FC Porto v Sporting Braga – live! | Paul Doyle

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below • Email your thoughts to paul.doyle@guardian.co.uk 22 min: Custodio tries to nick a ball through to Lima, but Helton hurtles off his line to clutch it like a birthday present. Five’s commentator comes up with the stat of the day: Custodio is the 10th player to play in a European final on his birthday. Brian Kidd and Francis Lee also did so, apparently. 20 min: Braga break. But not in numbers. Unless two is a number, which it obviously is … but not a very useful one when they’re up against six Porto players. So nothing comes of the attack. 18 min: Falcao makes his presence felt for the first time … by venturing offside to meet Hulk’s freekick. His header went over anyway. 17 min: Braga have got more of a grip on this game now, and they’re strangling it. And Porto aren’t putting up much resistance. It’s gone all dull. “Re: that betting money burning a hole in your pocket, I’d suggest keeping your powder dry and maxing it out going overs on goals and cards come Sunday,” counsel Gary Naylor. “Half the players are desperate to avoid relegation, get a new contract, settle a score prove the manager wrong etc etc etc and the other half have a cigar on. Cue 6-3 with three red cards and 2-5 with twelve yellows.” 15 min: Nifty play by Vandinho in midfield to make space. Alan then tries to pick out Lima with a long, curling cross, but he overhit it. “You want a tip, yeah?” chirps Paul Taylor. “Portugal is famous, of course, for Port, that wonderful fortified wine that isn’t just for breakfast any more. Put your tenner on a bottle of decent stuff and you will definitely enjoy the result.” 13 min: Scrappy. 11 min: Corner to Porto, who continue to dominate, which is bad news for my betting: I keep trying to back them in-running but because the odds are tumbling so fast my wager can’t get through. Nor did that corner, as Artur surged from goal to clasp it. 9 min: Braga are looking nervous and careless at the back. Hulk and Varela are rampaging down the wings but so far their shooting has been inaccurate. 6 min: Hulk takes advantage of more slack defending, barging his way past Silvio and then scampering into the box and unleashing a fine shot from an acute angle. It flashed inches wide. “I’m supporting Braga as I saw Denmark v Bulgaria in Euro 2004 at their rock face of a stadium,” announces mark Judd. The local people were so friendly, showing us the best place to get high up photos, and giving us bottles of water as it was so hot. Also saw a match in Porto but can’t remember much about that.” Anywhere that has local people showing you a place to get high sounds alright … 4 min: Chance for Braga! A long throw-in was only partially cleared, allowing Vandinho to have a crack from the edge of the area. it was charged down but Braga lofted the ball back into the box and suddenly Custodio finds himself unmarked 18 yards out. He lets fly first time but fails to hit the target. Shoddy defending, shoddy finishing. 3 min: Already the game has settled into the expected pattern, with Porto monopolising the ball and Braga sitting in deep clusters to bar their path to goal. Pace is quite pedestrian so far. 1 min: Porto get the game going, to a tremendous din. Portugal may be broke right now, but not so much that their citizens can’t afford flights to Dublin (which were probably cheaper than the tickets to the match). 7:44pm: Right, I’ve got some money in my online bookie account and I want to invest it wisely: not having seen much of these sides this season, I need tips for this match. Anyone? 7:43pm: Out trot the teams … to kitsch music that sounds strangely like the old Lassie theme tune. Preamble: These teams are from the same country and tonight they seek the same prize – but that’s about all they have in common. On one hand we have Porto, long one of the top clubs in Europe, a side who have just finished their domestic league unbeaten and 21 points clear of their nearest pursuers, and who have a fearsome forward line in the form of Falcao and Hulk as well as the most acclaimed young manager in the continent, 33-year-old André Villa Boas. And on the other hand we have Braga, a humble club whose only major is the 1966 Portuguese Cup (what it about 1966 and minnows winning cups?), who finished fourth in their domestic league this season, and in the process suffered two defeats by Porto. Indeed, that tends to be how their meetings go: Porto have won 92 of the 131 previous encounters between these clubs, Braga have triumphed in just 17. It would be a minor revolution if the underdogs were to prevail tonight. Facts or varying relevance: 1) If Braga win tonight, Domingos Pacienca will become the first manager in Uefa Cup/Europa League history to win in the final against a team he used to play for. He was Porto’s top scorer in the 1995/96 season 2) Porto goalkeeper Helton is 33 today. So is Ricardo Carvahlo. Lady Gaga is not, but I thought I’d mention her just to boost Google click-throughs. 3) Free porn. Oh, and here are the teams: Porto: Helton; Sapunaru, Rolando, Otamendi, Alvaro Pereira; Guarin, Fernando, Moutinho; Hulk, Falcao, Varela Subs: Beto, Maicon, Belluschi, Walter, Rodriguez, Souza, Ruben Michel Braga: Artur; Miguel Garcia, Paulao, Alberto Rodriguez, Silvio; Custodio, Hugo Viana, Vandinho; Alan, Lima, Paulo Cesar Subs: Cristiano, Kaka, Mossoro, Barbos, Meyong, Elderson, Salino Ref: C V Carballo (Spain) Europa League FC Porto Sporting Braga Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 18, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.