IMORTAL FOOTBALL CLUB ALBUFEIRA

IMORTAL 0 - 1 MONCARAPACHENSE

Despite a much improved showing, Imortal still remain winless and at the bottom of the table. They had better scoring chances than Moncarapachense and ruled the second half, but failed to make the best of things. The single goal that settled the game was scored after just four minutes.  Sub Kaiao Xavier had Imortal's best opportunity towards the end, but a great save from visiting ´keeper Bissoloti denied him.

Head coach Moreira made three changes from last week's team. Cortez returned to midfield after suspension, Ricardo Ramos was given his first start of the season and Fadini replaced Lusino in midfield. Mendes and Nuno Pereira returned to the subs bench.

Half the crowd has not even taken their seats when Moncarapachense took the lead. A fairly easy goal it was too. Their first corner was well delivered to the near post by Marco Costa, who showed his ability at set pieces throughout the game. Diego Conceição headed home powerfully from close range.  Imortal were clearly unsettled by this early setback. A few minutes later, Silva headed just wide from a Costa free kick. Imortal were unable to get out of their own half. It was 16 minutes before Bissoloti even touched the ball. The first half hour it was almost all one way traffic, but towards the end of the half Imortal began to show some resolve. Wing back Diego Prates was finding space, but his control let him down at the last. Daniel Oliveira was also in the picture, once being denied by a marginal offside decision. It remained 0 -1 at half time with Moncarapachense having had nine shots to Imortal's one.

Imortal took a while to get going again after the break. Early on, Cortez lost the ball in midfield, Costa broke clear but his weak effort was easily saved. Pedro Rodrigues returned to action, coming on as sub after 11 minutes to replace Oliveira, Bruno Torres moved forward in a reshuffle. He was promptly clattered and took a while to get to his feet. Imortal were in charge but either the final ball or the finish was not good enough. Mendes had a good shot blocked for a corner as the game became a little fractious, with the yellow card being brandished three times in five minutes. The referee was a bit picky, awarding a total 33 free kicks!


Imortal remain bottom and four points behind. In ten games they have scored nine and conceded seventeen. Scoring is the problem, with the biggest defeats having been by only a two goal margin. No game next week because of the FA Cup. Next match will be at home to Lusitano Évora on 2nd December, ko 1500hrs. They are currently fifth in the league with fifteen points from nine games. In those nine games, just nine goals have been scored, six by them and three by their opponents. Does Imortal's next game have nil-nil written all over it? Somehow I doubt it.

Imortal team : Texeira, Prates, Gonçalves, Torres, Cortez, Ramos, Santos, Oliveira, Duarte, Bernardo, Fadini. Subs used : Rodrigues, Mendes, Xavier.

Match statistics

Free kicks conceded : Imortal 18, Moncarapachense 15
Offside : Imortal 4, Moncarapachense 1
Shots on target : Imortal 3, Moncarapachense 4
Shots off target : Imortal 3, Moncarapachense 3
Shots blocked : Imortal 3, Moncarapachense 0
Corners : Imortal 5 (all in the second half), Moncarapachense 6
Yellow cards : Imortal 5, Moncarapachense 4
Red Cards - none

Imortal Albufeira 0 - 1 Lusitano Évora

For the second week running, Imortal fell to a very early goal by the visiting team. Yesterday it was even quicker. The first minute was just ticking over when Adilson Balde set off on a run from halfway, down the left wing and cutting inside. Defenders were on the back foot, no-one put in a challenge, allowing a shot from the edge of the area which went in off the post. Imortal had pretty much all of the game after that. The Lusitano defence, which has conceded only four goals in eleven league games, closed the door and bolted it firmly. Imortal's problem with scoring, now only nine in eleven games, continued.

The afternoon was sunny and dry. The recent rain has made the pitch a bit soft and slippery in one or two areas, which came to Imortal's rescue late on when a counter attack from Lusitano was foiled by defender mud. The crowd was small and included a dozen or so noisy lot from Évora.

