In the fourth final in history between FC Porto and Sp. Braga, one of the coaches will make history. And if Sérgio Conceição is looking for the third Portuguese Cup in five years, Artur Jorge wants to lift the trophy for the first time as a coach on Sunday, in Estádio Nacional (5:15 PM, RTP1). If he succeeds, he will become the most successful coach in 102 years for the club from Minho… because no one has succeeded in a year in which he finished third in the championship.
Manuel Palmeira won the Portuguese Cup in 1966, but finished the season in 10th place. Paulo Fonseca in 2016 and Carlos Carvalhal in 2021, who also climbed the Jamor staircase to lift the trophy, finished the respective championships in fourth place. In other words, it would be a huge achievement for Artur Jorge, in his debut year on the Minho bench.
On the other hand, you will find Sérgio Conceição and an FC Porto who want to go from the Portuguese Cup to the League Cup and the Super Cup, in a season where they lost the championship to Benfica in the last round. Despite stubbornly undervaluing personal titles, the blue and white coach risks breaking all records in Portuguese football. With nine trophies won (three championships, two Portuguese Cups, three Super Cups and a League Cup), the 48-year-old coach can reach tenth if he wins the 19th Cup for FC Porto’s museum.
A victory over Jamor allows him to surpass Otto Glória and Joseph Szabo, both with nine titles. At the moment, among Portuguese coaches, only Jorge Jesus surpasses him, having won 12 trophies: three championships, one Portuguese Cup, six League Cups and two Super Cups.
Looking only at the Portuguese Cup, Sérgio Conceição celebrated in 2020 and 2022. If he repeats his triumph on Sunday, he will join the limited group of those who manage to win three cups as coaches – Fernando Vaz and János Biri -, leaving only one trophy behind record holders Otto Glória and José Maria Pedroto.
The blue and white coach has already arrived at the National Stadium five times, one of which with the colors of Sp. Braga lost in one of the two finals. On May 31, 2015, Sp. Braga conceded in the penalty shoot-out against Sporting. Braga came close to victory, but conceded (2-2) at 90″+3 and eventually lost on penalties (1-3), starting a penalty curse that haunts Porto’s coach to this day. .
Despite not winning his fourth national championship title, Sérgio Conceição could finish the 2022–23 season with three trophies, something unprecedented in his coaching career as he never won more than two in a season.
Opponents in 1998
Artur Jorge and Sérgio Conceição met in Jamor when they were still footballers in the 1998 final, won by FC Porto. They were both starters. The then FC Porto winger played 66 minutes and then made way for Capucho, while Braga’s central defender left in the 53rd minute to make way for Bruno Vaza. In the end, the now coach of the dragons took the trophy, after the victory, 3-1. Aloísio, Jardel and Artur scored the goals for FC Porto and Brazilian Sílvio scored the goal for Sp. Braga, coached by Spaniard Alberto Pazos.
Now it is Artur Jorge who leads the team. “I’ve been to Jamor twice as a fan, I’ve also been as an athlete and captain [em 1998] and I really want to be a coach. The growth we are experiencing means that we can have teams competing for titles and in the decisions more often. We have not been as consistent as I would like, but it has been remarkable in recent years,” he said in the semi-final of the competition, before leaving Nacional behind.
In addition to this final in which the two protagonists of this year’s final came face to face, people from Braga and Porto met two more times. The first was in 1977 and also smiled at the dragons (1-0, goal by Fernando Gomes). Only in 2016 did Sp. Braga managed to lift the trophy, in a game where it was necessary to find the winner on penalties (after 2-2 in the 120 minutes). Paulo Fonseca trained in Minho and saw his team take a 2-0 lead (with goals from Rui Fonte and Josué, who was on loan from the dragons), but André Silva scored twice and took the game to extra time. In the penalty shoot-out, goalkeeper Marafona (Matheus, who now owned the goal, on the bench) stopped FC Porto’s dream and kept the trophy for Sp. Braga.
On that May 22, 2016, 50 years had passed since the first Portuguese Cup won by the Braga emblem (1966), which has since won another one for the museum. It was won in a final in 2021 against Benfica (2-0) led by Carlos Carvalhal. It was the third trophy in seven finals achieved in 102 years of history… still less than FC Porto’s 18 cups in 32 finals. And with that historical data. In the last decade, only Benfica (five, won two) reached Jamor more often than the blue and white (four, won two) and the Minho (three, won one).
Source: DN
