 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 08 February 2012 23:30 |
Sporting book Jamor date after being pushed all the way by NacionalNacional 1-3 Sporting (aggregate: 3-5) It may not have been one for the purists, but an incident-packed night in Madeira saw Sporting overcome Nacional 3-1 to book their place in the Portuguese Cup final. Fito Rinaudo, back from a 3-month injury lay-off, capped a brilliant first-half performance with a superb goal to put Sporting ahead on 18 minutes. Things looked done and dusted when Nacional’s Mario Rondon was sent off after half time, but a Diego Barcellos header made it all square on the night and put the hosts ahead on away goals. In a thrilling end to the game, a Ricky van Wolfswinkel penalty and a fantastic late goal by Joao Pereira sealed Sporting’s place at Jamor. Going into the match with just one win in eight games in 2012, Sporting coach Domingos Paciencia recalled Argentine midfielder Fito Rinaudo after his long-term injury, and also gave a debut to January signing Xandao, the Brazilian centre-back replacing the suspended Oguchi Onyewu alongside Polga. Nacional could count on dangerous forward Mateus this time round. The Angolan international missed the first leg as he was on duty for his country at the Africa Cup of Nations. Rinaudo stunnerThe first moment of danger was in the Sporting box. Joao Pereira was relieved to see his attempted clearance come back off the bar. Rinaudo had been his usual combative self from the first whistle, and the player who made such an impact at the Alvalade before getting injured opened the scoring with a thumping long-range effort that crashed off the inside of the post and into the net in the 18th minute.The goal settled Sporting who enjoyed the better of the remainder of the first half. Good work by Carrillo paved the way for Capel to put the ball in the net but the officials ruled out the goal for offside. Insua and Carrillo came close to doubling Sporting’s lead, and Nacional also suffered the misfortune of seeing both midfielder Moreno and goalkeeper Vladan forced off through injury before the break. On 56 minutes the tie seemed to have swung definitively in Sporting’s favour as Mario Rondon was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Rinaudo and had to take an early bath. Barcellos punishes slack defendingAt this stage Sporting were going out of the competition, but ten minutes later the Lions regained the lead as Matias and Insua combined well, with the latter brought down by Claudemir in the box. Ricky van Wolfswinkel stepped up to calmly slot in the penalty. Still ten-man Nacional refused to lie down. Xandao made a crucial interception to deny Mateus a certain goal, substitute Keita was inches away from tapping in a Candeias cross and Patricio had to be alert to save a dangerous shot from Mateus. With seconds remaining, Joao Pereira put the result beyond doubt with a marvellous mazy run and classy finish to trigger wild celebrations among the Sporting players, coaching staff and fans. Sporting and Academica will go head to head in the Portuguese Cup final at the Jamor national stadium on the outskirts of Lisbon on 20 May. Nacional: Vladan (Valverde, 45), Claudemir, Neto, Danielson, Marcal, Moreno (Skolnik, 19), Todorovic (Keita, 77), Candeias, Diego Barcellos, Rondon, Mateus Sporting: Rui Patricio, Joao Pereira, Polga, Xandao, Insúa, Matías Fernandez, Rinaudo (Ribas, 71), Elias, Capel (Evaldo, 52), Wolfswinkel (Carrico, 82), Carrillo Goals: [0-1] Rinaudo, 18 [1-1] Barcellos, 63 [1-2] Wolfswinkel, 73 [1-3] Joao Pereira, 93 Tom Kundert |
Also agree with NJ/USA/SLB that these are very trying times for SCP. As I've said before, finances have not been great for years now, and then the amount of money spent in the summer was a massive gamble on the return of CL cash next season, and if that doesn't pan out, things won't be looking good for SCP anytime soon.
Even if SCP is forced into selling off good players (sort of eating seeds of the future) the payoff wouldn't be great, as has been mentioned, SCP only owns 15%-25% of some of it's brightest stars.
I can't really see some foreign company buying a huge stake in SCP and infusing cash. The major European clubs that this has happened to (Man City, Malaga, PSG to name a few) are part of countries with alot more money, and branding opportunities. While SCP is known throughout Europe, I don't think any big investment fund from Dubai or elsewhere really sees the return on investment from a massive (and it would have to be massive to get the SCP board to go for it) cash investment in return for partial or full ownership of SCP.
So to wrap it up, although the prospect of another Taca in the trophy room is exciting, SCP must concentrate on getting 3rd in the league. That will at least leave the door open for CL cash, which is absolutely critical at the moment. Let's hope that SCP can do it.
Even if you aren't an SCP fan, it's important to recognize that a 3rd historical/relevant team in the title race is important. Some would say that Braga is trying to usurp Sporting's place in the big 3, but the reality is Braga doesn't have the financial resources to maintain this type of position indefinitely. Neither will Sporting if they don't make something big happen in the next couple seasons, but in that case, by that point title money and CL cash will have put Benfica and FCP out of reach of both SCP and Braga.
Forca Domingos,
Forca Sporting
I was speaking with people in Portugal, and it seems as if there's huge concerns at Sporting. Their overall finances are a disaster, and they are looking for investment. The problem with that is that they would need someone to basically throw away 200 mil euros, without retaining ownership, which is a silly proposition.
The other concern for me is that the current crop of players that Sporting signed aren't fully owned by the squad. Yes they look promising for future profit, but Sporting will only be getting cents on the dollar.
I know that Porto, does a ton of business with third-party investors, in order to obtain players and spread out the risk. But they have CL money to fall back on, Sporting will be scrambling if they don't nab that third spot. Let me add that third isn't a guarantee to CL riches. It's a qualifying spot where more and more of the worlds best teams will find themselves in. It could spell doom if the draw doesn't go their way.
Tom, Ben, I was wondering if there's any talk of someone trying to buy Sporting outright. I know the current Board and President would never want to do that, but would they let Sporting rot just so they can remaing in place?
If a team like Malaga can get a rich owner, in my opinion Sportings history and prestige, yes they still have some, would be a better investment even though Portugal is a much smaller country economically.
At the end of the day, if Sporting wins, it should give their fans something to build on and look forward to after the amount of money and turnover that happened. Even if they don't come in 3rd, it should also give their coach a lifeline to get the much needed 2 seasons to build this team.
If they lose I can't help but wonder if they will fire him.