S.C. BRAGA

(Redirected from Sporting C. de Braga)

'Sporting Clube de Braga' (pron. ) is a Portuguese sports club, from the city of Braga, that was founded in 1921.
They have been known as Arsenal do Minho - 'Minho's Arsenal' - ever since former coach Josef Szabo returned from a match at Highbury in the 1930s and convinced his old team to ditch green in favour of red and white sleeves (Braga even renamed their youth team ''Arsenal do Braga'').
Its football team plays at the Braga Municipal Stadium, which was built for Euro 2004. The current manager of Braga is Jorge Costa. The club is now becoming one of Portugal's most successful clubs afer the Big Three and they have been known to eliminate many clubs in major competitions.

Contents
History
Braga celebrate the cup
The Ferreira years
João Vieira Pinto
Close to best:Paulo Santos
The new stadium
Fans of Braga
Symbols and Europe
Season of change
Minho rivalry
Present
Current squad 2007/08
Summer Squad Changes for 2007/08 season
Notable players
Notable coaches
Honors
League and Cup History
References
External links

History


Braga celebrate the cup

In 1966 the citizens of Braga were at an all time high as Braga won the Portuguese Cup. This came as a surprise, as not even the people of Braga expected their club to win. This was the first time Braga had won an honour.
The Ferreira years

Jesualdo Ferreira is an icon at Braga as he led the club to glory as they reached 4th in the Portuguese Superliga. Many fans were hurt when Ferreira left, many fans even went as far as to call him a traitor, but nonetheless Ferreira led the club to a high finish in the league, which led Braga to enter European competitions.
Ferreira left for Boavista FC, the club that many Braga fans consider arch-rivals for the UEFA slot in the competition. At Braga, Ferreira was known as "The Professor" for his tactical decisions when deciding the starting line-up that led Braga to 4th place.
Miklos Feher was a key part while at Braga. He managed an impressive record of 26 matches and 14 goals in the 2000/2001 season for Sporting Braga. He then pursued his dreams when he arrived in Lisbon to play for Benfica, although Miklos' dream would be short as he died from a heart-attack on the field.
João Vieira Pinto

The arrival of João Vieira Pinto marked a turning point for Braga. João Vieira Pinto previously played for rivals Boavista where he played a major part for the squad. He also played for SL Benfica when he was at his best. Upon his arrival at Braga, fans of the club throughout the world were in amazed when João Vieira Pinto signed, proving that Braga will be a force to be reckoned with.
Close to best:Paulo Santos

When Braga midfielder Andrés Madrid deflected the ball in for an own goal, goalkeeper Paulo Santos had been beaten for the first time in 595 minutes, just 40 minutes short of the record set by legendary SL Benfica goalkeeper Manuel Bento. It is perhaps unfortunate that the only other time he had conceded this season, FK Crvena Zvezda claimed the away goal that ended Braga's UEFA Cup campaign at the first round for the second year running.
The new stadium

'Estádio AXA', entrance

Braga currently plays at the Estádio AXA stadium. Many fans were hoping it would bring the team good luck and that it did, as Braga has been finishing in the top-half of the table in recent years.
It has one of the most spectacular settings of any stadium in the world, as it is carved out of the Monte Castro hillside overlooking the city of Braga. The enormous earthmoving process contributed heavily to its €83.1 million cost, more than any other EURO 2004 venue except for the new Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, which has more than twice the capacity of the new Braga stadium. The architect for the project was Eduardo Souto de Moura.
Unlike most major stadiums, AXA has stands only on the two sides of the field; the two end zones are backed with rock walls left behind from the construction process. The two stands are covered with a canopy-style roof which are connected by multiple steel strings over the pitch, inspired by ancient South American Inca bridges.
The stadium was inaugurated on 30 December 2003 with Braga beating Celta de Vigo 1-0.
Fans of Braga

The fans of SC Braga are known as 'Arsenalistas' due to their never-say-die attitude. Many of Braga fans are known for their crazy antics such as throwing flares in the field to get their players pumped up. The club's attendance record was broken in May 2007 against Belenenses, the game that gave Braga 4th place in the league.
Symbols and Europe

