After Otto Glória and José Maria Pedroto
• Photo: David Cabral Santos
This Sunday, Sérgio Conceição became the third coach to win the Portuguese Football Cup final on four occasions, after Otto Glória and José Maria Pedroto, with triumphs in 2019/20, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 by FC Porto.
At the National Stadium, in Oeiras, the ‘dragons’ turned around the recent national champion Sporting (2-1, after extra time) in the decisive duel of the 84th edition of the competition and won the trophy for the 20th time, and fourth in the last five seasons, all under the responsibility of the former Portuguese international striker, who prevailed for the third consecutive year.
With his fourth victory in six appearances in the final, Sérgio Conceição, 49 years old, reached record holders Otto Glória and José Maria Pedroto among the most successful coaches in the Portuguese Cup, becoming the most awarded by a single Portuguese club , with 11 trophies, surpassing Jorge Jesus, who totaled 10 ahead of Benfica, from 2009 to 2015.
Brazilian Otto Glória was the first to reach four triumphs in the second most important competition in national football, having won three in charge of Benfica (1954/55, 1956/57 and 1968/69), which is the current record holder for successes, with 26, and one for Belenenses, in 1959/60.
José Maria Pedroto repeated this feat between FC Porto (1967/68 and 1976/77) and Boavista (1974/75 and 1975/76), with the particularity of having also participated in the start of the ‘dragons’ victorious journey in 1983/84 , a time in which he would be replaced on the bench by then assistant António Morais, due to a prolonged illness, which killed him, in 1985.
Unlike the two former national selectors, Sérgio Conceição won four Portuguese Cup finals with a single club, three of which were in a row – a mark that had only been achieved to date by the now deceased ‘Zé do Boné’, a figure in the revitalization of ‘azul and white’.
The success against Sporting allowed FC Porto to extend the current absolute record of 21 consecutive victories in the competition and avoid an unprecedented ‘blank’ season for the record holder of games (379), victories (274) and trophies (11) in command of the dragons. , who has been guiding since 2017/18.
Three national champion titles, four Portuguese Cups, three Cândido de Oliveira Super Cups and a League Cup are among Sérgio Conceição’s records, who also sealed two ‘doubles’ (2019/20 and 2021/22) and a ‘triplet’ ( 2022) as coach of the ‘dragons’.
In the Portuguese Cup finals, they combined successes against Benfica (2-1, in 2019/20), Tondela (3-1, in 2021/22), Sporting de Braga (2-0, in 2022/23) and Sporting , against whom they had lost on penalties (4-5, after 2-2 at the end of extra time, in 2018/19).
The tiebreaker at the 11 meter mark had already frustrated the Coimbra-born coach’s debut in the competition’s decisions, in 2014/15, when Sporting de Braga faltered against the ‘green and whites’ (1-3), after having wasted a advantage of two goals to align with numerical superiority, allowing themselves to draw towards the end of regulation time (2-2).
Five of these six games were played at Jamor, the usual venue for the Portuguese Cup finals, unlike in 2019/20, in the first of two matches held in Coimbra and without an audience in the stands, due to restrictions dictated by the Covid-19 pandemic. .
The former coach of Olhanense, Académica, Sporting de Braga, Vitória de Guimarães and French side Nantes won all the titles of his career on the benches for FC Porto, the club where he graduated as a footballer and accumulated two spells with the main team (1996- 1998 and 2004), achieving three championships (1996/97, 1997/98 and 2003/04) – two during the unprecedented penta -, a Portuguese Cup (1997/98) and a Super Cup (1996).
On the eve of clarifying his future with the new Porto president, André Villas-Boas, Sérgio Conceição dedicated the victory of the Portuguese Cup to Pinto da Costa, who leaves SAD on Tuesday, after having completed a ‘reign’ of 42 years and 15 terms at the club.
The coach with the greatest longevity in this presidential ‘era’ is linked for another four years, until 2028, having extended his contract for the last time on April 25, two days after Pinto da Costa’s historic defeat in FC Porto’s most disputed elections ever. .
By Lusa
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2024-05-26 22:31:41
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