Aveiro sweet on simple football

UEFA Regions' Cup finals contenders Aveiro AMA hail from Portugal's Atlantic coast, a region famous for traditional sweets dominated by Aveiro itself, an industrial city with an important port. SC Beira-Mar are the biggest professional side in the area, with their Estádio Municipal de Aveiro hosting three games at UEFA EURO 2004™.

Key players
Winners of the Torneio Eusébio, Portugal's national amateur competition, Aveiro qualified for the 2007 UEFA Regions' Cup finals in Bulgaria with wins against sides from Estonia, Sweden and the Netherlands in qualifying Group 2. Júlio Pinho and José Bastos were key figures for the Portuguese scoring two goals apiece.

'Winning spirit'
Having overcome hosts District West AMA 2-1 in their opening game before beating Swedish side Kristinehamn AMA 2-0, Aveiro completed a perfect run with a 3-1 victory against East Estonia AMA. "We come into this competition with a winning spirit," said coach José Sá.

Simple approach
Drawn alongside Ticino AMA, Ivan Odessa AMA and Dolnoslaski AMA in Group B at the finals, Aveiro will be looking to be in contention for the final in Sliven on 26 June, and Sá is hoping that a simple footballing philosophy will reap dividends in Bulgaria. "The most important thing is to participate and play well," he said. "Football is a simple sport - why complicate it?"