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| Thursday, 22 July 2010 21:19 |
Maritimo march into next round
Sporting Fingal 2-3 Maritimo (Maritimo win 6-4 on aggregate)
 Maritimo have joined Sporting in the third qualifying round of the Europa League. The Madeira side travelled to Coach Mitchell Van der Gaag had promised that his team would be stronger in the second leg with another week of pre-season training under their belts. The Dutchman was as good as his word as Maritimo dominated the match, never looked in danger of losing the tie and should have won by a far more handsome margin.
The Portuguese side arrived in
Dominant from the off
Maritimo took control of proceedings from the very start and were one goal to the good after 20 minutes as the excellent Danilo won a penalty and Alonso slotted home the spot kick. Home goalkeeper Brendan Clarke had already made several saves and was called upon frequently before the break, whereas his opposite number Pecanha had just one scare, spilling a shot with Crowe unable to take advantage of the rebound.
Danilo continued to run riot in the second half, bringing a fine save out of Clarke then shooting just wide. Another Brazilian, Marquinho, doubled Maritimo’s lead and ended the hosts’ hopes midway through the second half with a crisp finish.
As in the first game, there was a flurry of goals in the final ten minutes. Zayed grabbed a brace for Sporting Fingal, sandwiching a Kanu strike for the visitors.
Maritimo will now be confident of making the play-offs as they face Welsh side
by Tom Kundert
Sporting Fingal:
Clarke, Browne, Fitzgerald, Shaun Maher, Obrien; Byrn, Finn, Kirby, McFaul (Zayed, 64), Shaun Williams, Crowe.
Maritimo:
Pecanha, Ricardo Esteves, Robson, Joao Gulherme, Alonso, Roberto Souza, Tcho (Kanu, 81), Marquinho (Luciano Amaral, 72), Danilo, Cherrad (Fidelis, 90), Baba
Yellow Cards: Danilo, Roberto Souza, Ricardo Esteves
Goals:
[0-1] Alonso, 20 (pen.)
[0-2] Marquinho, 67
[1-2] Zayed, 81
[1-3] Kanu, 87
[2-3] Zayed, 90
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MARITIMO !!!
Take note that Sporting isn't in the group stages of the competition yet either. Sporting have to win their next tie, and then they have to win their playoff match. The same goes for Maritimo.
Everyone is quick to point the finger at Braga, however, if you look at the co-efficient rankings, they have provided Portugal with very valuable points for the UEFA coeffiecient. Braga has generated more points than at least 1 of the big 3 in each of the last 5 years. In 2008 only porto had more points than Braga.
Portuguese football fans should be thankful Braga has been in UEFA competitions. If we were counting only on the big 3, Portugal would be ranked 15 to 20th. It is Braga, Guimaraes, Nacional, Maritimo, that provide much needed points year in and year out. If not for their quality, we would only have 1 team in the Champions league.
Granted the competition wasn't that much.
The good news is that I figure Bangor City will be the very much the same as Fingal. They finished 5th in Wales.
The more Portuguese teams that advance the better.
We need to get that third Champions League spot back.
Lets hope that Braga get their act together.