4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Gabri Veiga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Marked 8.71 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
1‑0 against Benfica, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A 2‑1 win over Banik Ostrava, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Derby days make names, and Gabri Veiga made his against Sporting CP. 4‑0, bragging rights secured, and one half of town will be tired of hearing about him by Tuesday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Porto support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.
Gabri Veiga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Léo Gomes arrives at Porto with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
The offer from Arouca for Julián Pérez was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Gabri Veiga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A 1‑0 win over Estoril Praia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gabri Veiga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Add another name to the list: Manchester City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samu Aghehowa. The answer from Porto has not changed — yet.
Gabri Veiga was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Porto, and both men came out saying it was fine.
270 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Porto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Dominik Prpić again, and this time the name on the line is Chaves. Porto are listening politely and promising nothing.