Tomas Costa back at 100 percent

Porto's Tomas Costa is back to 100% after completing a full training session with the club. The Argentinian midfielder completed the training Wednesday and should be ready to face Martimo this weekend.

Quique Flores looks to bring Luisao to Atletico

Luisao is wanted once again by a former Benfica coach as Quique Flores would like to see the central defender join his current club Atletico Madrid. Luisao was chased first by former Benfica coach Ronald Koeman after the 2005/06 season as the former Benfica coach hoped to take the defender with him to PSV but an agreement never materialized. Flores is hoping that Atletico will cough up the $20 million termination clause that exists in Luisao's current contract. Luisao is signed with Benfica until 2013

FC Porto win in Hulk's return

FC Porto made it a memorable return for striker Hulk who returned to action for the first time in the Portuguese League after serving a three month suspension. FC Porto traveled to Lisbon to take on cellar dwellers Belenenses and Hulk made his impact known to everyone scoring on a shot at the 51st minute and setting up Falcao's goal with a cross in the 83rd minute. Rolando opened the scoring for Porto in the first half as Porto defeated Belenenses 3-0. Porto are now five points behind Braga in their chase for second place and the final spot in the Champions League qualifying stage.

In other action, Olhanense crushed Rio Ave 5-1, Vitor Gomes gave Rio Ave the 1-0 lead before Olhanense got two markers from Djalmir, Yazalde, Tengarrinha and Rabiola. U. Leiria got a brace from Cassio while Pacos got a marker from Berville as they won 2-1. Leixoes penalty kick from Hugo Morais was all it needed to defeat Naval 1-0. Setubal pulled five points clear of the final relegation spot with their 2-1 victory over Nacional. Neca and Keita scored for Setubal while Pecnik replied for Nacional

Benfica move six points ahead of Braga after win

Benfica have moved six points clear of Braga after a big victory at the sold out Estadio da Luz with just six games remaining in the Portuguese League season. Benfica fresh off winning the Carlsberg Cup last weekend over FC Porto came out flying in the first half with over 65% of the ball possession and were rewarded late in the half when a Benfica corner ended up on the feet of Luisao and he sent a low shot past Braga's keeper. Benfica could have finished the half with a bigger lead if not for the great play of Eduardo. The second half was a tighter affair with Benfica and Braga both coming close to scoring but if Benfica's Cardozo was a bit more on the mark the game would have been out of reach as he had four chances in the half and much to the dismay of the fans and coach Jorge Jesus was not able to capitalize. Braga's best chance in the half came on a bouncing shot that just went wide to the left side of Quim. The final whistle was sounded and Benfica are now one step closer to breaking Porto's run of four straight titles as the Dragons sit in third spot fourteen points back of the leaders

Portugal's World Cup central defender situation

The World Cup in South Africa continues to creep closer and we take a look at Portugal's World Cup central defender situation. Carlos Queiroz is currently keeping an eye on Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe who are both out with injury at the moment but both players should be ready in time for the tournament in South Africa. The central defender position will be a key spot for a squad that has had its problems on set pieces. Queiroz will need Carvalho and Pepe at 100% as they look to hold the fort against a tough Brazil and Ivory Coast squad. The central defenders on the Portuguese squad will also be looked to score the odd goal in South Africa from corner kicks or set plays close to the opposition goal. Quieroz is certain to carry 4 central defenders to the world cup but may add a 5th depending on the health of his players. Pepe is a key component as he can also play the defensive midfield position on the squad.

The Inside Track:

Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea) 31 years old
Portugal stats- 60 Caps, 4 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 22 games played, 0 goals

Bruno Alves (FC Porto) 28 years old
Portugal stats- 28 Caps, 5 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 22 games played, 4 goals

Pepe (Real Madrid) 27 years old
Portugal stats- 24 Caps, 2 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 10 games played, 1 goal

On the Bubble:

Rolando (FC Porto) 24 years old
Portugal stats- 7 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 21 games played, 2 goals

Ricardo Costa (Lille) 28 years old
Portugal stats- 6 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 17 games played, 1 goal

Goncalo Brandao (Siena) 23 years old
Portugal stats- 2 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 20 games played, 0 goals

Outside Shot:

