1998-99 | S.L. Benfica - Glorious (O Glorioso)

The Diary | July 1998
July 3rd | Friendly: Benfica 2-0 Belenenses (N)
1-0 Dean Saunders – 19’
2-0 João Vieira Pinto – 66’
A dominating game with a lot of shots and corners against an historic Portuguese club that will play in the 2nd Division.

July 9th | Transfer – Out
Serhiy Kandaurov (CM – 25) [Ukraine] was sold to Bologna for 1.5 million euros (+ a 200k clause). We have a lot of midfielders now, so, that transfer makes sense.

July 10th | Friendly: Sporting Braga 2-1 Benfica (N)
1-0 António Formoso – 20’
1-1 Nuno Gomes – 32’ (pen.)
2-1 António Formoso – 36’
A game we definitely deserved to lose, as we couldn’t translate more possession is goal chances. João Vieira Pinto got injured, but he won’t miss any games.

July 16th | Friendly: Panathinaikos 3-2 Benfica (A)
1-0 Krzysztof Warzycha – 6’
2-0 Nykos Lyberopoulos – 27’
2-1 Karel Poborský – 40’
3-1 Frank Strandli – 70’
3-2 Nuno Gomes – 82’
We changed from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 for our trip to Greece… and it didn’t work. We were the better team according to statistics, but the only statistic that matters is “goals scored”.

July 18th | UEFA Champions League Draw
Benfica was drawn to face either AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) or Fenerbahçe (Turkey) in the 3rd Qualifying Stage of UEFA Champions League. Turns out it will be Fenerbahçe, who won 5-1 on aggregate. The first leg will be played in our Estádio da Luz on August 2nd.

July 23rd | Friendly: Benfica 0-4 Liverpool (H)
0-1 Steve McManaman – 7’
0-2 Peter Hoekstra – 34’
0-3 David Thompson – 81’
0-4 Steve McManaman – 88’
A beyond terrible game. We were back with the 4-2-3-1 and we created no dangerous chances whatsoever. The 3rd and 4th goals were suffered while we were desperately trying to reach the Reds’ defensive third.

July 28th | Transfers – In
Ramón Menezes (RM/CM/LM – 26) [Brazil] and Vitor Paneira (RM/RW – 32) [Portugal] were signed from Vasco da Gama and Vitória de Guimarães respectively. The two are our most expensive signings this season (2.3 million and 3.5 million euros, also respectively). They will probably be starters, as we’re trying to sell Poborský for a good amount.
Admitedly, Menezes’ transfer only happened because we failed to sign Portugal’s golden boy Dani (CM/LM – 22) from Ajax. He went to Atletico de Madrid for 3.5 million euros.

July 28th | Friendly: Benfica 5-1 Standard Liège (H)
1-0 Tomasz Iwan – 3’
2-0 João Vieira Pinto – 14’
3-0 João Vieira Pinto – 40’
4-0 João Vieira Pinto – 42’
5-0 Mark Pembridge – 61’
5-1 Emile Mpenza – 63’
Fantastic! Iwan and JVP ran riot in this game, with Iwan’s goal being a Maradona-esque one. Offensively, we were immaculate. We conceded 11 shots, though, but most of them weren’t dangerous. We debuted an asymmetrical 4-2-3-1, thinking of Menezes and Paneira.

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1998-99 | Updated roster
Players marked with “*” means they were signed this season after I took control.

Goalkeepers:
- Michel Preud’Homme (GK – 39) [Belgium]
- Sergei Ovchinnikov (GK – 27) [Russia]

Defenders:
- José Carlos Sousa (RB – 20)
- Michael Reiziger (RB/CB – 25) [Netherlands] – on loan from Barcelona*
- Paulo Madeira (CB - 27)
- Ronaldo Guiaro (CB - 24) [Brazil]
- Bruno Basto (LB - 20)
- Sylvinho (LB – 24) [Brazil]*

Midfielders:
- Luís Andrade (RB/DM/CM – 24)
- Tahar El Khalej (CD/DM - 29) [Morocco]
- Thorsten Fink (DM/CM/LM - 30) [Germany]*
- José Calado (CM – 24)
- Hugo Leal (CM – 18)
- Michael Thomas (CM – 30) [England]
- Karel Poborský (RM/RW – 26) [Czech Republic]
- Tomasz Iwan (RW – 27) [Poland]*
- Vitor Paneira (RM/RW – 32)*
- Hugo Porfírio (LM/LW – 24)
- Luís Carlos (CM/LM/AM/LW – 25)
- Mark Pembridge (CM/LM/AM/LW – 27) [Wales]
- Ramón Menezes (RM/CM/LM – 26) [Brazil]*
- João Vieira Pinto (AM/ST – 26)

Strikers:
- Dean Saunders (ST – 33) [Wales]
- Martin Pringle (ST – 27) [Sweden]
- Nuno Gomes (ST – 21)

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1998-99 | Primary 11
Heading out to the first official games of the new season, this will be our primary line-up for the year, probably. Both wingers, Menezes and Paneira, will have roles that are more interior, with Menezes being told to appear a lot in finishing positions. So, when we are attacking, we’ll have three players in scoring positions: Gomes, JVP and Menezes.
In the defense, Fink is supposed to close in the middle of the defense when we don’t have the ball, meaning we’ll essentially have three Centre Backs.

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August schedule:
- August 2nd 1998: vs. Fenerbahçe (H) – UEFA Champions League: 3rd Qualifying Stage 1/2
- August 5th 1998: vs. Beira-Mar (H) – Primeira Liga: 1/34
- August 9th 1998: vs. Fenerbahçe (A) – UEFA Champions League: 3rd Qualifying Stage 2/2
- August 14th 1998: vs. Académica (A) – Primeira Liga: 2/34
- August 21th 1998: vs. União Leiria (H) – Primeira Liga: 3/34
- August 27th 1998: vs. Desp. Chaves (A) – Primeira Liga: 4/34

(If we advance on the UEFA Champions League 3rd Qualifying Stage, we will also have the Play-Off in August 1998.)