The 92nd minute

I’ve never watched that match again. Just thinking about that moment gives me goosebumps.

I became a football coach for experiences like that. It is impossible to describe the sensations that gripped my whole body when Kelvin scored the goal in the 92nd minute. It is a feeling that I will always carry with me, in my emotional memory.

I have the impression that nobody in the stadium would have made the changes I made in the second half. But it was my own feeling. A kind of connection with God. I didn’t expect any tactical input from Kelvin. I mean, I just asked him to do what he liked best: get the ball and attack the opposition. “Have fun, play with confidence, play your way,” I told him.

The idea was to try to provoke a penalty, a dangerous foul, something like that. I felt Kelvin could pull something out of the hat in a situation where we needed to score.

It was the penultimate fixture of the 2012/13 Portuguese league season. We were hosting Benfica at the Dragão Stadium, and both teams were still undefeated in the competition. The problem for us, for Porto, was that Benfica came into the match with two points more. A draw was no use to us.

At that time, Benfica had the best squad in Portuguese football and they were coached by Jorge Jesus. Needless to say, he is a great coach. It is very difficult to play against his teams. His Benfica had plenty of answers.

"Lucky? I usually reply that it takes a lot of luck to lose just one game in two seasons"

If his Benfica side had any weaknesses, it was in the moments when he prioritised defending an advantage. In other words, when Benfica were winning the game and adopted a more defensive approach, they had some vulnerabilities.

And that is what happened that day. By making more defensive substitutions, Jorge sent a message to his players: “It’s time to control the game, to make the team more compact.”

While they were watching the clock, waiting for the end of the game, we kept playing. Sometimes I hear people say we were lucky. Lucky? I usually reply that it takes a lot of luck to lose just one game in two seasons. Going into that game against Benfica, we had only one defeat in 58 league games under my management.

It takes a lot of hard work to get lucky in a league as competitive as the Liga Portugal. But I understand the argument, and I admit that that fantastic goal by Kelvin decided the title.

But I’ll tell you one thing: the Porto I had the good fortune to manage gave me the feeling of always being in control of situations. Even in extreme ones — like those final moments of the derby at the Dragão — we knew how to stay focused and stick to the plan.

And when preparing for a ‘final’, like the match against Benfica, you have to focus on the tactical aspect of the game. The inevitable emotional load will be easier for players to manage if they know exactly what they have to do on the pitch. 

"When we were ahead, it was almost impossible for the opposition to turn the game around"

The coach has to send a clear message about what he expects from each of his players in the different possible match scenarios. If they know what their tasks are, they will be calmer when dealing with the emotions that are bound to arise.

In the two years I was in charge of Porto, we managed to play great matches – not only against Benfica, but also against Sporting and Braga. The team was full of players with enormous tactical maturity, who also had a lot of personality to carry out what we had planned.

It didn’t matter whether we were playing at home or away. We knew how to press to win the ball back, and we knew even better what to do when we had the ball at our feet. When we were ahead, it was almost impossible for the opposition to turn the game around.

There is only one ball on the pitch, and it was usually in our possession, so how could the opposition score goals? Porto knew how to identify the right moments to slow down or speed up the game.

And yet my beginnings as Porto coach were not easy. I faced a lot of criticism and mistrust from the Portista community itself — the Porto fans. Before I became the head coach I was assistant to André Villas-Boas; I inherited his job when he left for Chelsea.

No former assistant ever succeeded in becoming Porto’s head coach. My story is unique at the club. Mind you, the pressure I was under was enormous. My most relevant coaching experience until then had been at Santa Clara in the Portuguese second division.

"I wanted to test myself elsewhere, try new challenges and learn in different contexts"

The two consecutive league titles in the two years I was in charge perfectly completed my cycle at Porto.

After eight years at the club, I felt it was time to seek new experiences. At Porto, I had been youth coach and then assistant coach, before I had the opportunity to be head coach.

It was almost as if I was exclusively a Porto coach. As if I belonged to the ‘Porto brand’ of coaches. I wanted to test myself elsewhere, try new challenges and learn in different contexts.

That is what I have been doing for the 11 years since Kelvin’s goal. I have made my own way, working with different styles of football. Now I am a much more experienced coach.

What hasn’t changed is my passion for football. I still work with the same joy as someone who celebrates a winning goal in the 92nd minute of a derby.

Author: The Coaches' Voice