Sport Lisboa e Benfica » Team News

Been a While…But Im Back!!!!

Carlos — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:39:37 +0000

So what sort of results has Benfica put forth this new year???
Well here is a good recap…….(More recent first)
GP W D L P
1 FC Porto 20 12 6 2 42
2 Benfica 20 11 7 2 40
3 Sporting Lisbon 20 11 5 4 38
4 CD Nacional de Madeira 20 10 5 5 35
5 Leixoes 20 9 8 3 35
5 Braga 20 10 5 5 35

February 27, 2009
SLBenfica 2 – 1 Leixoes
Elvis (own goal 16′) Rodrigo 74′
Nuno Gomes 67′
Benfica got off to a good start from Reyes cross into the area intended for Cardozo but to make matters easier the defender, Elvis, tapped it into his own net. I thank you for that. Benfica continued to play well for the most part with Ruben Amorim coming off afetr getting hurt for Carlos Martins. After half-time, Reyes and Di Maria both came off, 60′ for Nuno Gomes and 72′ for Balboa respectively, and in the 67′ Nuno Gomes headed in a cross from Cardozo. Benfica had the game but were down to 10 men after Carlos Martins pulled a muscle and since there were no subs left to use Benfica had to play the rest of the game with 10. Even with one men down Benfica fought threw and won the game 2-1 after Rodrigo scored for Leixoes in the 74′.

February 21, 2009 DERBY
SLBenfica 2 – 3 Sporting
Reyes 36′(penalty) Liedson 10′, 81′
Cardozo 89′ Derlei 47′
Lisbon Derby filled with many goals. Great game to watch but bad result for Benfica fans. Quick paced match with Liedson converting in the 10′ from a mistake of David Luiz(his worst performance of the season). Benfica then got a penalty after Polga fouled Suazo so Reyes scored from the spot. 1-1. Sporting appealed for a penalty after a shot from Ismailov hit Maxi P’s arm but ref saw none of it..bad decision. Half-time Score 1-1. Benfica started slow and Derlei capitalized. 2-1. Benfica had no control of the second half and this resulted in another goal from Liedson later on making it 3-1. Oscar Cardozo added a goal from his head at the end but it was too late and Sporting partied all night with the precious win. A horrible performance by Benficas defense…

February 15, 2009
SLBenfica 3 – 2 Pacos de Ferreira
Cardozo 69′ Ferreira 76′
Ruben Amorim 73′ Chico Silva 90′
Di Maria 83′
This game aside from all the goals in the second half was highlighted with Di Maria’s GOLASO!!!!!!!The ball bounced perfectly in front of him from about 35 yards out and he lasered it past the Pacos keeper making it 3-1. Pacos added one at the end and scared Benfica because they hit the post in the last second of the game.

February 8, 2009
SLBenfica 1 – 1 FC Porto
Yebda 45′ Lucho Gonzalez 72′(penalty)
What a controversial match that unfavoured Benfica. Game started off very well with equal possesion in the first half. Just at the end of the 1st half Yebda popped a goal in with his head from a corner from Aimar. Benfica dominated most of the game but in the second half Porto came out strong and in the 70′ minute a controversial penalty led to Porto tieing up the game. Lisandro was deemed to be fouled in the area by Yebda and Lucho converted. But on the replay Yebda did not even touch Lisandro…he fell by himself!!!The game ended 1-1 and BENFICA WAS ROBBED!!!!!BIG-TIME!!!!

February 4, 2009 SEMI-FINALS CARLSBERG CUP
SLBenfica 2 – 1 V. Guimaraes
Gregory (own goal 70′) Desmarets 90′
Aimar 88′
Benfica is through to the final of the Carlsberg Cup with a 2-1 win over Guimaraes. Aimar got his first goal for Benfica and what a nice goal it was! They will now face Sporting Lisbon in the final on March 21. Book that game in your soccer calendars!!!!!

January 31, 2009
SLBenfica 1 – 0 Rio Ave
Mantorras 70′
MAANNNNNTTTOOORRRAASSSS!!!!!!! Thats all there is to say. What a player he is to our club…Could have been the new Eusebio if it wasn’t for his knee injuries.

January 23, 2009
SLBenfica 0 – 0 Belenenses
Good result for Benfica achieving a point away from home. Bad pitch conditions made the game lack excitement. Miguel Vitor was shown a red card in the 83rd after fouling Joao Pedro.

