Sporting has anounced their lineup for the game this friday. Lista de convocados Guarda-redes: Nelson e Tiago Defesas: César Prates, Quiroga, Contreras, Hugo e Rui Jorge Médios: Rui Bento, Paulo Bento, Carlos Martins, Marcos Paulo, Pedro Barbosa, Quaresma, Toñito e Danny Avançados: Niculae, Kutuzov, João Pinto, Cristiano Ronaldo e Jardel The game is Friday night 21:00 (Lisbon Time) Força Sporting!
The Sporting defense is worrying me a bit. Without Beto the defense is a lot weaker. I'm not a fan of Cesar Prates, yet I can't see keeping Quiroga on the right side with Hugo in the middle. The team is getting a bit thin at the back. Another injury, and we've got a big problem on our hands.
I agree. I too am not Cesar Prates biggest fan but I'd rather have him there instead of Hugo. He really worries me. There is talk of Sporting bringing back Andre Cruz with him not being signed it would be perfect. If I'm not mistaken he has said he would be open to returning.
Bring back Andre Cruz! Beto is out for about 2 months, but until then we need to find someone else, and it's going to have to be an unsigned player. Even if Beto didn't get hurt, Sporting would still need another defender. There's no way we can last a whole season with only 4 capable defenders. IMHO, playing a three man backline wouldn't work too well either. Rui Jorge is more of an attacking wingback, and I couldn't see him staying in the back for a whole game, but maybe Boloni will use this?
Final Score: Sporting 2 - 0 Maritimo Goal by Contreras in the 89th and Niculae in stoppage time. Listening to the radio it sounded like Maritimo was dominating Sporting in the first half. Very good result for us, without a doubt. I'm still not comfortable with having Hugo in defense, but we have no other option. As soon as the January trade window opens, we better go out and grab Andre Cruz! On the other hand, having Niculae and Quaresma on the bench shows just how deep our team really is, at least offensively. Hopefully we can shore up the defense in January.