Carlos Pereira reports on TSF the trip of the Sporting players to the German Democratic Republic (GDR). On the way back, they heard the echoes of a revolution in Portugal. The return took much longer than anticipated.
The trip didn’t start well because we should have eliminated Magdeburg right away with the result at home. We had opportunities to take a big lead. We missed a penalty and lost two key players for the second game. Yazalde, who would become the top scorer in Europe that season, and also Dinis.
Tuesday April 23, 1974, trip to East Germany
Even the journey there was very complicated. At that time, several borders had to be crossed to reach the GDR. When we got to the hotel, there wasn’t enough food for a team like ours, a team of professional players. Those were difficult times, but there they got us food that was somewhat inappropriate in terms of quality.
That night we slept badly. Hotel beds were not ideal for us athletes. In short, a process designed to minimize conditions for a team like Sporting, unusual conditions for a professional team. It was something very different from what happened with Magdeburgo in Lisbon, where they had all the necessary conditions.
The first game in Alvalade:
Wednesday April 24, 1974, game day
A very heavy field, a lot of mud, raining, after sleeping badly. Although it’s over, we were able to make it 2-2 and reach the final with AC Milan. It was a blow to all the players. We were very frustrated because we were playing a semifinal. From a sporting point of view we had a clear advantage.
As the game progressed, we overcame the absences of Yazalde and Dinis. We had a play by Tomé, at the end of the game, in which the ball hit the post, hitting him in the shin.
Match report: Magdeburg 2-1 Sporting CP (1-1 first leg at Alvalade)
Ladies (cap); Manaca, Vitorino Bastos, Carlos Alhinho, Carlos Pereira (sub, 64′ by Joaquim Rocha); Vagner, Paulo Rocha (sub, 81′ by Tomé), Baltasar; Martinho Mateus, Nelson Fernandes and Chicocoach: Mário Lino
Thursday April 25, 1974, the long journey
We slept poorly that night after the Magdesburg game. When we were already at the East German border with West Germany, right at the Berlin Wall, the guide who accompanied us heard some news on the radio. I remember him saying: “there was a coup in Portugal”. But we don’t care about that at all. We were frustrated with the defeat, we slept poorly, we were poorly fed, we didn’t give due importance to the situation.
“We went to Frankfurt where we had a direct flight to Lisbon. But we ended up landing in Madrid, which seemed strange to us, the trip was not that”.
In Madrid, some TAP employees described what was happening in Portugal. We combined the news of the coup with what they told us. There was talk of a country at war, of cannons, of missiles, of the dead. We only knew that the borders were closed, and there were no cell phones, of course, we didn’t know anything about our families. The news that came out described the worst possible deaths and a war situation.
We continue our journey to Badajoz by bus, on a horrible journey to the border with Portugal. At the border, in Elvas, they wouldn’t let us in. We stayed in a hostel, because it was difficult to find rooms. There was a battalion of journalists who wanted to cover what was happening. Nearby hotels were all booked.
Friday, April 26, 1974, the relay
That night only the players who had played the entire game for Magdesburg slept in the beds. The others were sitting down here, at the tables, on the floor, on the stairs of the hostel. We couldn’t sleep a wink. We were very scared with the situation, we panicked with that news.
It was near the border that João Rocha, the president of Sporting, realized that, after contacting the Portuguese government, we finally had authorization to return to Portugal. There was a game over the weekend with Belenenses, the following Sunday [28 de abril de 1974, estádio de Alvalade].
Finally, we crossed the border there. We were hungry when we arrived at a restaurant in Elvas. There they gave us softer news about what was happening, that it was not something so dramatic. We are calmer.
The Sporting bus picked us up in Elvas. We returned to Lisbon where our families were waiting for us. What we wanted most was to understand how the families were. There was a sea of people at gate 10A. We had already forgotten about Magdeburg because the most important thing was our families, knowing that everything was fine.
In the following weeks we felt great support from the public. It happened right away in the game with Belenenses. The fans understood that we had gone through a long, frustrating road, with the weight of the defeat against Magdesburg, but, above all, with the uncertainty of what was happening in Portugal, of our families.
That season is still remembered by Sporting fans today. We were national champions, we won the Portuguese Cup. Yazalde was Golden Boot.
But today I can assume that professional players do not care much about the situation in the country. We were in a phase where we could be national champions, we were very focused on the matches, each match was a final. Perhaps that is why we have not given the issue the importance it deserves.
Portuguese Cup Final, Sporting 2-1 Benfica:
Source: TSF
