Madeira's continental drift

By Rui Matos Pereira

The island of Madeira is a famous tourist destination, often known as the Pearl in the Atlantic, but with local teams CS Marítimo and CD Nacional both playing in the UEFA Cup this season, it has also gained a reputation as a hub of footballing excellence.

Funchal rivals
The two teams, fierce rivals based in the island's capital city, Funchal, had contrasting fortunes in their opening games in the competition a fortnight ago - Marítimo won 1-0 against Rangers FC while Nacional lost 2-0 at Sevilla FC - but the novelty of competing in Europe has yet to wear off for either side.

Island giants
Marítimo are traditionally the island's biggest side, with Nacional and third division CF União lying very much in their shadows. Thus, last season - as Nacional finished fourth, two places above Marítimo - there was cause for some celebration.

Less wealthy
Club president Rui Alves said: "For a team which has felt almost overwhelmed, both in terms of support and the daily rivalry between officials and fans, it gave us some pleasure that, with less financial resources - far less, actually - than the ones available for Marítimo, we managed to finish ahead of them."

Marítimo qualify
What gave the island's 250,000 inhabitants even more pleasure was the fact that Marítimo also managed to scrape into Europe even though theoretically the teams placed third, fourth and fifth in the Portuguese SuperLiga and the Portuguese Cup winners earn a UEFA Cup place.

Lucky break
However, with the two Portuguese Cup finalists, FC Porto and SL Benfica, both qualifying for the UEFA Champions League, Marítimo managed to steal their way into the competition, ensuring that - for the first time - two Madeiran sides were competing in Europe together.

Passionate derby
A 2-0 derby win against Nacional towards the end of the season helped Marítimo secure their place in the tournament, and served as a reminder to Nacional's Brazilian striker Adriano that the Madeira derby can be as passionate as any game he played back in Rio de Janeiro.

Goalscoring record
"A derby is a derby and always gives you goosebumps," said Adriano, who ended the season as Portugal's second-highest scorer behind Porto's Benni McCarthy. "Every player likes to take part in them, even those who unfortunately have to stay in the stands."

New criteria
However, now that they are both in Europe, the two teams have a new way to measure themselves up against each other. And while the outlook of both clubs may be increasingly continental, when it comes down to it, the really important thing - for Nacional in particular - is getting one over on their neighbours.

Value for money
"I have to stress that Nacional have less financial resources than Marítimo," said Rui Alves. "Nacional get about €1m less than Marítimo in income so that should give them the edge when we play in the same league. Luckily for us, that does not happen as we think we work far better as a team than they do." The proof of that theory should come with the conclusion of the second legs next week.