A FARCE in Portugal: Belenenses SAD field just 9 players - including two goalkeepers - as they are thrashed 0-7 by Benfica in a match that ends after just 46 minutes
In one of the most surreal matches you are ever likely to see, Belenenses SAD started their Primeira Liga fixture against Benfica with just 9 players in their ‘starting XI’ as they were thrashed 0-7 in a match that was abandoned early after Belenenses SAD were reduced to just 6 players shortly after half time.
With B-SAD suffering a major outbreak of Covid-19, the clash with Jorge Jesus’ Benfica remained in serious doubt in the build-up to kick-off, with it unclear if B-SAD had sufficient players to carry out the fixture.
However, the club president, Rui Pedro Soares, assured that the match was set to go ahead as planned early on in the day, stating in an online press conference that: “We do not ask anyone to postpone the game. Not Benfica, the Liga or the health authorities. This has not happened & will not happen. Belenenses SAD will not ask for the game to be postponed.”
And sure enough, the match went ahead, in absurd conditions that will inevitably lead to international mockery and disdain. Belenenses SAD eventually released their team sheet shortly before kick-off, with just nine players named in their squad, two of whom were goalkeepers, with shot-stopper João Monteiro playing out field due to the lack of options to choose from.
With such a revelation, many still believed that the game would be called off even with kick-off just moments away, but both sets of teams came out of the tunnel at Jamor as planned, with all the players sporting masks as they took to the field.
With formalities carried out, the game got underway - and Benfica were very quick in taking the lead, an own goal opening the scoring within the opening 25 seconds.
That goal didn’t exactly open the floodgates though, with Benfica not adding to their tally until the 14th minute when Haris Seferovic rifled home.
The goals then went in with increasing regularity from the 27th minute onwards as Weigl scored a beautiful long range effort, followed by a Darwin header, a Haris Seferovic penalty, and a couple of Nunez finishes all in the space of 19 minutes to make it 0-7 heading into the break.
With plenty of disbelief at what was being witnessed, many were discussing the extraordinary, and in many ways farcical, events that were transpiring, and the B-SAD president was even shown crying as he left the field at the interval.
After a slightly extended half time break, the two teams came out for the second half - but this time, only 7 Belenenses players took to the pitch. Many could already see what was to come.
Seconds after the referee blew his whistle to get the second half underway, Belenenses SAD’s outfield goalkeeper Monteiro sat down supposedly with an injury of his own, and B-SAD, reduced to 6 players, were unable to continue the match, falling below the minimum number of players required to carry out a competitive fixture. After a brief discussion between the referee and the two technical teams, the match was brought to a premature end in the 46th minute and the game finished 0-7 to Benfica.
It was an extraordinary match of football to watch unfold - albeit not entirely unprecedented, with many recounting the clash between Leiria and Feirense in 2012 in which Leiria fielded just 8 players in a surprisingly low-scoring 0-4 defeat.
Nevertheless, this one still felt more despicable. In a world that has been impacted so heavily by the current pandemic, an element of common sense and compassion in such a situation would be expected, and a match like this simply should not be able to go ahead.
However, if Belenenses SAD do not make a request to postpone the match, which is what president Soares indicated in his press conference, it is difficult to really detect who is most at fault in this farcical affair.
Nevertheless, despite declaring that B-SAD would not seek to postpone the fixture, president Soares later contradicted himself, saying following the conclusion of the match that “in the afternoon, we asked the Liga to postpone the game,” but their request was apparently denied as they were told they still had a sufficient number of players to fulfil the fixture.
The events that unfolded are still fresh and raw, and the blame game has begun as to who is at fault for letting a national travesty like this unfold, much to the detriment of the league’s reputation on the world stage. However, as more information arrives and more individuals share their accounts of what has occurred, the picture of exactly what led to this situation may become clearer.
B-SAD players who were unable to participate in the match were clearly furious that the match was able to go ahead, taking to social media to voice their condemnation. Afonso Sousa, Carraca and Abel Camara were among those to do so, posting the same message of disapproval.
O futebol só tem cor se tiver competição.
— Afonso Sousa (@afonso_sousa10) November 27, 2021
O futebol só tem cor se tiver verdade desportiva.
O futebol só tem cor quando é um exemplo de saúde pública.
Hoje, o futebol perdeu a cor. pic.twitter.com/ujjv5H5Ffp
In the message, the players said, in Portuguese: “Football only has color if it has competition. Football only has color if it has sporting truth. Football only has color when it is an example of public health. Today, football has lost its color.”
Belenenses SAD’s U23 match tomorrow has since been called off.
This is not the first time a Portuguese club has been hit with a major Covid outbreak but forced to play the match. Just this season, Santa Clara requested to postpone their clash with Moreirense due to an extensive outbreak, but their opponents declined, and the Azoreans had to complete the match with just 3 players on the bench.
Benfica also had to play a match against Nacional last season with several players out after testing positive for coronavirus, a game which ended 1-1.
