Silas will be one of the most attentive spectators of the Liga 3 final between the historic União de Leiria and Belenenses, which will be played tomorrow (4.15pm, Channel 11) at the Estádio Nacional. The former midfielder played three and a half years in Leiriense and four seasons in the Blues of Restelo, not hiding his great affection for the two emblems. It was at U. Leiria that he made his debut in the I Liga and was called up to the national team, while at Belenenses he fulfilled his dream of playing in European competitions and had the opportunity to make his debut as a coach at the top level.
Jorge Silas admits to DN that they are two “very special” clubs and that he could not help but be present in the stands of Jamor tomorrow afternoon. “I already have a ticket and company. It is clear that I would never miss the chance to be there,” he assures, immediately drawing a curious parallelism: “For me it will be like a Portuguese Cup final. And this time I am sure I will win, unlike what happened in my cup final as a player, as I lost both, one in the service of União de Leiria [0-1 com o FC Porto, em 2002/03] and another for Belenenses [0-1 com o Sporting, em 2006/07]he referred.
Silas played for Sporting’s youth team, but later completed the rest of his education with Atlético, where he spent three seasons as a professional. In 1998/99, when he was almost 22, he moved to Ceuta, in Spain’s second division, where he still represented Elche. In 2001/02 he transferred to União de Leiria, where he finally made his debut in the I Liga. “It was the realization of a dream and it came a little late, a week before his 25th birthday. We had a great season, with Jose Mourinho as coach,” he recalled. It should be noted that his journey through the city of Lis was divided into two phases: the first between 2001 and 2003 and the second between 2009 and 2010.
As for Belenenses, which he represented between 2005 and 2009, he reckons it was always a club he wanted to play at. “When I was a kid I often went to Restelo’s matches and even attended training sessions. I always saw Belenenses as a great team and when I thought that one day I would like to represent the club. The highlights were reaching of the Portuguese Cup final and playing in European competitions, something that Belenense fans attached great importance to, not least because they were away from these competitions for a few years,” he emphasizes.
Returning to the present, Silas guarantees that he will not root for anyone in this final in the Liga 3 final, after all, these are two clubs that have “marked him right”. “I am very proud to be part of its history. I am satisfied because it will be a celebration game and even the one who loses will not leave the field completely sad, as he has achieved his main goal, which is to progress to the II League,” he emphasizes.
Very similar teams
The 46-year-old coach has closely followed the course of Belenenses and U. Leiria in Liga 3. “I think they are two teams of a very similar level and that is why there is no favourite. União de Leiria turned out to be the more regular and despite not starting well, it grew, managed to qualify for the final stages and then went on to win with all credit. Belenenses, on the other hand, had some difficulties in the regular phase and it was even thought that qualifying for the next phase could be at stake, but they managed to reach that goal and could even have been promoted in the penultimate round, in which a draw with Amora was enough, but eventually lost 3-0. Sanjoanense,” he says. .
When asked which players could decide tomorrow’s match, he reacts curiously. “There is no player in Liga 3 who can decide a match. In fact, there is no one in I Liga who can. That is reserved for footballers like Messi and Ronaldo. In any case, they are two teams with a very strong team. ” and all players deserve equal attention,” he justified, taking the opportunity to “leave a word of appreciation for the excellent work of coaches Bruno Dias [Belenenses] and Vasco Botelho da Costa [U. Leiria]”.
Challenged to identify similarities and differences between these two historic players in Portuguese football, Jorge Silas states that “Belenenses is a big club, as it has already won titles and is one of five national champions”. And he emphasizes the fact that “it has supporters all over the country, something that was visible when the team went out to play”. Furthermore, he says that “only a big club has managed to pull off this fantastic campaign, moving up the division from the seventh tier in five successive seasons”.
As for União de Leiria, he says that “it represents a city that loves football and because it is not a big club, it has a lot of strength, as seen this season with home games in which it had more than 20,000 spectators”.
Inevitably, the question of whether Jorge Silas sees himself coaching, in the I Liga, was one of these two clubs that made such an impact on him. The answer was diplomatic: “These are projections that I don’t make. I’m a professional and I can’t think I’m going to train a particular club because I have a great affection for it.”
Source: DN