Imortal responded well to that early setback, but without troubling the Lusitano defence, which was to be the theme for the afternoon.  Imortal did not manage a shot on target in the first half, but to be fair the visitor's goal was their only one. Neither goalkeeper had any real work to do. Imortal had a half chance midway through the first period. Tidjane Baldé, who had been putting in some good work down the right wing, was fouled near the corner flag. Torres delivered the free kick, which was half cleared to Fadini, whose effort from 20 metres was blocked. Baldé then went down heavily after one of those tackles where both players get a foot on the ball at the same time. He was slow to rise and maybe that's why he was replaced at half time. Lusitano wasted their two corners, both wildly over hit. Imortal had five corners in the first half, all of which the visitor's defence dealt with easily.

Imortal made some real efforts towards the of the half. Ricardo Ramos slammed a shot against crossbar after more good work by Baldé, assisted by Thomas Mendes down the right.

Imortal made a double sub at half time, Baldé being replaced by Daniel Oliveira and Pereira by Lusinho. The game resumed its pattern. Lusitano were defending in depth, relying on counter attacks, while Imortal battered at the door. It was so much a midfield affair that it was almost half an hour of the second half before either team had anything resembling a shot at goal. Oliveira sent in a long low cross which somehow all three forwards and all three defenders managed to avoid, cue much frustration on the home bench. Bruno Torres had a go from 30 metres out, but an easy gather for the 'keeper. The counter attack, four against two, was stopped by Mr Mud.

Another good run, by Nagha, was stopped superbly by Imortal's goalie Texeira with an excellent tackle well outside the penalty area. Any mistake and he would have been off.

Five minutes were left of the ninety when the visitors made a triple substitution, very slowly of course, to the ire of home fans and players. The play acting began, with two of the Lusitano team going down screaming after challenges that were not penalised.  Much finger pointing from Imortal, the referee didn't book either of them, which he should have done. Despite there having been three yellow cards, several stoppages for 'injuries' and seven substitutions, only four minutes of added time was announced. Cue more complaints.

The first of those added minutes saw a chance for Imortal to equalise, when a corner was deflected to Miguel Gonçalves, stationed on the far post, but he couldn't react quite quickly enough and stabbed it just wide. Time was almost up when Imortal won a free kick on the D. The whistle was followed by two minutes of pushing and shoving with one yellow card each. Then the ref walked over to the Imortal bench and red carded one of the assistant coaches. (Which one I don't know as it is not shown in the official report.) He then returned to the melée, administered a long lecture to both teams. Eventually Torres took the kick, which was deflected to safety off an Imortal player.

Only twelve goals have been scored in Lusitano's eleven games, they are third in the league but a long way off the pace. Imortal for their part remain winless, four points from eleven games, nine goals scored and eighteen conceded. Next weekend Imortal travel to Vidigueira, who are currently tenth. They have actually conceded more goals than Imortal, but our problem is scoring!

Imortal team : Texeira; Prates, Pereira, Gonçalves, Fadini; Cortez, Ramos, Torres, Baldé; Duarte, Mendes. Subs used : Lusinho, Oliveia, Xavier, Cruz.

Match statistics :

Free kicks conceded : Imortal 13, Lusitano 18
Offside : Imortal 2, Lusitano 0
Shots on target : Imortal 1, Lusitano 2
Shots off target : Imortal 5, Lusitano 0
Shots blocked : Imortal 2, Lusitano 1
Corners : Imortal 5, Lusitano 4
Yellow cards : Imortal 4, Lusitano 4
Red cards : well I did see one but there is no mention of it.

So a typical game with more yellow cards than decent goalscoring opportunities!

I was unable to go to Sunday's first team game, a two-nil defeat at home to Sintrense which heaped more gloom upon Imortal. Half way through the season, not a single win and only four points. Relegation is surely already a certainty.  Only two goals have been scored in the last six games, while ten have been conceded. Head coach Moreira fielded an unchanged starting eleven, a rarity this season in which 27 different players have appeared in the club's colours, with 21 different starters.

The league now closes down for two weeks, resuming on 7th January when Imortal will host mid-table Barreirense, ko 1500hrs.

Imortal Team : Texeira; Prates, Gonçalves, Torres, Fadini; Cortez, Ramos, Lusinho, Mendes; Oliveira, Duarte. Subs used : Cruz, Xavier, Balde

Next Sunday they will be at home to Oriental Lisboa, ko 1500hrs. Oriental are tenth.

