Amarante plays today in Barcelos for the Portuguese Cup and the spirit is to honor the Portuguese Championship.
It’s another beautiful chapter in the history of the Portuguese Cup, probably the greatest repository of emotions in Portuguese football, a competition that is capable of putting two unlikely teams face to face, just like Gil Vicente and Amarante. The first plays in the top tier of Portuguese football and the other is three steps below, in the Portuguese Championship. Don’t be fooled by appearances, this Amarante is the only unbeatable team among the four divisions and leads Series B, one of the most competitive in Portuguese football.
«Anyone who follows the Portuguese Championship, especially Series B, knows that it is one of the most difficult. There are nine teams from AF Porto, three from Aveiro and one from Braga, which is Vitória B. There are 14 teams and in the end five come down”, tells us Renato Coimbra, coach of Amarante, who does not hide his enthusiasm – very controlled – for playing, for the first time, against a team from the I League.
«It’s motivating. We know that our chances are limited, but they exist in football. It will depend a lot on what Gil Vicente lets us do. There are three divisions that separate us. Let’s do our best and enjoy. It’s a festive feeling,” says the 42-year-old technician.
Renato Coimbra, coach of Amarante (Imagem_ Facebook | Renato Coimbra)
Amarante’s enthusiasm is curbed by obligation, in a transversal spirit from the technical team to the players: to dignify the club (and the city) and maintain the focus on the Portuguese Championship.
«Amarante will not win the Portuguese Cup. Our objective is to qualify for the promotion play off. Since this is a different game, try to make it more of a game. As for motivation, it’s the easiest game I have as a coach, the players really want to play it. They will have a different visibility, we have young players who will take advantage of the opportunity to enhance themselves».
A passion that can be seen
Coach Renato Coimbra survived the change of president at the club, when Ricardo Ribeiro took office in July last year. The secret to success is not changing the squad too much and not changing the coach. The results are visible: Amarante is now the only unbeaten club in the four main championships (from the I League to the Portuguese Championships), after Santa Clara lost to Mafra last weekend. Furthermore, Amarante is the leader of Series B with an eight point advantage over S. João Ver, second placed.
«Passion may not be enough» to beat Gil Vicente, Ricardo Ribeiro tells us, but that doesn’t seem to matter to the Amarante leader, believing that a large part of the country will support Amarante from 7:15 pm in Barcelos.
«The fourth division meets the first. Let’s make the most of this game. We really want to dignify the teams in the Portuguese Championship, I think that many teams from this country will be with Amarante and because of the feeling of amateur football, so we will be many in Barcelos. We are not going there defeated, there is a small percentage, but it is extremely difficult. The reality is completely different, passion is not enough and the weapons are different».
Ricardo Ribeiro knows that this is the «easiest game to manage» because the players don’t need motivation to face a team from the I League and with all the media attached. The president is certain. «We are not in the round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup by luck».
This is the second time that Amarante has been to this stage of the Portuguese Cup. In the 2015/16 season he also achieved the feat of reaching the round of 16.
«The trump card is the tremendous union. This is our star»
Diogo Vila, captain of Amarante, and João Filipe are part of Amarante’s defensive duo whose mission is to stop Gil’s offensive. There is a “dream” in the locker room, but it is pinched by reality.
«Of course we always dream, but we are aware of what lies ahead. Being in the next phase would transcend the dream… The asset is our tremendous union, that’s our star», said the 33-year-old defender who has two appearances abroad. In the 2011/12 season he was with Cypriot side AEK Larnaca and between 2019 and 2021 he was in Luxembourg playing for Etzella.
Diogo Vila, captain of Amarante (Image: Instagram | Diogo Vila)
Ten years younger is João Filipe, central defender, who did all his training at Amarante and had a short stint with Leixões’ under-23s, and remembers that the expression ‘tomb giants’ was invented for a reason.
«Every year there are giant falls… the mentality for us is different when we look at a team at a higher level. We have our weapons, they are very different from theirs. There is always that urge to think about victory, but we have our feet on the ground».
João Filipe, who also works part-time in the real estate sector, confessed to us that his dream was “to play in a ‘big three’ stadium, if they overtake Gil Vicente, who occupies 14th place in the League.
2024-01-10 09:30:00
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