By The fairy-tale is officially Europe-wide. Portuguese second-tier side S.C.U. Torreense will host Sunderland in the Europa League on Thursday evening — the first European home match in the club’s entire history, and the culmination of a cup run that shocked an entire nation.
Torreense celebrate their Taça de Portugal triumph (Credits: BBC Sport)
From Second Division to Europe
Torreense have not played top-flight football since the 1991-92 campaign. Their league fixtures this season include meetings with the ‘B’ teams of Sporting, Benfica and Porto. But the club from Torres Vedras, roughly 35 miles north of Lisbon, earned a Europa League spot in the most dramatic way possible — by beating giants Sporting 2-1 in the Taça de Portugal final in May.
Captain and Cape Verde international Stopira scored the extra-time penalty that sealed it. The triumph made Torreense the first second-division side ever to win the Portuguese Cup in its current format, which has been played since 1938. “It’s something that I don’t think will ever happen again in Portuguese football,” admitted Portuguese journalist and former Benfica goalkeeper Jose Delgado.
Already Beating the Odds
Managed by Luis Tralhao — whose brother Joao is currently an assistant to Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid — Torreense have already surpassed many expectations by beating Lillestrom on their European debut. They face further tests against Ferencvaros, Ararat-Armenia, Celtic, Real Sociedad, Lech Poznan and Olympiacos before the end of January.
“We don’t want to simply participate. We want to compete,” declared the club’s director of football and CEO Andre Sabino, calling the occasion “a landmark moment” for the club.
There is one bittersweet twist: Torreense’s 2,431-capacity Estadio Manuel Marques does not meet Uefa’s stadium criteria, so the match against Sunderland will be played almost 47 miles away at the Municipal Stadium in Leiria. Kick-off is at 17:45 BST on Thursday — and while it is not truly home, Torreense intend to make it feel like one.
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