The B team meanwhile won 5-1 at home to Odiáxere B and hold third place behing Os Armancanenses and Guia in Algarve League Division Two West. There are no details as yet on the Algarve FA site. Next Saturday they will be away at Alvor.

IMORTAL 0 - 2 ORIENTAL LISBOA

If only Imortal had shown in the first hour the effort and determination of the last half hour, things could have been very different. For far too long the ball was going backwards and sideways in often wasted efforts not to lose possession. Towards the end, the lofted long balls had the Oriental defence struggling under pressure. Imortal are now firmly at the bottom of table, twelve points from safety with only ten games to go.



The opening minutes were fairly non descript. Ramos, for Imortal, had a good burst thwarted by a timely tackle and on the half hour he had the ball snatched from his head by the ´keeper who just got his hands in time to a super cross by Nuno Pereira. The ball went for a corner, which was well taken by Torres. There followed two miskicks by Duarte a few metres out, one of which was blocked and other went backwards. Two chances spurned.

No goal at half time. The two teams had managed one shot on target between them, a weak effort by Oriental's Nhantumbo straight at Imortal´s goalie Teixeira.

That was not to last long. Imortal were caught napping five minutes after the re-start. A really good deep cross from the right found Elvis Fernandez almost unmarked in front of goal. His header gave Teixeira no chance. Texeira was kept fairly busy after that, making a good grab at a threatening cross, then a nice tip over the bar save from a close range header. A number of corners were forced, two of them taken blatantly outside the semi-circle which annoyed the crowd, but with which the officials were unconcerned.

Imortal changed their approach, thankfully. There was more conviction and more urgency. Long balls into the penalty area were having to be defended. Oriental's keeper had to come charging off his to one such, flattening Duarte and two of his own players just outside the area. The ball was cleared for a corner, nothing else give. The corner was well taken, there was an old fashioned goalmouth scramble, bodies all over the place. Another corner, another scramble. Some discussion followed, including something from the Imortal bench which resulted in a red card for Imortal's sub ´keeper Bova. Got to feel sorry for him. Turns up as sub every week, hasn't had a minute of game time and then gets sent off.

This got worse for Imortal with five minutes of normal time to go. Sub André Silva was given a straight red for a high tackle.

Oriental sensed their chance to finish the game off, Teixeira responded with another good save. Imortal hadn't given up. Tidjane Balde's great run down the right was finished with a great cross that was fractionally to high for Duarte in front of goal. That was repeated  a minute later, this time Santos crossing and Duarte again not quite able to get there.

Right at the end, the inevitable. The ten men were caught out by a long boot upfield, two against one as the ball crossed the half way line and it was game over when Wilson Silva took the pass and rolled the ball into an empty net.

Disappointment all round, with Imortal's head coach having many words with the officials at the end.

Next week Imortal travel to play GD Fabril, who are based in Barreiro, on the other side of the river from Lisbon.

Imortal Team : Teixeira; Rodrigues, Pereira, Gonçalves, Cruz; Cortez, Romeiro, Torres, Santos; Ramos, Duarte. Subs used : Bede, Silva, Xavier, Balde.

Match stats

Free kicks conceded : Imortal 11, Oriental 8
Offsides : Imortal 3, Oriental 1
Shots on target : Imortal 1, Oriental 5
Shots off target : Imortal 2, Oriental 1
Shots blocked : Imortal 1, Oriental 0
Corners : Imortal 5, Oriental 5
Yellow cards : Imortal 2, Oriental 1
Red cards : Imortal 1, Oriental 0

GARVE CUP SECOND ROUND WESNESDAY 24TH JANUARY

Silves 2 -2 Imortal, Imortal won 5-4 on penalties.

Thanks to Lofters John, a keen football fan, I was able to get to this game. Well worth the 30 minute drive, an entertaining evening and it was free to get in! Seems odd, since there were about 100 spectators there so that €250 they don't have in the kitty. It's a long time since I have been there, so I took a picture of the main stand. It looks nice from a distance, but the seats could do with some attention. The first one I sat in was cracked, the second one not much better and got worse as the game went on.



The Imortal team on the night. From the Algarve FA website.