January 11, 2009
SLBenfica 1 – 0 SC Braga
David Luiz 45′
Benfica benefited with the refs help in this one as David Luizs goal was actually in an offside position. But after all the ref did not see so Benfica won this hard fought game 1-0. Braga is going to be a surprising team in the late run for pole position. Watch them in their Uefa Cup match agaisnt PSG after they beat Standard Liege 4-1 on agg.

January 4, 2009
SLBenfica 0 – 2 Trofense
Reguila 44′
Helder Barbosa 82′
Disappointing start to the New Year with a loss to last place team Trofense. Benfica played a horrible game and Binya was sent off early in the second half due to his dumb choic eof tackling players without getting the ball. Aside from this result, Benfica will win the league this year and for many others!!!!

Happy New Year 2009

Carlos — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:23:14 +0000

Well the new year is here and so a new year to start new. To all Benfica fans out there and all soccer fans, the Benfica blog wishes you a happy and prosperous new year filled with peace. And hopefully this year brings Benfica back to the top as Champions of Portugal!!!

Transfer Rumours: Benfica

Carlos — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 22:51:17 +0000

With the transfer market opening up in a couple of days, teams are looking to fill in those empty spots on their rosters to create a full and strong squad. Benfica is said to not be making many moves or any big moves during this winter transfer door but rumours do float around:

Here are the Numbers:
50 – Theres a 50/50 chance that Di Maria might make a move to Real Madrid either now or in the summer. Benfica is wanting 30 million for him and right now Real Madrid has put in an offer of 21 million.

Prediction: Unlikely that Benfica will accept an offer lower than 25 million.

2 – Number of fullbacks Benfica has in its roster. A big problem!!! Maxi Pereira and Jorge Ribeiro are the only ones their as Leo seems to be moving back to Brazil. David Luiz has adapted to the left back position and has played very well but Benfica still needs a vital fullback on the team.

Prediction: The most likely transfer move might be to get a fullback. If not, David Luiz will continue his new role at right back.

5 – Reyes signing a new contract of 4 or maybe 5 years to have a stay at Benfica through 2012 atleast.

Prediction: Very likely as Reyes is in love with the team and will expose him more to try to get back into Spain’s national team.

20 – A new Simao!!! Yes Benfica badly needs another classy winger just like Reyes to fill in on the right side. Di Maria is the man but his injuries have put him behind this season.

Prediction: Di Maria is now back and should now start on the right but there is that possibility of him being transferred so Benfica is alert is finding a new winger for a price above 8 million (but for a VERY GOOD winger NOT like Balboa).

For now this is what is heard of Benfica. Not much action in this tranfer market but we will see in the upcoming days.

Give us your opinion on what will happen and on what Benfica really needs to buy.

Benfica loses final match in Uefa

Carlos — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:41:11 +0000

Lisbon, Portugal – Benfica is now knocked out of the Uefa Cup with today’s 1-0 loss to Metalist. Benfica had no hope of making it through since they would have to beat their opponent by 8 gooals. They played with a sub-eleven squad to showcase players in a European stage and let them gain experience. They all played an overall good game and Cardozo had many chances to score with one shot ringing off the post in the second half. After that shot by Cardozo, Metalist counterattacked and was lucky to score and make the final score 1-0. Benfica finished last place with 1 point; an embarassing run in what was to be an easy top 3 finish for them!!!
Standings:
Group B Pld Pts

Hertha 4 2
Benfica 4 1

Out of Taca de Portugal

Carlos — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:15:52 +0000

Benfica has been eliminated from the Portuguese Cup losing 5-4 in penalties against Leixoes. It was a heartbreak for Benfica fans and another miserable Cup run this year. During regulation time the score was 0-0 and penalties were the only way to solve the affair. Leixoes shot first and scored; Benfica did the same. Leixoes scored again; so did Benfica. And it happened again for the 3rd time and then the 4th time again. Leixoes player, Chumbinho, came to take the 5th penalty and was lucky to squeeze it by Moretto who got a piece of it. It came down to Reyes to tie it up for Benfica but unfortunately the goalie, Beto, denied him. All was over and Leixoes came out as the big winner in penalties 5-4. Recall that Reyes scored agaisnt Maritimo last week on a penalty kick and this time he shot it to the same side making it easier for the keeper to guess which side to dive to. (A bit of brains there would have helped Reyes + Benfica to go into sudden death). Leixoes is now through to the quarter-finals along with FC Porto, Naval, E. Amadora, Valdevez, Nacional, Pacos de Ferreira, and V. Guimaraes.