Fernando Meira (Zenit) 31 years old
Portugal stats- 20 Caps, 1 goal
2009/10 Season stats- 22 games played, 1 goal

Ze Castro (Deportivo) 27 years old
Portugal stats- 1 Cap, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 5 games played, 0 goals

Tonel (Sporting) 29 years old
Portugal stats- 2 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 17 games played, 1 goal

Manuel Da Costa (West Ham) 23 years old
Portugal stats- 0 Caps, 0 goals
2009/10 Season stats- 8 games played, 1 goal

Portugal Euro 2012 Schedule released

The Euro 2012 qualifying schedules have been released and Portugal's Group H matchups are now set Portugal who sits in Group H with Denmark, Norway, Iceland and Cyprus kick off their Euro 2012 campaign on September 3rd, 2010 at home.

Portugal Schedule:

Sep. 3/10 vs Cyprus
Sep. 7/10 at Norway
Oct. 8/10 vs Denmark
Oct. 12/10 at Iceland
Mar. 26/10 Bye
Jun. 4/10 vs Norway
Sep. 2/10 at Cyprus
Sep. 6/10 Bye
Oct. 7/10 vs Iceland
Oct. 11/10 at Denmark

Maritimo edge Sporting for the win

Maritimo pull off a big home win over Sporting to kick off Week 24 action. Maritimo opened the scoring on a beautiful pass that sent Souza in alone and he easily made the score 1-0 Maritimo at the 17th minute. Joao Pereira tied it for Sporting eight minutes before the end of the first half when he converted a Djalo pass. The second half remained deadlock until the 82nd minute when a Maritimo corner deflected of the head of Sporting's Pongolle and past his own keeper Patricio. Maritimo then took a two goal lead at the 90th minute as Pitbull's shot from 35 yards out hit the left post and rebounded into the net giving Maritimo a 3-1 lead. Sporting pulled the game to one goal as Pongolle converted a penalty kick but that was as close as they would come with Maritimo winning this matchup 3-2 and moving into 7th place in the Portuguese League. The loss by Sporting officially eliminated them from having any chance of winning the Portuguese League this season.

Fiorentina interested in Porto's Valeri

According to Itasport Press, Italy's Fiorentina seem to have interest in acquiring Porto's Diego Valeri. The 23 year old Argentinian is currently on loan at Porto from Lanus and carries an Italian passport. The rumored price tag on Valeri is $5 million Euro.

Benfica recapture Carlsberg Cup with win

Benfica have recaptured the Carlsberg Cup becoming the first team to win the trophy back to back in its short three year existence. Benfica opened the scoring just 10 minutes into the game when Ruben Amorim's shot from about 25 yards out skipped and was misplayed by Porto's Nuno and ended up in the net. Then Carlos Martins stepped up to take a free kick just before the end of the first half from just under 40 yards that went just out of the reach from Porto's keeper and Benfica went into the half with a 2-0 lead and the fans chanting SLB in the stands. The second half saw Benfica keep up the pace as Porto's offense was kept at bay, while Benfica's continued to get chances on net. The game was coming to a close when substitute Oscar Cardozo made it 3-0 after taking Amorim's rebound off the far post and tapping it into an empty net. Benfica the 2009-10 Carlsberg Cup Champions with a convincing 3-0 victory over FC Porto.

Carlsberg Cup Recap, How we got to today

The Carlsberg Cup Final goes today in Algarve as Benfica and FC Porto continue their "Classico" encounters. Benfica are the defending Carlsberg Cup winners after defeating Sporting on penalty kicks last season. This encounter is of two clubs heading in opposite directions as at this time last season, Benfica was trying to fight into the Top 2 positions to get into the Champions League stage, while this season it is FC Porto sitting in third trying to get into the Top 2 position.

We take a look at how both teams got into todays encounter:

Benfica: Joined the tournament as it reached its third round stage and finished atop Group C with 7 points from their three games. Benfica defeated Rio Ave 2-1, Nacional 1-0 and drew with Guimaraes 1-1. Benfica then went onto the semi-final stage against Sporting, in an encounter of last seasons finals. Benfica this time took care of Sporting easily, dispatching their cross town rivals 4-1.

