Lisbon in flames / A Chama Imensa

This is a new one for us. A few nights ago, a leader of Benfica’s ultras dropped us an email. The Benfica Ultras are these guys, as a reminder. Benfica’s road to Amsterdam, the home of this year’s Europa League Final, continues in Turkey tonight against Fenerbahce, home to some of the most passionate and devoted fans in the world.

Here’s part of what was sent our way: “Dear AFR, as you probably know, this can be a dream season for all Benfica fans. Benfica is much more than a club, it’s a religion and being an “Benfiquista” it’s a feeling that can’t be explained.

Being a “Benfiquista” is to have a huge flame in your soul. Benfica is that and much more and that is why it is said “Benfiquistas” have inside them the “Huge Flame” - Chama Imensa (in Portuguese). That brings me to the reason why i’m writing you this message. That is the name an unofficial motivation video fully designed, filmed and edited by members and supporters of Sport Lisboa e Benfica. 

It was filmed anonymously throughout Lisbon.”

Benfica are in flying form this year; unbeaten on a domestic level, with their 12th man always being behind Jorge Jesus’ side. Tonight they will be outnumbered and outsung, but despite the minority, we’ll see if Benfica’s flame will stay lit in one of Europe’s most intimidating environments. Eles acreditam. [Posted by Eric and Dom]

Four years later, the boy from Madeira returns to his Theatre of Dreams

“That is the one million dollar question: what will make the difference? Nobody knows and the world will stop to watch this tie. It doesn’t look a tie. It looks a final. I doubt the expectation can be bigger than this one.” - Mourinho

It really is the return we’ve been waiting for. Cristiano Ronaldo will once again walk onto the Old Trafford pitch, the stage on which he entertained for 6 years, where he wrote his name in gold, his former home, wearing the iconic number 7. Except this time his shirt is painted blanco.

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They could have had it all. Instead, Ricardo Quaresma faded under Ronaldo’s shadow.

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By Kristian Heneage

As Cristiano Ronaldo readies himself for another potentially career defining moment on the global football stage, spare a thought for the man who was meant to join him in the upper echelons of football’s tapestry. Emerging from the same prestigious Sporting Lisbon academy, Ricardo Quaresma was once seen as Luis Figo’s heir apparent. Instead he finds himself on what is likely to be one of the final legs of his footballing journey in the middle east with Al Ahli.

It’s a far cry from his beginnings in Portugal’s capital. Promoted from Sporting’s B-team as a 17 year-old, much was expected of him after a stellar first season in which he lead the club to a league and cup double under the guidance of manager Laszlo Boloni. Arriving right behind him was Ronaldo. As Carlos Quieroz once admitted, choosing which dazzling winger to sign was a genuine dilemma, with one belief unanimous; both would shine. 

For a period, Quaresma did. His four years in Porto brought two Portuguese player of the year awards, and a string of highlights that vindicated the opinions formed during his days at Sporting. An expert in the ‘Trivela’ technique, he often reveled in the big stage the Champions League provided him. Yet just as there was a peak, there were also notable troughs. 

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Muitos Parabéns / Happy Birthday, José!

Today, Mourinho turns 50. Since his managerial career started at Benfica 13 years ago, the man who’s known as the ‘The Special One’ became the first to win the league titles in Portugal, England, Italy and Spain, not to mention his pair Champions Leagues. As Inter Milan owner, Massimo Moratti, puts it: “he loves to win.” He really does, but he’s also one who loves to entertain.

“I’m a coach, I’m not Harry Potter. He is magical, but in reality there is no magic. Magic is fiction and football is real.” - the quotes are really there for the taking.

Wherever he’s been, his name has not been forgotten; although not even Bobby Robson expected Mourinho to have built such an illustrious successful career for himself. This remark is highlighted in a recent documentary, which is well worth your time.

His future remains more uncertain than ever, whether it’s remaining at Real Madrid, seizing the opportunity to coach the Portuguese national team that still lies in the distance, or returning to England. But some things never change: “I have the same or even more ambition than I did before.” [Posted by Dom.]

Is the third time the charm for Benfica in Catalunya?

When there’s one match remaining on the Champions League group calendar and it’s a must-win fixture, traveling to Barcelona is always a colossal challenge for any team and certainly not the ideal scenario. Tonight we see Benfica take on this imperious side at the Camp Nou for the third time in their history, where they’ve lost on both previous visits.

They first met in the final year of the now-defunct European Cup, the 1991/92 season, where Benfica faced an incredible Barcelona side, known as the ‘Dream Team’. The hosts won the encounter 2-1 and Johan Cruyff led the club to Wembley where they conquered their first European title. 

14 years later and Benfica walked out onto the Camp Nou to battle the second-leg of the Champions League quarter-final. Following a hard fought 0-0 draw in Lisbon, this was an open game, although the odds were always against ‘O Glorioso’. To no surprise, Benfica were outclassed by another outstanding Barcelona side with Ronaldinho dazzling at his golden best. And once again, they marched forwards and lifted their second European title in Paris.

Unlike the two previous meetings, Barcelona does not need a victory tonight, but that doens’t mean it’ll be an easy match, even if key players are rested. Barcelona are flying, Tito Vilanova has enjoyed a milestone-breaking campaign in La Liga so far, accumulating 40 points from 14 fixtures. If the club’s magical football or clinical form doesn’t crush Benfica - then Leo probably will. While he’s not starting, Messi is expected to play tonight, and he’ll be terrorising his opponents as per usual, alongside an aim to surpass Gerd Muller’s historic record of 85 goals in a calendar year. 

