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SPORTS NEWS
SPORTS NEWS Brought to you by Chris Wright
PORTIMONENSE REPRIEVE
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V.Setúbal were celebrating avoiding relegation on the final day of the season with a 2-0 home win over Belenenses whilst Portimonense were in the doldrums having dropped into the Segunda Liga alongside CD Aves. Joy turned to despair for V.Setúbal as the Liga’s Supervisory Board turfed them out of the professional league set-up for failing to present the necessary registration documents, both financially and legally, ahead of the coming season. CD Aves and V.Setúbal will now compete in the third tier of Portuguese football which means that SC Portimonense will retain their place in the Primeira Liga. The league has agreed to have a two-leg end-of-season play-off between the thirdfrom-bottom club in the Primeira Liga and the third team in the Segunda Liga. In addition five substitutes, as used in the post pandemic league era, will become the norm thus giving the wealthier clubs with larger squads another helping hand.
PORTUGAL TAKE ON SPAIN & ANDORRA
In addition to their League of Nations games, Portugal have arranged to play Spain (7th October) and Andorra (11th November) in Lisbon. League of Nations ties: Croatia at Estádio do Dragão in Porto on the 5th September and three days later against Sweden in Solna, Stockholm. Matches against Spain are always eagerly anticipated with the Iberian rivalry being one of the oldest at a national level. It began on 18th December 1921, when Portugal lost 3–1 to Spain in Madrid in their first ever international and it was not until 1926 that Portugal managed a draw (2-2). Portugal’s first win came much later (4–1) in 1947. The two countries have met thirty-six times (of which nine matches were competitive) resulting in eighteen victories for Spain, twelve draws and six victories for Portugal.
FARENSE PREPARE FOR TOP FLIGHT FOOTBALL
It is nearly twenty years since Farense last graced the Primeira Liga and following their relegation in 2002 the club went through calamitous times. Within five years the club had reached rock bottom, dropping to the sixth tier and local regional football. Last season under manager Sérgio Vieira they were in a promotion position when all football came to a halt. Latest additions to their squad include 23 year-old winger Brian Mansilla on loan from Racing Club (Argentina) and Rafael Defendi, an experienced 36-yearold Brazilian goalkeeper who joins from Famalicão. Former Dundee United and Scottish youth international Ryan Gauld scored the only goal of the game as Farense beat Covilhã 1-o in a pre-season friendly at the Algarve Stadium.
NO SPECTATORS AT PORTUGAL MASTERS
In line with the European Tour’s comprehensive Covid-19 Health Strategy and following the practice of playing behind closed doors since the re-start of the 2020 Race to Dubai, the Tour has confirmed that no general spectators will be permitted at the Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, on the 10th to 13th September or the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos 17th to 20th September.
GRAND PRIX SET TO TAKE OFF
The Algarve International Circuit is to be resurfaced ahead of October’s Formula 1 Portuguese Grand Prix. Autodromo Internacional do Algarve was used for F1 testing in the winter of 2008-09, and the teams have not returned since. Pirelli F1 boss Mario Isola says the Algarve track would be tough on tyres even without the new surface generating extra grip. “Portimão is the highest severity circuit of the
new ones,” said Isola when asked by Autosport. “The target is to have an asphalt that is similar to the one we have now, but we know a new asphalt is always different from an old one. For example the level of bitumen that you have on top of new asphalt is a lot more than on old asphalt. The new tarmac we’ll have a much higher level of grip, and much lower wear. That means we have a lot of heat in the tread, and that is something that the teams will have to manage during the weekend”. Tickets (limited availability because of the pandemic) starting at ¤225 for the final F1 day - 25th October - are selling fast. On the two days prior to the main event, the Sports Prototype Cup Revolution Trophy will make its international debut. the new 440 hp/tonne high-downforce Revolution A-One prototype which was created by a team with over twenty years of experience manufacturing customer prototype race cars. Its carbon fibre chassis complies with the latest FIA safety regulations and the advanced aerodynamics are designed to reward professional and amateur drivers alike. Paulo Pinheiro, CEO, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve: “We first noticed the Revolution A-One when the stunning prototype undertook its development and durability tests at the circuit last year. Since then, many drivers and journalists have sampled the car on our demanding circuit and I’m confident that a full grid of these prototypes will provide a stunning spectacle for our F1 fans.”
