugal is desperately struggling in. Seeing all of this, Nelson Oliveira should be made more of a priority in Benfica. He deserves to be more highly regarded and valued. I'm not saying that we need to give him everything on a platter, as in him being the 1st choice striker all the time. I know fully well Oscar Cardozo's goal record is immense and speaks for itself and he's a big player for Benfica. BUT in my opinion Nelson Oliveira ought to be at least 2nd choice striker all of the time! Saviola is nothing special. He's old and past his prime, and he's an Argentinian. Anything he can do Nelson can do. And Nelson is Portuguese. Helder Postiga is 1st choice in the national team but we are counting on Nelson to be a good 2nd choice, so we need him to be sharp and at his best. That comes from him playing regularly. Now Rodrigo is good also, but I do not think that he is better than Nelson Oliveira. I do think that he is very good as well, but Nelson is just as good as he is. The only difference, is that Rodrigo has been given more game time and therefore has more experience and is more comfortable. Nelson ought to be 2nd choice and Rodrigo ought to be 3rd choice.

I know Benfica needed to win this game etc, and thats normal. But like I originally noted, Benfica were winning 1-0 at half time with both Rodrigo and Nelson Oliveira playing. Jorge Jesus should have just left it as it is and I'm sure Nelson would have added a goal or helped create one. Yes you want to win. But you also need to have faith. One needs to have trust. Benfica too often wants only the immediate finished article and almost guaranteed victory now. With that mindset, Benfica will NEVER again produce any great Portuguese players. I know it seems harsh, but that is the reality. One only has to look at the track record of Benfica these past years to realize that. They had Silvio come up through their youth team, who I believe is Portugal's best right back and soon to take over Joao Perreira's place once he recovers form injury. But they didn't value him. He is better than Maxi Perreira. If you had kept him, Silvio could have been your great right back at least for 2 seasons with Coentrao before they moved on to bigger and better things. But it was never to be because of the impatient overly intolerant attitude at the club. Wasn't it true that Benfica also had Deco in their ranks as well as a young player! Before he went to Porto. How could they not have seen and valued the great talent of a player such as Deco? Its all the same story.

Give Nelson more value. Cardozo 1st choice, Nelson Oliveira 2nd choice. Sometimes in life you have to have faith! You have to take gambles. Not everything is secure. Sporting debuting and playing Cristiano Ronaldo at 17 yrs 8 months was a gamble and it paid off, he played some good football for them, then Sir Alex signing and playing Ronaldo as an 18 yr old was a huge risk but he put faith in Ronaldo. Even when Cristiano made many mistakes, Fergie trusted him and played him, and his undoubted talent shone and he did some remarkable things as well!

Nelson Oliveira is 20 yrs old. He is not Cristiano Ronaldo, because there is only one Cristiano. Nelson Oliveira is Nelson Oliveira and there is ONLY ONE Nelson Oliveira! He is a good player, he has the attributes he IS old enough to play 20 is a good age at which he should be able to play fairly regularly. Something must change. I know most of you all Benfica fans don't care about any player or any nationality, you only care about winning. As long as your team wins you are happy happy as can be. That is fine. This summer, Benfica's management need to figure out what their position and plan is for Nelson Oliveira, because in my opinion, this was a year almost wasted for him. Next season CANNOT be allowed to go on as this one did for him. Either they sell Saviola, and make Nelson 2nd choice striker, or they find a decent team to loan him out where he will play more games.

I agree that Nelson Oliveira really does need to improve his decision making if he wants to develop into an elite striker. He has tons of talent, but his decision making remains poor. Rodrigo on the other hand may not have the potential of Nelson, but he is a lot more mature with his decision making.

With regards to the Euro 2012, Nelson Oliveira should definitely be called up. In terms of talent, he's much better than Postiga and especially Almeida, but he definitely shouldn't start. He's a very different striker than Postiga and Almeida, and his speed could come in handy late in the game, but until he improves his decision making, Helder Postiga should start this summer.

He may not have the pace or athleticism of Oliveira, but he fits so well into Paulo Bento's high pressure, quick passing game. He definitely does not have the ability to win games on his own, but his maturity and playing style will suit Ronaldo and Nani best.

In the future Nelson Oliveira could definitely be the world class striker we've needed for so many years, but for now, let's just stick with the quiet, yet consistent Postiga.

4 games to go 4 wins to be forca porto

many names come to mind when it comes to him but EGOISTA, probably describe it better, not a team player and stubborn its all about him getting fame and hope for a big contract out of benfica, but in order to get a big contract you need to be a team player and he is not. He cost the game for Benfica against chelsea and more important to me he cost the game for Portugal agaisnt Brasil in the final, I do not want him to cost us another game in Poland. Yes he has potential but he is not there yet, this coming from a sportinguista, he can ruin it all he wants for benfica BUT PLEASE DO NOT LET HIM SCREW IT UP FOR PORTUGAL. As a Portuguese I hope he proves me wrong, but you cant have an eggo or feed one if you have not accomplished anything and what stands up are your selfish plays!!

The Bwin cup is not a big trophy, but it's a title nonetheless. Great to see Saviola get something to show for his difficult season, and if that's the last big contribution he makes to SLB before leaving in the summer, then what a great way to sign off! Good to see Rodrigo scoring too as it can only help him regain his confidence and form which was heavily affected by that injury in Russia.

Gil Vicente played well and I was happy for them and their fans, that they gave us such a close match. The Liga in general has improved in leaps and bounds lately and the likes of Gil Vicente can really take on the big 4 these days, and this final proved this fact even further!

As for SLB, I hope this win will bring back some of the confidence and self-belief in the players, that went missing over the last couple of months...to make sure we do what we have to do now, and win all four of our remaining Liga matches. If we can do that, then the pressure is totally on Porto to finish off the job.

I have not given up on the title yet in the slightest...only losers would give up on a title with still 4 matches left to play, and only 4 points in the equation! Porto can only throw away the title now, that is obvious, but we still have a slight chance of pipping them to first place. Where there's a will, there's a way!!

I expect Porto to beat Beira Mar next week for sure, but after that, their remaining 3 matches could all be tricky and none are guaranteed 3 points: Maritimo away and then Sporting, who are both vying for 4th place, and then ending with Rio Ave away...so who knows? Until it's mathematically impossible, I will NEVER give up hope that we can still cap off a fine season by ending up as champions...Forca Sempre!!!

Congrats on the win, but Benfica were already winning 1-0 at half time, why take off Nelson Oliveira??? He should have been given this whole game. I'm sure he could have scored or assisted another goal. Smh. Portugal's own golden boy, Nelson Oliveira can't even get enough love that he deserves in his own home. Thats the disappointing thing about this game for me. I saw the look on his face when he went to the bench and he's not happy. Things will have to change soon or maybe he'll leave.

If Benfica wins today: o whatever jesus ur still not off the hook, its just a stupid league cup trophy. i want better trophies.

if BEnfica loses: omg jesus cant even win the league cup, he sucks, fire his butt, his no good, omg we lost to gil vicente

lame huh?

Who would've thought 3 or 4 months ago that the League cup could turn out to be all that Benfica win in a season that promised so much and started so well? That's football for you, nothing can ever be taken for granted. I hope Benfica take this match seriously, because silverware is silverware...and a club of SLB's magnitude cannot finish a season empty-handed, particularly after starting so well.

Gil Vicente have been real impressive at times this season so cannot be under-estimated. I'm sure they will give us a good game. If we do end up winning tonight, it might bring some confidence back to us, to make sure we win the last 4 Liga matches...and if we do that we still have a slight chance of finishing first....vamos a ver!!