Portimonense goalkeeper Fouham was rewarded for his excellent form this season by an invitation to join the Moroccan national side, training for the upcoming African Championships near Paris. The man with the number one shirt previously stood between the posts for his country while with Académica, but ruled himself out following a move to Russian club Vladikavkaz. He is back and will be sorely missed come January, when Portimonense will have to make do without him for up to three weeks.
On the pitch the Algarve derby between Olhão and Portimão kicked off this month, an incident filled match resulting in a 1-1 draw (see November 11 edition of The Resident for details). Next up following the international break was a visit from league leaders Beira-Mar, an encounter that Portimonense dominated over large periods of the game. Artur Jorge gave the home side the lead after the interval, before the visitors equalized from a corner six minutes before the final whistle. Olhão’s trip to bottom side Chaves also resulted in a draw, the match producing very little in the way of goal chances.
Last Sunday Portimonense travelled to crisis-ridden Ovarense (17th), whose unpaid players almost did not take to the pitch, while Olhanense received Moreirense, 16th in the table. In Ovar, Portimão twice led through Artur Vicente and Marinho only for the hosts to level the game as full time approached. A spectacular strike from recent reinforcement Rui Baião in injury time, however, made the score 3-2 securing all three points for the Algarve team.
Olhão, on the other hand, did not need a cliffhanger. Ricardo Silva, Pepa and Helder Costa all scored as the home side dominated proceedings. In the run-up to the Christmas period, Olhão are joint second with Covilhã, just one point behind Beira-Mar, while Portimão occupy fifth place, only three points off the lead. Rosey prospects indeed for these two Algarve hopefuls!
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