With Celtic playing at home against Spartak, a victory is expected from them, meaning Benfica must to win to qualify. Anything is possible - this is the Champions League and tonight Benfica must play like ‘um gigante’ - replicating a performance they produced against Manchester United this time 7 years ago. CARREGA BENFICA!

[Posted by Dominic, probably Benfica’s most passionate fan]

Cristiano’s free kick - a piece by Dan Leydon ”When planning this piece for AFR I wanted to capture a moment of heightened tension in the Clásico. Something about night games gives a match an added sense of excitement and I love the air of carnival that descends whenever La Liga’s two titans go head-to-head.  Ronaldo’s iconic free kick stance was a definite inclusion and only after I had made the first piece did I have the realisation to add a close up of his eyes.” We’re delighted to feature Dan’s work on AFR as he experiments with using GIFs to further his creativity. Find Dan on: Twitter / Tumblr / Etsy. [Posted by Eric]

Cristiano’s free kick - a piece by Dan Leydon

”When planning this piece for AFR I wanted to capture a moment of heightened tension in the Clásico. Something about night games gives a match an added sense of excitement and I love the air of carnival that descends whenever La Liga’s two titans go head-to-head. 

Ronaldo’s iconic free kick stance was a definite inclusion and only after I had made the first piece did I have the realisation to add a close up of his eyes.”

We’re delighted to feature Dan’s work on AFR as he experiments with using GIFs to further his creativity. Find Dan on: Twitter / Tumblr / Etsy. [Posted by Eric]

Englishmen Abroad – Matt Jones living the dream in Lisbon

By Cam Melling

Fish and chips, Yorkshire puddings and roast dinners. Add the name Matt Jones to that list. Flying high at the top of the second tier in Portugal, Jones is enjoying a career as a British export.

Born in Stoke-on-trent, Matt Jones’ journey as a footballer has led him to Portugal, where he is now the number one keeper at Belenenses. He made the bold decision to play his football outside of England in 2009, although he’d been at college in the US for four years previously. “I came over to Portugal 3 years ago now. My coach in America was Portuguese and had a few connections over here. So after my 4 years in America I decided that I wanted to make the move back over to Europe.” 

And that exact spot initially was not at his current club Belenenses but on the Portuguese island of São Miguel in the Azores islands with Santa Clara. “My coach then [in America], Joe Barosso, put in a good word for me with a club over here [Santa Clara] and I ended up signing a 2 year deal.”

We tend not to hear much about Englishmen playing abroad, David Beckham has had a go, and so has Owen Hargreaves but little succeed or if they do, little make a career abroad. Recently, we have seen Kenny Pavey, an Englishmen who has spent his entire professional career in Sweden playing for the big names such as AIK Stockholm, but there are little Brits except him making any more than a swansong abroad. Matt Jones is an exception to this and he has only praise for it so far. “I find it hard to believe to be honest that there aren’t more English players playing in the foreign leagues. It was a huge shock to me that I was the only English player playing in the Portuguese leagues and it’s been that way for the whole time I have been here.”  

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Crouching Manager, Hidden Talent?

By Tim Palmer

When Daniel Levy sacked Harry Redknapp in May, It would have been difficult to find a manager so contrastingly different from his predecessor than the one appointed, Andre Villas-Boas. The Portuguese is a young and enthusiastic prodigy who never played professionally, while Redknapp is a 64 year old veteran of the game, having played and then managed extensively across England (a three year spell in America aside) for the past forty-seven years.

Their approaches to football are enormously different. Villas-Boas is very much a system and strategies man, seeing football more like science than sport. In his upcoming biography, former Burnley chief executive Paul Fletcher has revealed Villas-Boas was in the frame to replace Owen Coyle after the latter departed to Bolton Wanderers in 2010: “there was some complicated stuff in it, with some things that I didn’t understand,” he wrote. “Would Burnley players have ever understood what he wanted if he’d told them to ‘solidificate’ or some of his other terms?”

By contrast, Redknapp preferred a remarkably open style of football. His football philosophy is neatly summed up by a declaration made in his column for The Sun last year: “You can argue about formations, tactics and systems forever, but to me football is fundamentally about the players. Whether it is 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, the numbers game is not the beautiful game in my opinion.” More recently, Redknapp went out of his way to seemingly criticise Villas-Boas’ highly meticulous approach to coaching: “These days you’re getting 70-page dossiers on this and that,’ he said. ‘Bulls**t can baffle brains at times.’

Villas-Boas has certainly been responsible for some brain-baffling decisions during his time in England, but his response after Tottenham’s first win of the season away to Reading was calm and measured. His response? “I am not sure if Harry was mentioning that about Jose Mourinho but, if he is, I find it strange. He is not referring to me because I don’t use those situations. In the end, independent of the manager being modern or being  old-fashioned or old school or looking towards the future, it doesn’t matter.”

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Anderson’s flash of magic He’s been inconsistent and has suffered many injuries, but every now and again Anderson provides an ounce of pure quality.  Last night in their 2-1 victory over Newcastle, the stands at Old Trafford were jumping in delight following the screaming golazo from the Man Utd midfielder. The infamous Richard Swarbrick created a hand-painted GIF of Anderson’s strike to capture the occasion.

Anderson’s flash of magic

He’s been inconsistent and has suffered many injuries, but every now and again Anderson provides an ounce of pure quality. 

Last night in their 2-1 victory over Newcastle, the stands at Old Trafford were jumping in delight following the screaming golazo from the Man Utd midfielder. The infamous Richard Swarbrick created a hand-painted GIF of Anderson’s strike to capture the occasion.

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