Portuguese Football in English
Ask anyone in football how respected Portugal is as a soccer nation, and the answers will be glowing. A nation of around 10 million people, Portugal could be arguably the best pound-for-pound football nation in the world.
The gluttony of coaches and players that have come out of that country in the last three decades has been incredible to watch over the years. It is therefore somewhat surprising that one club that has often had little to do with Portuguese football has been Liverpool FC.
Rafael Leão is having the most productive season of his career so far, with a personal best goalscoring tally already achieved as AC Milan close in on a possible Italian Serie A title.
However, just as Leão appears to be ascending towards superstar status, the issue of his significant debt to Sporting threatens to influence his future with the Rossoneri despite the desires of both parties to keep him at San Siro.
Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea
Cristiano Ronaldo once again came to Manchester United’s aid at Old Trafford with a superbly-taken equaliser to give the Red Devils a scarcely-deserved draw against Chelsea in the Premier League.
Ronaldo struck just moments after Chelsea had taken a second-half lead through Marcos Alonso, and after the match United interim manager Ralf Rangnick praised the complete performance of the Portugal captain.
Rui Mendes is a name which has featured regularly in our Portuguese Abroad goals round-ups this season, but it would be fair to suggest that few are familiar with the forward in the nation of his birth, let alone on the wider football landscape.
Earlier this month, Dutch side Emmen secured promotion from the second tier back to the Eredivisie. Mendes – his team’s leading goalscorer – has been pivotal in the Drenthe outfit pulling away at the top of the Eerste Divisie, marking a dream season for the Germain-raised forward who only arrived last summer after a successful trial period.
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to action for Manchester United this weekend, and the Portugal captain drew widespread praise for his performance on an emotional afternoon at the Emirates against Arsenal. It was a match dominated by Portuguese involvement, including a first Arsenal goal for Nuno Tavares and a costly penalty miss by Bruno Fernandes.
Ronaldo was not the only 37-year-old Luso forward in the goals this weekend, with Flávio Paixão making history in Poland by becoming the first-ever foreign player to score 100 goals in the Ekstraklasa. On-loan Benfica winger Jota also found the net this weekend, as Celtic moved closer to winning the Scottish Premiership.