Benfica Regroups after 6-0 Win

Carlos — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:59:50 +0000

Funchal, Madeira – Maritimo was no much for Benfica on this day. After an early sending off of Maritimos goalkeeper Marcos Benfica stomped all over Maritimo with a 6 goal drubbing. Reyes capitilized from the penalty spot and Suazo put one in before the half. In the second half Benfica bombarded Maritimo with goals in the back of there net. Luisao made it 3-0 in the 66th, Suazo scored once more, and Nuno Gomes who came on as a sub added 2 more goals. With this victory who knows what can happen on Thursdays match agaisnt Metalist. Benfica do need 8 goals to have a chance of advancing and they sure showed that they can put in goals away from home so let us see what happens on Thursday.
Best of Luck to Benfica.

Last-Minute Blunder

Carlos — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:16:42 +0000

Lisbon, Portugal – Last night Benfica closed out the Jornada with a 2-2 tie against Vitoria de Setubal. The game did not start well for Benfica as they went down 1-0 in the first half due to a goal by Laionel. In the second half they came with a bang. Katsouranis scored in the 48th to level things up and ten minutes later Suazo put the Eagles in front 2-1. Everything kept going well for Benfica and it looked like they were going to get those three points to put them in first place but then Setubal striked back. In the final minutes of regulation time Setubal was awarded a corner kick. From that ensuing corner kick, Benfica cleared the ball but only as far as the 18-yard box. From there, Anderson performed a bicycle kick and surprisingly lobbed Quim and the game was tied. It was a blunder by Quim; a big blunder. How can a player score a bicycle kick from outside the damn box!!! All i know is that Quim is having a terrible year as he is letting far too many goals in but the blame can also be put on the rest of the team too.
Well Benfica stayed put in 2nd place and hopes for next round to be different.

All is Lost for Benfica in Uefa Cup

Carlos — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:50:04 +0000

After a embarassing loss last night to Olympiakos 5-1, it looks like Benfica are headed out of the Uefa Cup adding another horrible year in European competitions. Benfica have not won a game yet in there group and due to this they have a single point. What made their chances worse was that Metalist beat Galatasaray 1-0 and now only a mathematical miracle can put them in he top 3 of their group.

Here is the breakdown:
For Benfica to atleast finish 3rd and go through to the next round:
The most ideal conclusion – Hertha Berlin cannot win any one their next 2 games; Galatasaray must beat Metalist; Benfica must hammer Metalist by a good amount of goals in the last round.
The still ok conclusion – Hertha Berlin loses one game and ties one game; Metalist loses; Benfica hammers Metalist
The complicated conclusion – Berlin loses to Galatasaray; Metalist beats Olympiakos; Olympiakos and Hertha tie in last round; Benfica can go through with a win agaisnt Metalist. This would result in a 4-point tie between Berlin, Olympiakos, and Benfica for third place. Here Uefa rules will come into account:
1. Difference in goals scored/allowed
2. Most goals scored
3. Most goals scored away from home
4. Most wins
5. Most wins away from home
6. Coefficient of points accumulated by club and country over last 5 seasons.

Well this is it. Benfica fans should pray for a miracle to happen. We will see what happens in the soon future.
Toodle-loo for now.

Benfica Page Finally Here!!!

Carlos — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:57:34 +0000

Yes we now have a page just for you Benfica fans and might I say haters. Posts will be made on the regular so comments will be wanted. Stay tuned to Benfica at The Offside.
Here is an overview of Benfica’s squad:
Current squad
No. Position Player
1 GK José Moreira
4 DF Luisão (sub-captain)
5 DF Léo
6 MF José Antonio Reyes (on loan from Atlético Madrid)
7 FW Óscar Cardozo
8 MF Kostas Katsouranis
9 FW Mantorras
10 MF Pablo Aimar
11 MF Javier Balboa
12 GK Quim
13 MF Fellipe Bastos
14 MF Maxi Pereira
15 MF Ruben Amorim
16 FW Jonathan Urretavizcaya
17 DF Zoro
18 MF Binya
19 FW Ariza Makukula
20 MF Ángel Di María
21 FW Nuno Gomes (captain)
23 DF David Luiz
24 MF Carlos Martins
25 DF Jorge Ribeiro
26 MF Hassan Yebda
27 DF Sidnei
28 DF Miguel Vítor
30 FW David Suazo (on loan from Internazionale)
31 GK Moretto
49 FW Nélson Oliveira