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June 2010
The Mexican city of Saltillo has special significance for the Portuguese. The Selecção was installed there during the 1986 World Cup, but went through the whole gamut of 'things that could possibly go wrong in preparation for a World Cup campaign'. Hotel and training facilities were poor, no serious friendly games had been arranged, local female 'fans' had virtually free access to the players, and the players threatened strike action over daily expenses and win bonuses. An opening 1-0 victory over England appeared to belie the effect that the state of chaos must have been having on the team, but subsequent defeats to Poland (0-1) and Morocco (1-3) condemned Portugal to an early and ignominious exit.
The name 'Saltillo' has since become a by-word for behind-the-scenes disorganisation and indiscipline. Reference to it has re-surfaced in the last couple of weeks because of what's been going on in the
Portugal camp this time around.
Nani, seen as an important weapon given his useful season with Manchester United and decent performances in Portugal's pre-tournament friendlies, injured his shoulder in the penultimate training session in
Lisbon, performing an acrobatic overhead kick. He was taken to South Africa, but before the opening game it was announced that the injury was so serious that he would be heading home.
Cue rumours on the Portuguese blogs and question marks in the Portuguese media. He must have been shipped out to avoid doping tests. No, he'd had a run-in with coach Queiroz. The FPF weren't helping; none
of the medical staff came forth to give a clear explanation of the injury. And upon his arrival back in Lisbon, Nani declared that he'd be fine within a week. This was startling; Queiroz had insisted on taking Pepe,
injured since December, in the faint hope that he might get fit, and he couldn't keep on such a key player as Nani? The FPF PR machine got to Nani, who retracted what he'd said. What he'd meant was that he'd be fit
to lead a normal life within a week. The rumours remained (and remain) unquelled.
Then it was Deco's turn. Substituted in Portugal's opening match against Ivory Coast, he strode directly to the dressing room. On the way to the team bus later, he was scathing: "Why was I
substituted? You'll have to ask the coach. I felt fine. First he asked me to play on the right, something I've never done in my career because I'm not a wide player. And then he took me off." The next day,
there was another retraction: he'd spoken in the heat of the moment, and everything was tickety-boo between him and Queiroz. Funnily enough, Deco will miss the second game against North Korea with a hip injury; the
blogs were sceptical.
Then, North Korea happened. The Portuguese have a saying to express wild swings between extremes: "It's either 8 or 80." Eight was the mood before the 7-0 drubbing of North Korea, 80 the mood afterwards.
Sports daily A Bola's front page the day after: "Perfect!"; O Jogo's: "Out of This World." Suddenly a whole nation believes again, and recent controversies have conveniently been forgotten … for the time being. It
will be 80 in Portugal until at least the round of 16, for which Portugal cannot, surely, fail to qualify now.
(A version of this article appeared on the website of the British football magazine When Saturday Comes)
February 2010
(A version of this article appeared in the British football magazine When Saturday Comes)
It's been rather a vintage year for punch-ups in Portuguese football, with tunnels and Benfica featuring strongly.
In October, Benfica's top-scoring Paraguayan striker Óscar Cardozo and Sporting Braga's Brazilian defender André Leone were sent off at half-time at Braga (2-0) and subsequently suspended for two games after the
referee reported that they had been having a go inside the tunnel. At the beginning of February, the typically sluggish League Disciplinary Committee also found influential Braga captain Vandinho and the team's best
player Mossoró guilty of their part in a to-do at the mouth of the tunnel and suspended them for three months and three matches, respectively. "How is it," asked Braga's Director of Football Carlos Freitas, "that in
a scuffle involving 50 people, only Braga players were guilty of censurable behaviour?" Coincidentally, Braga are neck and neck with Benfica in the race for the title.
Just before Christmas, and after the final whistle of the Benfica v FC Porto clássico, Porto's star Brazilian forward Hulk and Romanian full-back Cristian Sapunaru, who had not left the bench during
the 1-0 Benfica win, were accused of assaulting security personnel, again in the tunnel.
