Football is a passion
BENFICA ranks as one of the great European soccer clubs, but less than 12 months ago the club was struggling among the paupers, financially strapped with debts approaching US$30 million.
In an attempt to dig its way out of trouble, it was forced to sell some of its best players - including star striker Paulo Futre to Marseille, just six months after signing him from Atletico Madrid, and Paulo Sousa and Antonio Pacheco to arch rivals Sporting Lisbon, after failing to pay their salaries on time.
It was an unbelievable situation for a club that had won 29 domestic league titles, 24 cup titles, and European Champions' Cup victories in 1961 and 1962.
But, when he took over in April 1992, Benfica's president Jorge Brito - a former banker and art collector - promised ''a team for Europe'' and even after the sale of Futre, Sousa and Pacheco he was still optimistic.
''I can guarantee that Benfica will field an 11-man team and will fight for the league championship,'' he said.
His optimism was justified. With two games in hand, Benfica clinched the Portuguese title with a 3-0 away win at Gil Vicente. The win gave Benfica a four-point lead over former England manager Bobby Robson's FC Porto, last year's winners.
The two leading sides had two games to play but Benfica was guaranteed the title, having come out on top in both league encounters between the sides.
After all the pre-season problems, Benfica had bounced back to claim a 30th national league title.
In European competition, a late headed goal by Argentine midfielder Roberto Sensini was all that stood between Benfica and a place in the final of the Cup Winners' Cup.
The goal gave Italian side Parma a 1-0 win over a 10-man Benfica outfit, and deprived the Portuguese of a showdown with Arsenal of England in the final. The aggregate score for the semi-final was tied at 2-2. Parma qualified by virtue of having scored more goals away from home.
FC Porto, champions for the past two seasons, eventually finished two points behind Benfica in the league and reached the semi-final of the European Champions' Cup, where it met Barcelona.
The national team missed out on a trip to the World Cup finals in the United States later this month, going down in its qualifying group to Italy and Switzerland, but many Portuguese fans - particularly those of Vitoria Setubal - will be hoping to see the top scorer from the Portuguese league tormenting defences in the US.
Rashidi Yekini of Vitoria Setubal scored 21 goals in the league and will be spearheading the Nigerian attack in the finals.
Meanwhile, at the end of March at the Hong Kong Stadium, Portugal's rugby players faced a daunting task in their debut at the Hong Kong Sevens. Drawn to play Fiji and South Korea on the Saturday, the Portuguese went down 56-7 and 26-10.
A later 24-17 victory over Thailand set up a Bowl semi-final match with Romania that Portugal won 10-7, booking a final berth against Hong Kong.
Hong Kong won 24-12, but the atmosphere in the stadium and the rousing applause from the terraces made Portugal's debut a memorable occasion.
