In 2016, Leicester City’s miracle victory still vividly, and the Greek “myth” and Danish “fairy tale” can also be called classic counterattacks. Many must know that the year of 2004 was honored as a “Dark Horse Year” in football. Greece used its own long-distance dashing tactics to pass all the way through the European Cup. In the Champions League, Portugal’s giant FC Porto to win numerous top clubs and collect champion finally.
In the same year, both the club and the national team’s competition broke out “Dark Horse”, which was the first time in football history. As for these two big shocks, it is difficult to define which one is even more difficult, but in terms of the impact on the future of football, Porto’s Champions League is obviously more profound.
At the time, there were Deco and Carvalho players who later became superstars. There were also players like Maniche and Ferreira who had proved themselves in the top leagues. Most importantly, their head coach was “Magic Bird” Mourinho. It can be said that Mourinho was famous from Porto and began his legendary coaching career.
However, as far as the lineup is concerned, Porto in 2004 was still far from Real Madrid and Manchester United. However, in the process of winning the championship, Mourinho’s Portuguese giants demonstrated their tenacity as well as their technical and tactical skills that are not inferior to any European top clubs. Then next, let us review the magical Porto team together!
The 2003–2004 season was Mourinho’s second season in coaching Porto. In the previous season, the “Magic Bird” team won the Europe Cup, the Portuguese League title and Portugal Cup. Triple crown, this is absolutely successful for a professional club. What was even more gratifying was the team’s cohesiveness. At that time, many overseas giants invite many players in the Porto to leave, but the main framework of the previous season was basically preserved at the end pf summer transfer.
The stability of the lineup has had a significant impact on the performance of a team. In the 2003–2004 season, the league started out very early and Porto quickly established its leading position in the league. “Magic Bird” gradually shifted the team’s focus to the Champions League.
However, the Portugal giant then experienced the “cruelty” of the Champions League, at the first round of the group’s away game draw with Football Club Partizan was not even the worst. In the second round of the away game against Real Madrid, Porto was beaten by his opponent with score of a 1–3.
Mourinho showed the top coach’s skill at this time. He quickly adjusted the team’s status and ensured that the team’s performance in the league did not show any major fluctuations. This greatly encouraged the morale of the Porto team. In the subsequent Champions League group match, Porto immediately won Marseille double times to regain the initiative. In the final two rounds of the home game, in the face of Real Madrid and Partizan, Mourinho’s team handed no loss, eventually qualifying as the group’s second to Champions League knockout.
In the first round of the Champions League knockout, Porto met Manchester United led by Ferguson, and in this turn of the match, Mourinho let the world see the power of their own “defense” in the counterattack. In the first round at Dragon Stadium in Porto, South Africa forward McCarthy scored twice, and Porto defeated Manchester United 2–1 to win the promotion.
In the second round at the Old Trafford, Mourinho’s team showed a strong tenacity. Porto’s show of solidarity and impeccable defense finally led to a draw at Old Trafford, qualifying for promotion. This promotion of Porto not only prevent Manchester United to enter Champions League ¼ final in consecutive game, but also stirred the Ferguson UEFA Champions League 100 games celebration.
Then in the ¼ final with Olympique Lyonnais, Porto did not give any chance at home and beat the opponent 2–0. Being guest in France Porto played a 2:2 score with Olympique Lyonnais and eventually advanced to a 4:2 score. In this series of matches, the outbreak of midfielder Deco became the key of the game.
After entering the semifinals, Porto met the biggest difficulty in the Champions League. In the face of Deportivo, Mourinho’s team still has no way to score even after Depo getting red card. The 0–0 score was held to the end, which means that Porto will no longer have the initiative in Spain.
In the second round of match, striker Derlei stood out and his paddle shot straight to the corner of goal, which breaks the record of Deportivo’s 8 consecutive Champions League with no goal loss. Then, Porto’s strong defense system once again showed up, fight of both sides is very fierce, but eventually Porto held a 1 to 0 lead, which led to the Champions League final.
In the Champions League final, Porto’s opponent is Monaco, who is also a “Dark Horse”. Due to the injury of his striker: Giuly, Monaco did not bring much trouble to Porto in the final. In this case, Mourinho’s team won the 2004 Champions League 3–0 and after this game, Porto became the most “legendary” team of the season. “Magic Bird” and his major disciples Deco, Carvalho, and Ferreira became the targets of many European big clubs.
In fact, Porto’s success in the 2003–2004 season was not unpredictable, this team has demonstrated a chilling fighting force in the previous season. In the 2002–2003 season, Porto has showed up top defensive performance in the league. The defenders Carvalho, Ferreira and Baia have demonstrated themselves as world-class. Midfielder Deco has an immediate advantage in the combing of the offense. Whether it is the league or the European Cup, Porto has not encountered too much hindrance.
However, under such circumstances, thanks to Mourinho’s personal charisma, Porto’s main frame of the previous season was retained. After another year’s running-in, it is not surprising that this Porto scored such a result. Have you ever predicted it?
Nowadays, the emergence of the SPORT X ecosystem has the potential to transform your prediction into wealth and build on a blockchain basis. The core function is to issue a cryptographic token authorized by a sports team or player (virtual Currency) , and fans can trade tokens via the SPORT X platform.
Most importantly, this crypto-token has a similarity to virtual currency: the value of Bitcoin. If you started with the encryption token authorized by Porto, Deco or Mourinho in the early years, then after Porto won the Champions League in 2004, your wealth will reach its peak.
In addition, SPORT X also has the function of sports IP development. Clubs and athletes can get closer to their fans by selling related peripherals. In contrast, fans are more inclined to support the hottest teams in the moment. Imagine that around 2004, players such as the Porto Club and even Deco, who had related issues on SPORT X, would be very helpful for them to realize their own value!
Does this sound very tempting? To tell you the good news, the release of the SPORT X ecological chain platform has now entered the warm-up phase. If you are interested in the project, the SPORT X team invites you to join our Telegram group and follow our social media accounts. From time to time, there will be air-drop events.
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