The emblem of Sporting Braga is the city of Braga's shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus. On the top of the emblem is the Royal Crown of Braga, with the name Sporting Clube de Braga on it. Many fans of SC Braga have said that Mother Mary gives them luck.
Back in the 60's and 70's Braga began to climb up the league ladder and eventually participated in the UEFA Competitions. The club is also participating in the 2007/2008 UEFA Cup. The team is also expecting a top three finish in the 2007/2008 season. Braga finished fifth in Jesualdo Ferreira's first full season and brought UEFA Cup football to the Municipal stadium. Then in the 2005/06 they challenged for the championship until the penultimate round, ending fourth.
Braga's success was thanks to Jesualdo's astute management of his human resources. His pragmatic tactics also paid dividends, skills acquired in a varied career taking in spells with Estrela da Amadora and the Moroccan Army team FAR Rabat, plus four years with the Portugal Under-21 side.
He is a level-headed character. Musing on the end of Braga's extraordinary run of clean sheets, Jesualdo said: "It was a pity the first goal we conceded this season came from an own goal, as I would have preferred a great goal. But I always also said that, on the day it happened, the priority would be to win the match. It was a record that did not matter much. It was earned by a team which did not concede goals, but without meaning we have a defensive philosophy."
Braga, who owe their Sporting Club tag to the better known Sporting Clube de Portugal, after whom they were named, changed their kits from green-and-white hoops to their Arsenal-style red in 1920 when their then coach 'Jozef Szabo',following a trip to England, ordered the club to adopt new colours to establish their own identity.

Season of change


As Jesualdo Ferreira left Braga for rivals Boavista, Portuguese up and coming manager Carlos Carvalhal became manager of the club, after a poor start to the 2006/2007 season where Braga lost to AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup despite crushing Czech Republic champions Slovan Liberec 4-0 (who had drawn against Sevilla FC only a week before), and a 4-1 loss to Madeiran side Marítimo proved to be the end of his season despite success in Europe's intense competitions with an overall score of 3-2 against Italian club Chievo Verona in the first round of the UEFA Cup.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Carvalhal resigned and was replaced with ''Rogério Gonçalves'' with former Portugal captain Jorge Costa as assistant manager of the club.
Rogério Gonçalves first game in charge couldn't have gone better with a 3-1 over SL Benfica and a week after a hard-fought loss against UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup champions Sevilla FC in the intense Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán.
After a 1-0 away defeat to União de Leiria in a league match on the 18th February 2007, Rogério Golçalves resigned, one day afterwards. SC Braga president António Salvador announced on the same day that assistant manager and former Portuguese international Jorge Costa would be in charge until the end of the 2006/2007 season. In Costa's first game Braga beat Parma FC 1-0 (2-0 on aggregate).
They then played Tottenham Hotspur, where they lost 6-4 on aggregate in the last 16, however they were not favourites to win, and after this result attentions had been focused on qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
Braga eventually finished fourth in the league for the third successive time, just pipping Belenenses by a point on the last day.
During the summer of June 2007 it was presented that AXA would be the club's sponsors in a multi-million dollar deal in which the name of the stadium was changed to Estádio AXA, with this being the first in Portugal.

Minho rivalry


Aside from the loyalty of the supporters, which earned the Arsenalistas a big part of Portuguese Football culture, the Minho derby against Vitória de Guimarães is a match that both sets or fans are always waiting for. This match is more than football, it is a way people from the north view other cities.
The derby goes back before Football when the City of Braga was the ancient capital of Galicia, and Guimarães who was led by the first Portuguese King named Afonso I of Portugal was one of Portugal's biggest cities. It was said that Galicia soldiers from Braga who were not yet part of the Kingdom of Portugal invaded Guimarães killing and slaughtering the entire city.
The derby is one of Portugal's most intense derbies, and children under 13 are restricted from entering unless an adult is with them.
Over the past years Braga has been the better side but no matter their league postions, or what league they play in, this derby is one of Portugal's most watched and one of the most underrated. The derby can not be simplified but in a sense intensived when adding all the aspects of football mixed with culture this derby is simply a way of life to the fans.

Present


Current squad 2007/08

As of 21 July, 2007
Summer Squad Changes for 2007/08 season

'In:'

Paweł Kieszek - from ''Polonia Warszawa''

César Peixoto - from ''FC Porto''

Zé Manuel - from ''Boavista FC''

Jair Baylón - from ''Alianza Lima''

Roberto Brum - from ''Academica Coimbra''

Philco - from ''Clube Atlético Paranaense''

Lenny - from ''Fluminense''

João Tomás - loan return from ''Al-Rayyan''

Karim Kazeem - from ''Fulham FC''

Anilton - from ''CD Aves''

Hussain Yasser Abdulrahman - from ''Al Rayyan''

João Pereira - from ''Gil Vicente F.C.''

Jaílson - loan from ''Benfica''

Roland Linz - from ''Boavista F.C.''