The formal accusation drafted by the League left little to the imagination: Hulk "went up to the security guard and tried to punch him. He aimed two more punches at the guard and then kicked him in the
side with his left foot at waist height." Sapunaru "also went up to the same steward and punched him in the forehead with his left hand. Then he jumped up in the air and kicked out with his right leg, hitting him in
the abdomen … The same player grabbed another steward and pulled him over, and when he was down, the player caught him with his studs and punched him in the back". The two players have since been suspended for
four (Hulk) and six (Sapunaru) months. Sapunaru is on loan to Rapid Bucharest until the end of the season.
Considering Porto to be the victims of an injustice, especially given the provocations aimed at the players by the stewards (for which Benfica face a paltry maximum fine of 2,500 euros), and the slowness of the
disciplinary process (perceived as deliberate), pro-Porto columnists and pundits have harked back to two similar incidents, both involving Benfica.
In CCTV footage published by news agency LUSA, showing the tunnel after last season's Benfica v Porto game (1-1), a Benfica suit can be observed aiming a kick at a Porto opposite number. Benfica staff can also be
seen changing the direction of the cameras before the game in order that, it has been claimed, they would not be able catch planned shenanigans. Unfortunately for Porto, later on in the same footage, there is a
melee outside the team's changing room, with Brazilian goalkeeper Helton and Hulk again caught throwing punches.
Finally, Ruben Micael, now at Porto, recently appeared in the press, evidently coaxed by the Porto powers that be, reiterating the alleged verbal abuse (from Benfica's Director of Football Rui Costa) and physical
intimidation (from the Benfica coach Jorge Jesus) that he experienced in the Luz tunnel as a Nacional player at half-time of the Benfica v Nacional game in October (6-1).
Conspicuous by their absence from the tunnel controversies, the third Grande, Sporting, made their contribution to the season's record of violence in January but reserved the fisticuffs for the
relative privacy of the changing room.
They were scraping a 4-3 win in the Portuguese Cup against third-tier side Mafra, and the whistles were raining down from the stands. The club's top striker Liedson, on the bench as sub, had
apparently spoken ill of the Sporting fans. Director of Football Sá Pinto, a great hero of the Sporting ultras, remarked: "You must think you own the club!". "No, you think you own the club!" was Liedson's riposte.
Sá Pinto, in the job for just 70 days, put all his diplomatic skills to use after the game and planted three punches on Liedson, not wholly unexpected as Sá Pinto had previous in this kind of incident. In 1997, he
drove to the National Stadium to beat up the then national coach Artur Jorge after learning that he had not been selected for a World Cup qualifier. He handed in his resignation after the Liedson episode.
All of this has tended to deflect attention away from what has been an exciting season on the pitch, with surprise team Braga leading the way against a rejuvenated Benfica. But it's not just the violence. There has
also been a resurrection of the Golden Whistle referee-bribing scandal following the publication of the phone taps on You Tube. Meanwhile, it was recently revealed that Leixões players had been offered money,
allegedly by Sporting Braga via an intermediary, to win at Benfica in September.
It would good if, by the end of the season, the football had managed to reclaim the front seat.
January 2010
(A version of this article appeared on the website of the British football magazine When Saturday Comes)
The Apito Dourado (Golden Whistle) scandal concerned alleged bribery of referees, influence peddling and general corruption in football at the beginning of the 2000s. Its scope fell on various top figures in the Portuguese game, but one in particular was targeted: FC Porto president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa (PdaC). The action that went through the criminal courts saw PdaC cleared, some would say controversially, of two important accusations: that he, with the help of others, bribed the referees before two games in 2004, versus Estrela da Amadora and Beira-Mar. In a parallel disciplinary action, known as Apito Final (Final Whistle), the Liga took it into its own hands to discipline PdaC and the club: two years' suspension for the former and a six-point deduction for the latter.
