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| Wednesday, 11 January 2012 10:47 |
Portuguese Cup semi-finals: Jamor the prize“We have to be much better and improve our finishing” – Domingos The first legs of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals take place today and tomorrow. Tonight Sporting host Nacional, while tomorrow Academica welcome the sole non top-flight team left in the competition, Oliveirense.
Sporting v NacionalSporting have hit a patchy spell of form, with just one win in their last five matches, and with 12 games scheduled in the next 45 days Domingos Paciencia is keen to get his side firing on all cylinders again. The Sporting coach says his team must improve their level of performance if they want to reach the Jamor final.
“We know getting to the final depends heavily on what we do in this game. To win we have to be stronger than we were in the Liga game against Nacional (a narrow 1-0 victory one month ago). We have to be much better and improve our finishing”, said Domingos.
The Lions have been boosted by the return of ex Barcelona winger Jeffren after a long injury lay-off, and new signing Ribas has also been included in the squad. “They are two valid options. We’re going to have a complicated cycle of games in the coming weeks and it’s good to have more solutions in the squad. Taking into account that we have a lot of games coming up, changes may be made in relation to the starting XI against FC Porto.”
Nacional go into the game on the back of a morale-boosting 3-0 win away at Gil Vicente at the weekend, and coach Pedro Caixinha says his players are highly motivated to write their names in the history of the Madeira club.
“We have a very big ambition to reach the final of the Taça de Portugal and go down in the history of this club. It's going to be a Nacional side with lots of ambition, determination and desire to make history. This is our guiding thought ahead of this tie,” said Caixinha.
Academica v OliveirenseOn Thursday, Pedro Emanuel will look to further add to his burgeoning reputation as one of Portugal’s top up-and-coming coaches by leading his Academica side to victory against Oliveirense in Coimbra. Academica are flying high in sixth place in the Liga ZON Sagres, and dumped FC Porto out of the Cup earlier in the competition.
“It’s an important game because the winners will be in the final. We have made a huge effort to get here, and it’s logical that the squad are excited at the prospect of playing this semi-final. We have to take into account that it’s a tie lasting 180 minutes and we have to show that we have the capacity to reach the final against an extremely competitive team,” said Emanuel.
Academica are in the semi-finals for the second straight season, but have failed to reach the final since 1969. But Oliveirense are enjoying a strong season themselves. The Liga Orangina club currently lie sixth in Portugal’s second tier, and have already knocked out top-flight Olhanense to reach this stage.
The second legs take place in one month’s time.
Tom Kundert
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Thanks in advance!
That being said, Sporting has plenty more to worry about besides the Taca. They currently sit even with Braga in 3rd place, Europa play will also begin shortly. Easy is not going to be.
I've mentioned how I feel about the importance of the Taca. For me it's still meaningful silverware for the trophy case. The Taca still carries some weight unlike the "coffee cup".
For all Academicas placing in the league they are still closer to relegation than Maritimo who's 5th. Nacional has struggled scoring mightly, the 3-0 barrage withstanding. Oliveirense has been fortunate with the draw.
What should make it hard for Sporting is that all of the opponents will or should be concentrating on the Taca. It would be a nice feather in Sportings season, while it would be the whole bird for the others.