Imortal made some changes from Sunday's defeat, but they were mostly familiar faces.  First team debut for goalkeeper Bova and the B team's leading scorer William Junior made his first start. The artificial pitch made for a fast game. The teams were pretty evenly matched and it was a game of very few goalscoring opportunities. Horrible defending at both ends contributed to three of the goals.

Silves started the better,   Bruno Nova heading over from a deft outside foot curling cross by Fábio Vieira. Their first goal wasn't long coming. Twelve minutes had gone by when a nice move down the left  was well finished by George Souza, his first time shot from the edge of the area giving defenders and goalkeeper Bova no time to react. Imortal responded and it took some solid defence from Silves to keep them at bay. Imortal were trying the quick long ball, unlike Sunday, but too many passes were over-hit. Towards the end of the first half, Imortal had two good chances. The first was a free kick just outside the area. Rodrigues dummied, but Torres put the shot wide. The second was successful! A good run down the right by Balde, his long cross into the area found Duarte, whose glancing header went into the bottom corner.

Imortal almost took the lead immediately after half time. A mistake with a bouncing ball by Rafael Pinto caught the goalkeeper off his mark, but Duarte was just unable to get his foot to the ball. A lively spell followed. Two Imortal defenders got in each others way and gifted the ball to Rui Santos about 15 metres out. He didn't seem to know what to do, froze and was robbed. Every pass from Imortal towards the Silves goal was being intercepted and booted off or way down the field. No messing about! Prates almost found Duarte with a cross, but it went just behind him requiring an overhead kick at goal, which went wide. Moments later, Silves counter-attacked. Imortal failed twice to clear, leaving Tyson Muaxambi the chance to slam the ball past Texeira in goal. Much arm waving among the Imortal defenders. Fifteen minutes of the ninety to go. Imortal pressed forward, the defenders were dealing with everything. Duarte earned the scorn of the home fans for too many histrionics when tackled. Fabio Santos was putting in some hard work down the right wing, sending in passes and crosses but many were far too hard and high. Silves counter-attacked once more, Imortal's defenders were on the job, goal bound header blocked.

The clock had just ticked over to an unexpected six minutes of added time when Santos sent in a long throw from the right. It landed just by the near post. None of the Silves players nearby moved, perhaps they thought it was a bomb. Captain Rodrigues was on hand to to poke the ball over the line. 2-2.

There was one more chance for Silves when Imortal's Gonçalves lost the ball in midfield, but luckily for himself and the team he recovered quickly enough to disposses the striker. So, straight to penalties.

Both sides scored their first two easily enough. Gonçalves stepped up to take Imortal's third. His weak effort was easily saved. Much glee among the Silves faithful. But then their third penalty hit the cross bar and out.  Fourth and fifth were both converted, so it became sudden death.  Fabio Santos scored Imortal's fifth. Silves had to score. There was a delay because their head coach had strayed onto the pitch and was told by the referee to get off. Did that delay upset Muaxambi, the penalty taker? Maybe, because his penalty hit the crossbar and flew to safety. 5-4 to Imortal on penalties!

The looks on the players faces said it all - we got away with one there. Still, a win's a win and good for morale.

The draw for the third round has now been made. Imortal's reward is a trip to Carvoeiro United, currently bottom of the Algarve League. The match is  scheduled for Wednesday 14th February ko 2030hrs. Carvoeiro United play at Estombar.

Imortal team : Bova; Prates, Rodrigues, Bede, Cruz; Cortez, Torres, André Silva; William Junior, Duarte, Balde. Subs used Nuno Pereira, Romeiro, Gonçalves, Ramos.

Match stats - a game of very small numbers, including a Portuguese record of only one yellow card and also Imortal conceding only five free kicks in the whole game, just one of those in the second half. The referee was pretty good, not reacting to the rolling around and screaming from players of both sides.

Free kicks conceded : Imortal 5, Silves 15
Offside : Imortal 0, Silves 2
Shots on target : Imortal 2, Silves 3
Shots off target : Imortal 2, Silves 2
Shots blocked . Imortal 1, Silves 1
Corners: Imortal 2, Silves 4
Yellow cards : Imortal 1, Silves 0

The information about the Algarve Cup matches has been restored to official websites. I have been able to add the match report from Silves on 24th January above.