The storm caused by Apito Dourado appeared to have blown over until last week, when the phone taps from the criminal case were posted on YouTube. There was nothing really new to be learned from the publication; the transcripts of the conversations had been leaked almost from the very beginning of the criminal proceedings. What was enlightening, however, apart from the sordidness of it all, was the general tone of arrogance among the protagonists. If they knew they were being tapped, there was little effort made to conceal what they were up to, apart from various code words (for example 'Number One' to refer to PdaC, 'fruit' to refer to prostitutes), and the use of indirect language. But the very use of code suggests an attempt to conceal wrongdoing.
Pinto da Costa has made a criminal complaint about the publication. No one knows who posted the recordings, but there is a suspicion that a benfiquista hand is at work somewhere along the line; Benfica have their best chance in years to win the title, and anything that can unsettle their arch rivals will be seen by them as a bonus.
The main taps, in chronological order:
Boavista 0-1 FC Porto (27/10/2003)
28/11/2003
After the game, PdaC arranges a story with journalist Tavares Teles, whereby Deco would refuse to play for the National Team at Euro 2004 if he was suspended for throwing a boot at referee Paulo Paraty.
28/11/2003
PdaC phones Deco to tell him about the arranged story, and tells him to say "No comment. I'll speak when the time's right," if anyone asks him about it.
29/11/03
Porto director Antero Henrique phones PdaC to congratulate him: "I'll tell you something … I knew you were a genius, but this time … fuck me … I think it's a fantastic bit of blackmail … spectacular!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2dX61WvLDE
FC Porto 2-0 Estrela da Amadora (24/01/2004)
24/01/04
Just hours before the game, António Araújo, a players' agent close to PdaC, phones him to ask whether some "fruit" can be delivered to the match officials. PdaC says there's no need: "It's already been sent" (?).
Araújo says no, "fruit for sleeping" (prostitutes). PdaC asks if it was JP (referee Jacinto Paixão) who asked for it. Araújo says yes. PdaC says: "Tell him yes, of course". Araújo says: "I asked him if he wanted
coffee with milk, very dark or light" …
24/01/04
PdaC phones Araújo. He's in the Antas Stadium and is anxious that Araújo, late, will not be able to speak to Jacinto Paixão. "I've said all I have to say to him", responds Araújo. "I don't know if you've said
everything," remarks PdaC, cryptically.
24/01/04
Araújo phones Porto director Fernando Gomes to ask for three match tickets for "three goddesses". Gomes says that Araújo will have to pay for the tickets, but that as it's "for that deal we spoke about", he can claim
them back as expenses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG_WW6RF2Uo
Sporting 1-1 FC Porto (01/02/2004)
02/02/2004
Pinto da Costa calls the then President of the Liga Valentim Loureiro to ask him to bring disciplinary action against Sporting striker Liedson for elbowing Porto's Jorge Costa in a Sporting v FC Porto game (1-1). "OK, I'll look into it." He then boasts at how, before the game, he blanked Sporting director and future club president José Eduardo Bettencourt. Finally, he claims that the story of Mourinho ripping the shirt of Sporting's Rui Jorge after the game was invented by Bettencourt to get his own back. Sporting's kit-man (the famous Paulinho, referred to three times by PdaC as "that retard") had reportedly taken the shirt to the Porto changing room to swap it with Vítor Baia's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8BCAUspp0
Beira-Mar 0-0 FC Porto (18/04/2004)
16/04/04
António Araújo phones referee Augusto Duarte to arrange to have dinner with PdaC, whom he calls "O Senhor Engenheiro Máximo", "The Number One" and "The Bank Manager". Duarte says he can't make it
because he has a refereeing class and has to take his wife to see a game (Braga v Benfica), but they decide on lunch.
16/04/04
António Araújo phones PdaC. There has been a change of plans, and Duarte can now make it that very night.
16/04/04
António Araújo phones Augusto Duarte to confirm the location of the meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgwoQoNmT6U
Beira-Mar 0-0 FC Porto (18/04/2004)
16/04/04
António Araújo drives Augusto Duarte to meet PdaC, but has to call the Porto president to get exact directions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5EMtn0EAYc
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