“There’s an old adage that says that ‘there’s no evil that lasts one hundred years or a body that can endure it.’ What better culture to know about this than in Colombia. After almost sixty years of armed conflict there seems to be no end in sight in that particular situation.” In Bed With Maradona

“António Silva Campos, recently re-elected as President of Rio Ave Futebol Clube, has had a tough season. The loss of Sílvio to Braga and Fábio Faria to Benfica during the summer transfer window left a hole in his back line, one which coach Carlos Brito has largely been unable to plug. Despite possessing plenty of creative threat in Bruno Gama and Yazalde, as well as the Liga’s second most prolific forward (Cahiers du Sport favourite João Tomás), Rio Ave have spent much of 2010/11 hovering in and around the relegation zone.” cahiers du sport

“Christmas, as the saying goes, comes but once a year. Yet for fans of European football, the festive period is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, your friends and family can rejoice at the presence of a fully functioning, undistracted human being. On the other, well, there’s no football. This past Monday saw the curtain come down on what’s been a memorable 2010 for football in Portugal: Benfica rolling back the years, the end of the Queiroz era, and a new season that has been as polarising as ever.” In Bed With Maradona

Lower leagues across the globe #1: Portugal
“The geography, languages and footballing cultures might be different, but with the increasing globalisation of football, the problems afflicting lower-league clubs across the world are (depressingly) familiar. Portugal has not escaped this homogenisation. Whilst the três grandes of Benfica, Sporting Clube and FC Porto have exerted a vicelike grip over the silverware since the nationalisation of the Liga in 1938 (previous championships were regionalised, with Lisbon being the most prestigious); smaller clubs have laboured under the financially strafing conditions that a long-term lack of success brings – a state of affairs which has not improved as the level of financial investment in the game has grown.” The Seventy Two

“Round Twelve in Portugal saw one player return from whence he came, and put the exclamation point on his personal and footballing transformation. Ben Shave has the story.” <a href=”Round Twelve in Portugal saw one player return from whence he came, and put the exclamation point on his personal and footballing transformation. Ben Shave has the story.” (In Bed With Marabona)

Pietà – Domenico Zampieri
“Ask someone to name a Portuguese derby, and they’ll inevitably cite the age-old rivalry between Benfica and Sporting, which has divided the city of Lisbon since 1907. They might also reference O Clásscio, the meeting between Benfica and FC Porto which, as was discussed last week, has become the pre-eminent derby in Portuguese football. Yet despite the stranglehold that these two encounters hold on the footballing calendar, there are others. Plenty of them, in fact. Admittedly none are as well-attended and widely-covered in the media as those involving the três grandes, but for fans of those involved, they are as important an occasion as when the likes of Benfica come to town.” (In Bed With Maradona)

“‘Everything turned Bento.’ That brief but illustrative phrase (it’s a rough translation, thanks to one of my Twitter followers for an explanation here, here and here) appeared as a headline in the Saturday edition of Record, who, along with their peers in Portugal’s sporting press, were left scrambling on Friday evening for original ways of saying: ‘wow, that was actually quite good wasn’t it?’ Answer: yes, yes it was. Portugal’s 3-1 victory over a fairly listless Denmark outfit might not herald a return to the golden generation, but considering what had recently gone before, it was a much-needed return to form. Here’s a few disconnected thoughts on Friday’s display.” (cahiers du sport)

“The Portuguese football season kicks off tonight, with Braga hosting newly promoted Portimonese. Braga almost won the title last year, only losing out on the final day of the season. There was a possibility that Braga’s players would be sold off in the summer, but the only significant sale was the Portuguese international goalkeeper Eduardo. They’ve since secured the services of the inspirational Uruguayan midfielder Luís Aguiar for another season and if they keep their current squad together they should prove that last season was no fluke.” (WSC)