For the first time this season, the São Luís Stadium hosts a big one. This Tuesday, Farense will discuss with Benfica access to the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup at home and, also for that reason, it is a special game.
“Our São Luís is always a very special place for all people from Faro. The mythical and mystical São Luís. I’m sure that our players prefer to play games in São Luís and I even think that many of the opposing players also like the fervent and very particular to our home”, says the president of Farense to White Ball.
João Rodrigues recalls that the choice to host the so-called ‘greats’ at the Algarve Stadium is directly related to the source of revenue collected by the club, incomparable with what they would receive if they played at São Luís, although he emphasizes that, “to be the same, I would prefer , of course, São Luís”.
“Practically every game we have 80 to 90% of seats occupied and today is no exception. We will, almost certainly, sell out”, hopes the leader of the Faro lions.
Regarding the opponent, João Rodrigues remembers the championship game, at Estádio Algarve, in which Farense sold out the defeat and hopes that the story in São Luís will be different.
“We always have confidence and playing at São Luís even more so. The last game was very competitive, we lost 2-1 and could have had a different result. But there is a very positive expectation that we will achieve a result that will please and bring happiness to all Farense members and fans”, he emphasizes.
Farense-Benfica starts at 8:15 pm, there is a report on Renaissance and live monitoring rr.pt.
Market for “very particular situations” and Ricardo Velho
Even though Farense is on a path to recovery – just one defeat in the last eight games – it remains second to last in the championship. Tomás Ribeiro arrived from Vitória de Guimarães to reinforce the defense and the president is opening the door for more reinforcements, even though he admits that he doesn’t like to change things in January.
“We have already reinforced ourselves with a 25-year-old young man with a lot of Primeira Liga experience. That doesn’t mean we won’t reinforce ourselves even more, we probably will. Last year, we were the only ones who made absolutely no changes this window. I think how much less moving during this period the better.
And when talking about the market and Farense, it is inevitable to think of Ricardo Velho. The goalkeeper, already called up to the national team, renewed his contract in September until 2028 and João Rodrigues wants the Farense captain to continue for many years, even though he admits that there are clubs with financial arguments that do not exist in São Luís.
“We want him to stay as long as possible, but we know his capabilities and that other clubs can reach where Farense cannot, but at this point there is nothing, not closed, not even close to being closed”, he guarantees.
