As the menacing firecrackers went off in one end, and a monstrous tifo began to gently lower itself from display, the boy from Benfica was called for the start of his farewell.
In highly unusual circumstances, Sporting’s stadium announcer asked for Ruben Amorim to enter the field long after both teams had lined up.
He accepted a signed framed shirt, waved to the crowd, and then Manchester City unwittingly indulged the celebration of a guy they’re facing in the Premier League next month.
A heartfelt goodbye. Growing up a supporter of Lisbon’s red half, taken to the old Estadio da Luz as a baby by his father Virgilio, who remembers changing his nappy in the rickety stands. A midfielder who would later spend nine seasons across that way. Not somebody who would ordinarily endear themselves to this crowd.
Four years after City’s new incoming sporting director Hugo Viana made the daring move to part with around £10million to hire a fairly rookie coach from Braga charged with transforming a broken giant, Amorim leaves a hero. He leaves as a Sporting icon. Nobody talks about Benfica now.
Sporting Lisbon revealed a tifo thanking Ruben Amorim ahead of their clash with Man City
Amorim accepted gifts from the club as he prepares to depart for Manchester United
The 39-year-old waved to supporters ahead of his final home match in charge of the club
The Portuguese capital has been in a state of mourning. The anger at his defection mid-season, with the timing of giving Manchester United the nod seemingly the overriding disappointment rather than the choice itself, dissipated into acceptance. And then joy, the final home match of his hugely successful reign was the wake with an open bar and well-stocked jukebox.
Senior figures from across industry have been asked for their opinions on the news, which has dominated Portuguese life over the past fortnight, and one of the leading weekly newspapers even dedicated a political sketch to the 39-year-old, satirically suggesting he delayed the departure so as not to steal focus from the Government’s Budget. The cartoon wasn’t particularly complimentary but just goes to show how far his reach is over here.
‘Obrigado’ read the cascading banner from supporters inside the Estadio Jose Alvalade before kick off, alongside a picture of a statesmanlike Amorim and the five trophies won under him. Two of those were league titles – and he would surely have won a third this year too.
Amorim’s Sporting broke 19 years of Porto-Benfica dominance and altered the league for the foreseeable future. It’s a fair legacy to have cultivated with his close friend Viana. The family didn’t actually think taking over in 2020 was the best idea – especially his mother, Anabela, an accountant. Thoughts may have since changed.
Those around Sporting believe the only thing left to achieve was nudging themselves towards the European elite and, on the evidence of this performance against City and the early-season results, Amorim was well on his way. In that sense, it’s a shame he’s not stuck around to see the job completely through but the United pull was too strong.
Amorim bowed his head after Viktor Gyokeres missed a clear chance to equalise
The outgoing Sporting head coach was restrained as his side stormed back to lead Man City
Amorim appealed to his players to keep calm during the match and take breathers
His mannerisms and gesticulations on the touchline were right from Pep Guardiola’s manual
City were a marker for him. They’d turned up here and pummelled them 5-0 under three years ago. Despite the scoreline, Sporting were not too bad on the night but ruthlessly punished. So standing up to Pep Guardiola will have meant something on their trajectory.
Somewhat hilariously, Amorim – restrained as the goals went in – appealed for calm for much of the evening, telling his players to chill, take breathers. The advice went ignored as they gallivanted forward and regularly bothered Ederson’s goal. His head bowed when Viktor Gyokeres could only chip straight at the Brazilian when clean through, the coach spending a fair bit of time on the half-turn, like one of his midfielders, allowing him to berate players and the bench with ease. The mannerisms and gesticulations are straight from the Guardiola manual.
He feeds off emotion, which is why this bear put suits him so well, and it is not overly surprising to hear a story of Amorim’s childhood when a roller hockey goalkeeper as an infant. He’d had a bad day, criticised by the coach, and stormed off – refusing to play for them again. He never did go back, moving to football and the rest is history.
When between the sticks at hockey, he would become agitated at his father’s timekeeping when late ferrying him to training. Virgilio still owns a repair shop up the coast in Alverca do Ribatejo. His son’s already revved an old motor in Lisbon; now it’s time for Manchester.