Note: Benfica has scored eight goals in the competition from eight different players.

FC Porto: Joined the tournament as it reached its third round stage and finished atop Group A with 7 points edging out Academica on a goal differential. FC Porto defeated Estoril 2-0, Leixoes 1-0 and drew with Academica 0-0. FC Porto then had a rematch with Academica in the semi-final stage, this time pulling out a 1-0 victory to reach their first Carlsberg Cup Final.

Note: FC Porto has yet to let a goal in the competition.

Braga fans quick to get tickets to Benfica game

Braga fans have scooped up over 2000 tickets that went on sale to next weekends encounter at the Estadio da Luz against Benfica. Braga still has 1250 tickets remaining that should go quickly as the Braga faithful make their way to Lisbon. Braga fans can also get travel packages for $37 Euro which include a ticket to the game

UEFA draw next round of games

UEFA have completed the next round of games for the Europa League and Champions League today. Benfica are set to take on Liverpool in Quarter Final action on April 1st and April 8th with the winner of this stage facing off against the winner of Valencia and Atletico Madrid in the semis as teams fight for a spot in the final May 12/10 in Hamburg, Germany.

Quarter Finals

BENFICA (Por) vs Liverpool (Eng)
Valencia (Spa) vs Atletico Madrid (Spa)
Hamburger (Ger) vs Standard Liege (Bel)
Fulham (Eng) vs Wolfsburg (Ger)

UEFA also drew their quarter final matches in the Champions League today and these are the matchups.

Barcelona (Spa) vs Arsenal (Eng)
Inter Milan (Ita) vs CSKA Moscow (Rus)
Bayern Munich (Ger) vs Manchester United (Eng)
Lyon (Fra) vs Bordeaux (Fra)

Benfica move into the quarters, Sporting knocked out

Benfica have moved into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League with a 2-1 victory in France over Marseille. Benfica went into the match needing to score after the first leg finished 1-1 in Lisbon but it was Marseille who scored first in the second half to take a 1-0 lead when Niang tapped the ball into the net after a mad scramble. Benfica did not wait long to equalize as Maxi Pereira scored just five minutes later when his long shot deflected off a Marseille defender and Benfica brought the game to even. The game then looked to be heading to extra time but substitute Kardec had something else in mind when he converted Pablo Aimar's free kick after the rebound went straight to him and he made no mistake wiring the shot past the keeper for Benfica at the 90th minute.

Sporting hosted Atletico Madrid at home after a scoreless first leg but it was the visitors that opened the scoring just three minutes in when Sergio Aguero put the visitors in front. Liedson brought the game back to square at the 19 minute mark but Aguero stroke once again at the 33rd minute to put Atletico in front once again. Sporting's Polga brought the game once again to even just before the half. The second half was scoreless and Atletico advanced to the quarter-finals on away goals

New York Red Bull look to attract Portuguese Fans

The New York Red Bull of Major League Soccer are getting set to open their new stadium in Harrison, New Jersey and according to the American Chronicle are looking to attract Portuguese fans from the Harrison and Newark areas. The Red Bulls will be opening Red Bull Arena which will have a capacity of just over 25,000 and have already sold 7,000 season tickets to date and hope by attracting Portuguese fans from Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde they will be able to add to this number.

Benfica win to move back into top spot

Benfica took advantage of their game in hand to post a 1-0 victory on the road against Madeira squad Nacional. Benfica had quite a few chances in this game but were thwarted by the Nacional keeper Bracalli, then in the 63rd minute Cardozo stepped up to take a penalty and shot the ball wide left to the dismay of Benfica fans but the league scoring leader made amends just a minute later when he tapped in a Ruben Amorim cross to give Benfica the lead that they would not surrender. Benfica move back atop the Portuguese League with the victory three points ahead of second place Braga as the teams prepare to clash in Week 24 action in two weeks time.

