15/03/2016 01:06
Benfica keep pounding, add another national cup title to their showcase
News from the National Federations
Porto, Portugal, March 15, 2016. This past weekend Benfica LISBOA claimed their sixteenth title in Portugal’s national cup after edging Fonte Bastardo AZORES 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17) in the final act of the competition held at Figueira da Foz.
On Saturday, the Portuguese champions had beaten Câstelo da Maia GC by 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17) in the semis, while the boys from the Azores had comfortably edged SC Caldas in three straight sets (25-17, 25-18, 27-25).
Benfica LISBOA and Fonte Bastardo AZORES put on a real show on Sunday as these teams were equally eager to secure the trophy. While Benfica started the match better than their opponents, Fonte Bastardo levelled things up by claiming the second set. After catching a good start in the third set, Fonte Bastardo’s men were unable to stand the comeback of the ‘Reds’ that eventually edged ahead again. After that, Benfica dominated the fourth and final set, thus claiming the 2016 Cup of Portugal.
Hugo Gaspar, Zelão (Benfica) and Caíque Oswaldo Ferreira da Silva (Fonte Bastardo) all topped the charts of the best scorers in the final match with 16 points apiece.
José Jardim, coach of Benfica LISBOA, commented: “This is an ambitious group of players that have shown, once again, their determination to play finals and to collect trophies, whilst remaining humble and down-to-earth as if this was their first victory.”
Alexandre Afonso, coach of Fonte Bastardo AZORES, said: “It was a very difficult match for us, against maybe the strongest candidate to be the champions of Portugal. On top of this, Benfica recently made it to the semis of a challenging competition such as the CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup, whilst we have been lacking the rhythm of the game because of a break in our national league. I believe that this was the main reason for our performance to be so inconsistent. We failed and we couldn’t solve some issues in the third set which determined the outcome of the final.”
What lies ahead? Benfica are still in the race for two more titles this season. The team from Lisbon will play later this week Italy’s Calzedonia VERONA in the 2016 CEV Volleyball Challenge Cup semis before meeting again Fonte Bastardo AZORES in a best-of-five series that will determine this year’s Portuguese national champions.
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