Guimarães on the rise
Friday 7 March 2008
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Alan is among the players that have surprised the Liga this season (©Getty Images)
When Manuel Cajuda was appointed coach of Vitória SC not much more than a year ago, the club from the historic north-western city referred to as the 'cradle of Portugal' were on their uppers in the second division. On Sunday they take on Sporting Clube de Portugal as a serious rival to the Lisbon giants for a UEFA Champions League berth.
Promotion
Cajuda took the Guimarães job in December 2006, with the club having been relegated the previous summer and not looking the most likely candidates for a return to the top flight. But in Cajuda they had an experienced coach who had already brought unlikely success to SC Braga, UD Leiria and CS Marítimo. Although early results were not promising, a run of ten wins and four draws in their last 14 games enabled them to overhaul Rio Ave FC in a thrilling conclusion to the season and earn promotion.
I didn't expect to be in this position right now
Manuel Cajuda
Beyond expectations
That unbeaten run continued in the first six games of this campaign to take them to an all-time high of third place, a position they retain having never fallen below fifth. "Honestly, I didn't expect to be in this position right now," the 56-year-old told uefa.com. "At the beginning of the season, our main goal was to finish somewhere around sixth place. We are managing to do that, but we also have risen to the challenge and we are feeling that pressure a lot right now. But I believe that we will be up to the task."
Keeping calm
Currently holding a one-point advantage over Sporting as well as their Setubal-based namesakes Vitória FC, Guimarães welcome the Leões on Sunday knowing victory would move them a step closer to earning one of Portugal's three UEFA Champions League berths. While Guimarães have been preparing calmly for the weekend showdown, Sporting are fresh from a tough 1-1 UEFA Cup draw at Bolton Wanderers FC on Thursday, and Cajuda thinks that could be to his team's advantage. "I think serenity is one of our main weapons against Sporting," he said. "And we have to be clever against such difficult opponents and I hope that the damage caused by the European match in England could leave a dent on them."
Respect earned
While Cajuda has experienced happy times at Guimarães, captain Flávio Meireles has seen more than a few lows in his five years with the club, something which keeps his feet on the ground. "I respect the fact that Sporting have excellent players like Liedson, [João] Moutinho, [Miguel] Veloso, [Anderson] Polga or Abel, but nothing scares us," said the 31-year-old midfielder. "This game is important but we are not obsessed with second or third place. Vitória have experienced hard times recently and we all have worked with a great deal of sacrifice, humility and unity to gain the respect that this club deserves."
Experience
The experienced Cajuda, whose total of 427 top-flight games is more than any other current Liga coach, agrees Guimarães must guard against getting giddy at the prospect of visiting FC Barcelona so soon after they were losing at the likes of FC Vizela. In 2005/06 they reached the UEFA Cup group stage, only to end the season relegated. "That's the big issue," confesses Cajuda. "People always ask if we want to reach the Champions League or the UEFA Cup, but obstinately we keep our own philosophy unchanged: to think only one match at a time."
Fanbase
Among the fans at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, revamped for UEFA EURO 2004™, will be eight-year-old Gabriel Horta, who on Wednesday became the club's 29,000th member, a figure beaten in Portugal only by the big three of Sporting, SL Benfica and FC Porto, with 17,000 regularly turning up to matches. Horta hails from Cajuda's Algarve home town of Olhao, and the coach stated: "There's there's a unique love for the club. Certainly, Guimarães would be an interesting sociological case-study to find out the reasons why a city with a little more than 50,000 people manages to get so many supporters to the stadium. Vitória are indeed a very special club. I have been coaching for many years and I have never seen anything like this. I feel like I'm previleged to be here."
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