Following wins over Benfica (1-0) and Nacional da Madeira (4-0), Sheffield Wednesday’s pre-season Portuguese stay ended with defeat in Portimão.
Manager Vitor Oliveira’s starting 11 went into the break one goal to the good thanks to a 24th-minute near-post tap-in credited to Pires. After the restart, substitutes Buba and Zambujo put Portimonense three up before the Owls scored twice late on through Forestieri and Fletcher to produce the final 3-2 result.
The match should have provided the Algarveans with the perfect final warm-up ahead of this Saturday evening’s opening CTT League Cup home tie (6pm kick-off) against Santa Clara.
Off the pitch, Vitor Oliveira will not be happy with losing the only recently acquired Simy, top scorer in the second tier with Gil Vicente last season, to Crotone. The Italian side, promoted to Serie A for the first time in their history, reportedly paid €850,000 for the services of the tall Nigerian striker.
Another key element of Portimonense’s promotion-seeking team, Fabricio, could also be on his way, with a Japanese club showing strong interest in the Brazilian dead-ball expert.
More positive news concerns Fidelis Irhene – the 20-year-old midfielder has returned to Portimão a month earlier than expected after failing to make the final cut for the Nigerian Rio’2016 Olympic squad.
Elsewhere, former Portimonense manager Lázaro Oliveira has taken charge of now third division Farense while ‘old boy’ Mica Silva is back in Portugal with União da Madeira following a two-year stint in Poland.
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Photo: Italy’s Crotone reportedly paid €850,000 for the services of Nigerian striker Simy
