Portuguese Cup semi-finals available for free in full HD live streaming

PortuGOAL have teamed up with oz.com to offer coverage of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals. Watch Estoril vs. Benfica and Vitória Guimarães vs. Chaves for free in full HD live streaming. 

The first legs of the last-four clashes in the Taça de Portugal will be played on 28 February (Estoril-Benfica) and 1 March (Vitória de Guimaraes-Chaves).

Fans of Portuguese football are now able to experience the games outside of Portugal using their favourite device in full HD live streaming. The service is offered via OZ at www.oz.com.

The showpiece Portuguese Cup final traditionally brings the curtain down on the domestic season at the Jamor Stadium on the outskirts of Lisbon, and this year’s last four pits together two teams from the capital and two of the strongest teams from northern Portugal (previews below).

“It’s all about servicing the fans of Portuguese football. The Portuguese people love sports and there is a strong interest to connect with their home team. With the OZ service, this is now a reality for the large Portuguese community living outside of Portugal and other fans of International football,” said Gudjon Gudjonsson CEO of OZ Sports and Entertainment.

Users of the service can create their favourite clips from the live broadcast and share them with friends on Facebook and Twitter.   

OZ is a destination site for live sport games and the home for a range of tournaments and different sports, spanning football, skiing to taekwondo. Signup at OZ is free, but prices can vary for the different sports and seasons. Get more information at www.oz.com.

 

Estoril-Benfica preview

While Benfica have won all their last five matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding just one in the process, Estoril appear to have gone backwards since sacking Brazilian coach Fabiano Soares and replacing him with Spaniard Pedro Gomez Carmona in December. Since then, the team from the Lisbon coast have won only two of 11 games.

That said, league form is often an unreliable indicator of what will happen in cup competitions, and the high-profile semi-final match against Benfica will provide Estoril with some welcome relief from the gruelling weekly battle to avoid relegation.

The Portuguese champions go into the match as big favourites, with Greek striker Kostas Mitroglou achieving the notable achievement of putting star striker Jonas in the shade with an amazing goal-scoring run of 11 goals in his last 9 matches.

On paper it looks like an away banker, but in reality it will probably be a lot closer. Benfica are prioritising retaining their Liga title and making an impression in the Champions League, so coach Rui Vitória could well send out a much-changed team, especially as it is a two-legged semi-final where the Portuguese champions will be confident of finishing the job at the Estádio da Luz.

 

Vitória Guimarães-Chaves

Two of the more impressive sides in this season’s Liga NOS will fight it out for a place at Jamor starting on Wednesday in Guimarães.

Newly promoted Chaves have exceeded all expectations after returning to the top flight for the first time in 17 years and are challenging strongly for a place in the Europa League next season.

Built on a rock-solid defence and rapid transitions through Fábio Martins and Perdigão on either flank, Chaves have a well-defined game plan, which even the loss of coach Jorge Simão and midfielders Rodrigo Battaglia and Rafael Assis, who all moved to Braga mid-season, has not derailed. Chaves have knocked out Porto and Sporting on their way to the semis, which will give them added confidence of reaching the final.

The loss of Brazilian striker Tiquinho Soares to Porto knocked back the Vimaranenses, but after a poor run of two draws and two defeats in their previous four games Vitória got back to winning ways on the weekend, beating Moreirense 1-0 to move up to fourth in the standings, and in Pedro Martins they have one of the best coaches in Portugal.

It all makes for a fascinating and difficult-to-predict clash, which is well worth a watch on oz.com. The streaming is available in UK, Spain, Asia, Scandinavia, Italy and other markets.