THE RUSSIAN football team, Dynamo, where Portuguese footballers Maniche, Costinha, Frechault, Derlei, Nuno and Jorge Ribeiro play, have come to the Algarve for their winter training. They will be in the Algarve until January 17. Quaser of Faro are responsible for bringing the team to the region.
Dynamo, owned by Russian millionaire Alexei Fedorychev arrived at Faro airport on January 7, in a private plane before being transported to the Hotel Montechoro, where they are staying.
The programme for the Russian team consists of two friendly games against other European teams, SC Freiburg from the German II Liga and FSV Mainz O5 of Germany’s premier league, who are also training in the Algarve.
Francisco Paulino, head of Quasar, said to Barlavento newspaper: “On January 11, Dynamo will face Freiburg, in the stadium at Hotel Montechoro and, on January 14, they will play Mainz 05 at Ria Park. The Russian team depart for Porto on January 17, where they will stay at the Hotel Porto Palácio. On January 18, at 9pm, they will play FC Porto at the Estádio do Dragão and will return to their home country on January 21.”
However, according to information relayed by the Câmara of Vila Real de Santo António, Dynamo will not be participating in the Winter Cup in Porto.
During January, other major European football teams have arrived in the Algarve. The leading team of the Belgium championship, Standard of Liége, whose technical director is one of Benfica’s old goalkeepers, Michel Preudhomme, and where the ex-captain of FC Porto, Jorge Costa, plays, stayed in the Hotel Le Meridien in Penina, from January 4 to 12. Cologne of the Bundesliga in Germany will be staying at Penina from January 12 to 21. Eintracht Frankfurt, also of the Bundesliga, will be staying at Barringtons in Vale do Lobo. These three teams won’t be playing “friendlies” with Portuguese teams, they will, however, be playing against each other.
Francisco Paulino, again speaking to Barlavento, said that this is important for Algarve tourism. “The arrival of these teams at this time will boost our image. For example, Dynamo revealed that they will be accompanied by two Russian television crews as well as six journalists. This signifies that, daily, there will be reports about the Algarve in the press and on television,” he said.