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNERS FAVOUR THE ALGARVE
Bayern Munich lifted the Champions League Trophy at the Estadio da Luz, home of Benfica, following their narrow victory over Paris Saint-Germain. Cascade Wellness Resort, Lagos had been the home of the new Champions for the final stages of the UEFA Champions League with the quarter-finals alone producing twenty goals with ten of them coming in the 8-2 humiliation of Barcelona by Bayern Munich. Former Liverpool hero Philippe Coutinho scored twice in the last five minutes as Bayern Munich completed a miserable night for the five times winners of Europe’s top club competition. In the semi-finals it was Germany against France with Paris Saint-Germain overcoming RB Leipzig 3-0 and favourites Bayern Munich defeating Olympique Lyonnais by the same score. Bayern won eleven games during the campaign, a new competition record for consecutive victories, finishing with forty-three goals; eighteen more than any other side in the competition. Kingsley Coman’s goal in the final was their 500th in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final. Coman, a former PSG player, is the first Frenchman to score the winner in a UEFA Champions League final since Zinédine Zidane in 2002. PSG failed to score for the first time in thirty-five UEFA Champions League matches; the last time they drew a blank in a UEFA Champions League game was in April 2016 against Manchester City
Last month Jake Cleaver shared some thoughts on our very warm friend, the Sun. This month he takes on another solar subject, the Moon.
“You have to respect the Moon’s unwillingness to be photographed by a camera phone”, said somebody once on the interweb, and they are quite right. Last month I wrote about the ‘Sun God’, but I felt it wouldn’t be fair not to talk about the other heavenly body in the sky. Now, in true Godly form you can’t even look at the sun directly. Our illuminescent Queen of the Night is much more forgiving. But still, if you want to catch an ethereal being like the Moon you need to at least invest in a proper camera.
Does everybody know where the Moon comes from? I hope not, as I only just found out a while ago. I never really thought about it. She’s just always been there, you know? And she has really. She’s a part of the earth knocked out into space by a passing meteor many, many, many Moons ago. Shortly after earth itself was formed. But here’s a really WILD thing that has to be high on the list of cosmic coincidences. The Moon is far smaller than the sun and closer to the earth, and yet they both appear the exact same size in the sky. It’s only because of this truly serendipitous accident (?) that eclipses can happen.
But what would the world be like without our Groovy Sister Moon? Well, for one thing Transvision Vamp wouldn’t have sung that song. There would be no Dark Side of the Moon (even though
Pink Floyd did make it clear that it’s all dark), Mike Scott wouldn’t have seen the crescent, while you saw The Whole of the Moon, Van Morrison wouldn’t have thought that it was a wonderful night for a Moondance, and Cat Stevens wouldn’t have spent the rest of it leaping and hopping on a Moonshadow. I could go on and on, believe me. The Moon has always inspired us since time immemorial. In literature, poetry, film.. In fact, I’m positive that you have your own favourite lunar inspired masterpiece.
But also, there wouldn’t be 12 months of the year. It takes a year for the earth to go around the sun - and a month for the Moon to dance her way around the world. In fact, Moon and month come from the same root word. I really like how we set up our calendars this way. It certainly helps to give time some credibility.
There would also be no lunatics. Possibly.. certainly no Looney Tunes. The Latin word for the Moon is ‘Luna’ and it’s the root of all lunacy. The Moon has always affected us profoundly, and if you don’t believe me just ask Doctor Jekyll, or even Mr Hyde if you dare approach him howling at the Moon. Now, some of you might be saying, “I don’t believe all that nonsense. It’s just silly astrology stuff. There’s no way some dusty rock that far away is affecting me”. But I put it to you, that you are at least 75 percent water, and if the Moon can pull the mighty and furious seas up and down every 6 hours, do you really think that you won’t feel at least a little tug to remind you to look UP? (Whether you howl or not is, usually, up to you.)
But despite her reputation for leaving us Moonstruck (see there’s even a word for it) she actually keeps us stable. If it wasn’t for the Moon keeping us sturdy in her gravitational pull, we’d be wobbling about all over the place. I’m not going to pretend to understand all of the Moon’s dance moves as she shape shifts around us. She comes up and down all over the place and it’s hard to know when exactly she will rise and set. A common misconception is that she’s just a lady of the night. But us here in the Algarve, with our clear deep blue sky, we know better than most - that she’s quite often out in the day time as well. But I will tell you this: Whenever it’s a full Moon and everybody’s watching the sun disappear over the horizon in the West, steal a quick look over your shoulder, quite often the real show is sneaking up quietly behind you.
Now, I know this is a stretch, but I feel like if there wasn’t a Moon there would be no Noite Branca in Loulé. And not just this year, any year. I always feel when we are all celebrating in White on the ground on a hot summer night in August, and I look up above and see the Moon’s white, half crooked smile (or sometimes she’s fully beaming down on us), that, whether we know it or not - that’s who we are really celebrating.
I’d just like to add that I never thought I’d say this. But I’m so pleased that the Noite Branca wasn’t on this year. With all the lunacy in the world right now it would surely have been cancelled. However, seeing as the Noite Branca is a biennial event - it wouldn’t have been on this year anyway. How’s that for a silvery white lining? Cosmic.
Finally, I’d just like to say a big thank you to the team at Simply Algarve for doing what I said in the beginning was nigh on impossible, and convincing the camera shy Moon to say ‘Cheese’. And also, to local artist Fernando Colaço for setting her crooked smile in stone.
