Chapter 7: Hard time in the first team ( part 2)

04/02/2001

Primeira round 20, Sporting Lisbon has to face a team that is not easy to defeat Braga, and luckily get a draw 2-2 at home.

31' minutes, Toñito opens the score for Sporting to take the lead 1-0.

At the beginning of the second half, Braga uses Zé Nuno with Zé Roberto to replace Tiago and Edmilson.

52' minutes, Zé Roberto equalizes the score 1-1 for Braga and continues to push the pressure on Sporting.

60' minutes, Zé Roberto scores his second goal in this game to help Braga lead Sporting 2-1.

70' minutes, coach Fernandes let Quaresma replace right back Quim Berto to put more pressure on Braga's defense.

Quaresma actively moves from right wing to left wing to receive the ball from teammates and try to make a cross for the striker inside the penalty area.

85' minutes, Quaresma cut inside from the right wing to make a trivela shot fly direct in the left top corner and equalize the score 2-2.

Sporting Lisbon has two weeks to prepare for the next round meet Alverca so coach Fernandes gives the team two days to rest.

17/02/2001

Sporting Lisbon meets Alverca as a guest team in Primeira round 21 and has a hard match to go home with a draw 3-3.

35' minutes, Alverca was awarded a corner kick, Ramires makes a high cross for central defender Zé António opens the score with a header and Alverca takes a lead 1-0.

65' minutes, coach Fernandes makes two substitutes Spehar with Quaresma get in to replace two midfielders Tello and Bino.

71' minutes, Quaresma makes a cross for Spehar to equalize the score 1-1.

74' minutes, striker Mantorras continue to help Alverca lead again 2-1.

80' minutes, Quaresma cut inside from left-wing to make a curveball shot fly to the right top corner and equalize the score 2-2.

82' minutes, Alverca uses Milinkovíc to replace midfielder Rui Borges.

86' minutes, Milinkovíc makes a long shot to change the score to 3-2.

90+2' minutes, Quaresma uses speed to take the ball then gets through space between two central defenders and makes a toe poke shot to equalize the score 3-3 for Sporting's third time in this game.

Return to the locker room after the game, coach Fernandes criticized all players on the team because easy let opponents score two goals in the last 20 minutes because of distractions in defense and not teamwork when playing offense.

Coach Fernandes still gives the team one day of rest before put energy into the next round.

24/02/2001

Primeira round 22, Sporting Lisbon meets Gil Vicente at home, but Quaresma sits on the bench and does not have a chance to play, the team gets a victory with scores of 3-1.

In the first half of the game, Sporting Lisbon and Gil Vicente play very cautiously cause no one wants to be the first to concede a goal.

At the beginning of the second half, Sporting

Lisbon begins to play offense but is still very cautious in defense, Gil Vicente plays defense counterattack.

72' minutes, Sporting was awarded a corner kick, João Pinto cross the ball fly into the penalty area for right back César Prates to open the score with a header 1-0.

76' minutes, Midfielder Nuno Assis makes a foul and receives his second yellow card in this game to get out of the field.

80' minutes, Striker Acosta scores a goal to help Sporting lead 2-0 but he receives two yellow cards in 85' and 87' minutes to leave the court.

89' minutes, Carlos André scores a long shot to help Gil Vicente pull back a goal 1-2.

90' minutes, João Pinto takes a free kick and makes the ball fly to the top corner of the goal to change the score to 3-1.

Coach Fernandes is very satisfied with the team's performance so he let all the player has two days to restore their energy.

03/03/2001

Primeira round 23, Sporting Lisbon just has to play against a small team like Salgueiros but coach Fernandes still put Quaresma on the bench and easy to has a big victory with the score 5-2.

In this game, Sporting uses the formation 5-4-1 while their opponent plays 4-1-3-2 with many defensive players.

In just 4' minutes, midfielder Edmilson easily receives a cross from Spehar to open the score for Sporting 1-0.

16' minutes, forward Basílio Almeida easy breakthrough central defender Hugo to equalize the score for Salgueiros 1-1.

19' minutes, Sporting has a right corner kick, João Pinto passes the ball for Hugo scores a header, and helps Sporting take a lead again 2-1.

39' minutes, central defender Pedrosa scores a header when participating in the offense and helps Salgueiros equalize the score again 2-2.

41' minutes, Edmilson scores his second goal in this game to help Sporting lead 3-2 before the first half ended.

58' minutes, Edmilson has his hat trick in this game and changes the score to 4-2.

79' minutes, forward Spehar scores a goal to end Salgueiros's fighting spirit and change the score to 5-2.

Quaresma was very happy when seeing the team win but he was still frustrated because coach Fernandes doesn't want to use him much so Quaresma's time appearance on the field was not many.