In other action, Sporting moved five points clear of Guimaraes for the fourth spot in Portugal with a 3-1 victory over the 5th place squad. Grimi, Liedson and Saleiro gave Sporting the lead just 21 minutes into the game. Guimaraes got a marker back in the second half from Valdomiro but that was all they could manage. Setubal defeated Leixoes 2-1 on goals from Sandro and Keita after Joao Paulo had given Leixoes the lead. Setubal is now five points clear from the regulation zone with the victory. Belenenses managed their second win of the season over Olhanense with a 3-1 win on a pair of goals from Lima and a single from Barge, with Castro scoring for Olhanense

Braga and FC Porto both win in Week 23 action

Braga kicked off the day against Rio Ave at home, Braga got an early goal from Andres Madrid at the 16th minute mark and it held up as the only goal of the game as Braga held on to the 1-0 victory. Braga now are tied at the top of the league in points with Benfica, with the latter playing their game of week 23 tomorrow. FC Porto got a late marker from Cristian Rodriguez to give them a hard fought 2-1 victory over Academica. Sougou got the visitors the early lead when he converted a PK but Porto was quick to bring the game to even as Bruno Alves scored two minutes after Porto fell behind.

Benfica and Sporting can only manage draws in Europa League

Benfica and Sporting were only able to manage draws in their Europa League first leg encounters today. Sporting played first as they visited Madrid to take on Atletico and held the home side to a scoreless draw even though they suffered two red cards in the game. Sporting is now in a good position getting set to go home for their second leg on March 18/10, while at the Estadio da Luz it took Benfica until the 76th minute mark to strike first when Maxi Pereira got that ball past Marseille's keeper but the Eagles could not hang and conceded a late goal at the 90th minute to Marseille to finished tied 1-1. Benfica now must travel to Marseille on March 18/10, where they will need to score as a scoreless draw would send them home from the Europa League

Guimaraes continue winning ways against Nacional

Guimaraes defeated Nacional today for their third win in a row, moving the club into fifth spot in the Portuguese League two points behind fourth place Sporting. Guimaraes got first half goals by Roberto and Demarets to get the home win 2-0.

Benfica move three points clear of Braga with win

Benfica have moved three points clear of Braga atop the Portuguese League after a win at home over Pacos Ferreira. Benfica got two goals three minutes apart in the first half half when Amorim headed the ball in at the 14th minute and then Javier Saviola cut in and out around the Pacos defender before kicking the ball into the left corner to move Benfica up 2-0. Pacos' William cut the lead in half just before the end of the first half when he converted a deep cross and headed the ball past Quim. Benfica regained their two goal lead at the 59th minute mark when Cardozo scored his league leading 18th goal of the season as his shot deflected of a Pacos defender and into the net. Benfica win 3-1 over Pacos.

In other Action, Sporting hammered Belenenses 4-0 with all goals coming from Liedson who now had ten goals in the Portuguese League. Maritimo and Academica played to a scoreless draw

Porto score late to salvage a point

FC Porto survived a big scare from minnows Olhanense at the Dragao today where the needed a late equalizer to salvage a point out of the affair. Olhanense jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead before the game was even 20 minutes old when Djalmir picked up both markers the first on a header and the second when he was sent in alone on Helton. Olhanense headed to the half with the lead. The second half saw Porto find their form and two late markers one by Falcao in the 81st to cut the lead in half on a mad scramble and the other at the 94th minute mark by Guarin when converted a Varela cross gave the home side the draw. The draw does not bold well for Porto hopes of defending their Portuguese League title as they sit eight points back of Benfica with the latter having a game in hand at the moment

Leiria defeat Leixoes to open Week 22

Leiria have defeated Leixoes to kick off the Week 22 campaign in Portugal. Leiria got a first half goal by Soares on a PK in the first half and a late marker by Carlao to regain the lead after Ze Manuel had tied the game for Leixoes earlier in the second half. Leiria now sit in sixth spot in the Portuguese League two points behind Sporting for fourth spot after their 2-1 win.

Portugal roster for friendly against China

Portugal's 18 man roster for friendly against China tomorrow

Goalies- Eduardo (Braga), Hilario (Chelsea)

Defense- Bruno Alves (FC Porto), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Rolando (FC Porto), Miguel (Valencia), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Duda (Malaga)

Midfielders- Pedro Mendes (Sporting), Tiago (Atletico Madrid), Joao Moutinho (Sporting), Raul Meireles (FC Porto), Nani (Man United), Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Simao (Atletico Madrid)

Forwards- Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Varela (FC Porto), Liedson (Sporting)