Jorginho - loan from ''FC Porto''
'Out:'

Maciel - loan return to ''FC Porto''

Paíto - loan return to ''RCD Mallorca''

Diego - loan return to ''Atletico Madrid''

Cesinha - to ''Rapid Bucureşti''

Marcin Chmiest - loan return to ''Odra Wodzisław''

Ricardo Chaves - to ''Vitória F.C.''

Zé Carlos - to ''APOEL''

Nem - to ''Paraná''

Luís Filipe - to ''Benfica''

Bruno Gama - loan return to ''FC Porto''

Notable players



;

Castanheira

Hugo Leal

Quim

Paulo Santos

João Vieira Pinto

João Tomás

Ricardo Rocha

Hugo Leal

Tiago Mendes

Luis Filipe
;

Mladen Karoglan

;

Elpídio Silva
;

Andrés Madrid
;

Miklós Fehér
;

Eli Ohana
;

Johnny Rödlund

Hans Eskilsson

Notable coaches



Manuel Cajuda

Jesualdo Ferreira

Jorge Costa

Honors



★ 'Portuguese Cup:'


★ 'Winners (1):' 1966


★ 'Runners-up (3):' 1977, 1982, 1998

★ 'Portuguese Super Cup:'


★ 'Runners-up (2):' 1982, 1998

League and Cup History


The club has 51 presences at the top level of Portuguese football. Its best classification are seven 4th places.
The table below shows the club's performance since its first presence in the 1st Division in the 1947/1948 season.
Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA PCupEuropeNotes
1947-19481D'13'2664164769'16'
1948-19491D'8'26112133954'24'
1949-19501D'8'26112135253'24'''not held''
1950-19511D'7'26105114257'25'
1951-19521D'8'2685133249'21'
1952-19531D'13'2682163758'18'
1953-19541D'5'26124105436'28'
1954-19551D'5'2612595242'29'
1955-19561D'14'2653183684'13'relegated
1956-19572D'?'??????'?'promoted
1957-19581D'5'2697105152'25'
1958-19591D'7'2696114851'24'
1959-19601D'12'2668122439'20'
1960-19611D'13'2683154162'19'relegated
1961-19622D'?'??????'?'
1962-1963?'?'??????'?'
1963-19642D'?'??????'?'promoted
1964-19651D'10'2684143651'20'
1965-19661D'10'2677123964'21'winner
1966-19671D'9'2695123333'23'CWC2nd round
1967-19681D'9'2693142948'21'
1968-19691D'12'2667132047'19'
1969-19701D'13'2665152552'17'relegated
1970-19712D'?'??????'?'
1971-1972?'?'??????'?'
1972-1973?'?'??????'?'
1973-1974?'?'??????'?'
1974-19752D'?'??????'?'promoted
1975-19761D'7'30910113543'28'
1976-19771D'8'30109113636'29'final
1977-19781D'4'3016684227'38'
1978-19791D'4'3016594935'37'UC2nd round
1979-19801D'9'30106143440'26'
1980-19811D'6'301010103439'30'
1981-19821D'7'30118113442'30'final
1982-19831D'6'30133144143'29'
1983-19841D'4'3015784032'37'
1984-19851D'8'30910114643'28'UC1st round
1985-19861D'9'3098133447'26'
1986-19871D'9'30106143234'26'
1987-19881D'11'38818123242'34'
1988-19891D'6'381412124237'40'
1989-19901D'12'34812143241'28'
1990-19911D'7'38138174245'34'
1991-19921D'11'34125174149'29'
1992-19931D'12'34126163334'30'
1993-19941D'15'34910153343'28'
1994-19951D'10'341110133442'32'
1995-19961D'8'3412934447'45'
1996-19971D'4'34151093940'55'
1997-19981D'10'341112114849'45'finalUC3rd round
1998-19991D'9'341012123850'42'CWC2nd round
1999-20001D'9'34127154445'43'
2000-20011D'4'3416995848'57'
2001-20021D'10'341012124343'42'semi-final
2002-20031D'14'34814123447'38'
2003-20041D'5'34159103638'54'
2004-20051D'4'34161084528'58'UC1st round
2005-20061D'4'34177103822'58'last 32UC1st round
2006-20071D'4'3014883530'50'semi-finalUClast 16
2007-20081D'4'''2''''1''''0''''1''''3''''2'''''3'''''4th round''UC''1st round''''ongoing''

References


External links



Official website

Braga formations at ''football-lineups.com''

★ youtube 85 Years of SC Braga

★ youtube vs Real Betis 3-1 UEFA

★ www.superbraga.com

★ 'Portuguese football news:'

www.PortuGOAL.net | | The definitive Portuguese football site (in English)

Daily Portuguese futebol news, discussion, stats, images, and more in English

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