Marítimo 3-0 Benfica 2000/01: the night a little-known Argentine took apart Mourinho’s Benfica | OneFootball

Benfica travel to Madeira to visit the stadium nicknamed O Caldeirão - The Cauldron - this weekend as Marítimo welcome a big name to their Barreiros home after promotion back to the top flight. Portuguese football historian Miguel Lourenço Pereira looks back at a famous meeting between the two clubs a quarter of a century ago.

There are names that resonate as sinister figures in the dark. Never-ending nightmares. For many Benfica supporters. Lagorio is one of those names. A devilish figure among many during the ill-fated Vietnam era, yes, but one capable of making the bravest men shudder. Nobody knew who he was; nobody knows what happened next, but for an hour, he became Benfica’s executioner as no other Marítimo player had ever been or would be again.

When the Eagles travelled to Funchal in the cold winter of 2000, they never expected to be so easily demolished by Nelo Vingada’s unfancied team. It remains one of the most painful defeats in their darkest epoch.

A Bola front cover: “BENFICA DOWNED IN THE CAULDRON BY THREE LAGORIO GOALS”

From Buenos Aires to Barreiros

Lagorio was born in the San Nicolas neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. Like so many pibes who grew up in the 1980s, his idol was Maradona, and his dream was to become a footballer. He never got to the same heights as El Pibe, but in 1994, aged 18, he made his debut for Gimnasia before then moving to Mexico, where he started to carve a name for himself with both Atlas and Pumas.

His stats caught the eye of Marítimo and in the summer of 2000 the club made a move, bringing him in to join the squad led by Nelo Vingada. It included the likes of Bakero, Porfirio, Jokanovic and Iliev, a side full of talent but that lacked a goalscorer who could bring Marítimo back into European football, after finishing sixth the year before, five points below Boavista.

After a disappointing draw away at Alverca, the islanders beat Gil Vicente at home, were defeated away by Salgueiros and then scraped a win against Desportivo das Aves at the Barreiros. Lagorio scored the first of the match and of the season, proving there was something there all right. Yet, by round nine, they were soundly beaten by Boavista away and were lagging behind in tenth place in the league table, one of the biggest disappointments of the campaign.

Chaos reigns at Benfica

They were not the biggest underachievers though. Only two points better off, in seventh place, lay Benfica. By November, any title hopes were all but gone for the Eagles, who were dreading the possibility of their big rivals Porto getting back on track after losing the league to Sporting in the previous campaign. Worst, they had just undergone one of the most tense and turbulent elections in living memory. The former Benfica president João Vale e Azevedo had been deemed responsible for the disastrous sporting and financial mess the club was in, even if the issues had started long before under Manuel Damásio’s tenure.

The president’s gambles on Graeme Souness and Jupp Heynckes had not paid off, and in the summer of 2000 he made two key decisions for the future of Portuguese football and Benfica. He fired João Vieira Pinto, the club’s golden boy and crowd favourite, who then signed for Sporting, helping the Lisbon Lions to claim the league in 2002. He then moved on to hire a manager with no experience but as an assistant to two of the most renowned managers in world football, Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal. His name was José Mourinho.

Mourinho takes his managerial bow

Mourinho was called in from Barcelona to leave his mark on the club he had supported as a youngster, alongside his native Vitoria FC, and he went for it. He knew Vale e Azevedo wasn’t the most popular of presidents and also that elections were on the horizon and any potential candidate would likely bring their own manager in. Still, he took on the challenge. Things didn’t start well for him and by November Benfica were already out of Europe and the title race. The squad was poor for the club’s standards, the crowd had suffered greatly over the past seasons and were tired of looking up to the success of Porto and Sporting, and the mood in the dressing room wasn’t the best. Still, he decided to move forward with his tactical plan and tried to implement a new mentality in the dressing room. It failed soundly.

The trip to Madeira would prove a disappointing one for young manager José Mourinho and his assistant Carlos Mozer

When Benfica travelled to Funchal, they knew any result other than victory would harm their chances of taking part in European football in the next campaign, something unheard of at the Luz. With Marítimo also failing to meet expectations, there was a clear sense that this could have been the perfect match to act as a launchpad for the rest of the winter campaign and hope for the best.

Toni waiting in the wings for a Mourinho slip-up

Vale e Azevedo had been replaced by then so Mourinho was also aware that Toni – a clear favourite of new president Vilarinho – was lined up to replace him in the event of any slip-up. Toni was a much-beloved figure among the supporters. A legendary player and the last coach to lead the Eagles to the championship, Toni was a shadow Mourinho had to deal with at the same time he needed to get the best out of a squad that suspected their manager would not be there for too long.

It was a delicate situation as Benfica travelled to Madeira, and the hosts were set on taking advantage of their opponents’ instability. Marítimo coach Vingada knew Benfica all too well, after serving as an assistant coach in 1997/98, and he prepared a side ready to hurt Mourinho’s team that was racked with self-doubt.

Marítimo coach Nelo Vingada masterminded a convincing win over Benfica

Cold night, red-hot match

The match took place on a cold November 5th, with the locals playing with Nélson in goal, behind Paulo Sérgio, Albertino, Lino and Carlos Jorge in defence while Bruno was operating as the holding midfielder alongside Iliev and Mariano. Porfirio and Joel supported Lagorio as the front line. The future Special One put his money on the German goalkeeper Robert Enke, as usual, with Mourinho opting for three centre-backs in Carlos Marchena, Paulo Madeira and Fernando Meira. Maniche and Calado gave depth to the midfield and Diogo Luis and Poborsky operated from the wings, while Dani, Pierre van Hooijdonk and João Tomás were instructed to provide width and attacking menace.

Despite not being the best Benfica, there were still names there who could conjure up something out of the blue. Meira would win the Bundesliga for Stuttgart. Marchena would win the World Cup with Spain, Poborsky was a season-hardened veteran, and Dani was capable of magic when he wanted to. Maniche would be a key player for Mourinho’s all-conquering Porto two years later, while Van Hooijdonk’s free-kicks were deadly and João Tomás served perfectly well as a poacher. It was not, by far, the worst starting eleven from Benfica’s Vietnam era. But they would suffer that night in Madeira.

Dutch striker Pierre Van Hooijdonk was well marshalled by the Marítimo defence

Benfica threaten, Marítimo score

The game started as expected with Benfica trying to take the upper hand. The visitors twice hit the woodwork and for a moment it seemed everything would be fine and Mourinho’s ploy was working. Wrong. In the 13th minute Lagorio produced the coolest of finishes to beat Enke effortlessly. It could have been just a bump on the road, but it undermined the fragile confidence of the Benfica players completely. They had the spirit to move forward but lacked the discipline and ability to hurt Marítimo, who knew how to close down spaces and wait for their chance, which was bound to happen sooner or later.

Until half-time, nothing much happened but when the second half kicked off, a storm named Lagorio stepped up to destroy Benfica’s hopes and ambitions. The Argentine took advantage of a mix-up between Calado and Marchena, as if they were speaking two different languages, and made it goal number two of the night. It wouldn’t be his last. Six minutes later, there he was again, as if he had been invited to the party at the latest hour and turned out to be the star of the night. Another run into space, another duel with Enke, another ball in the back of the net.

It was an unforgettable night for hat-trick hero Lagorio

Fans lap up a thumping victory

The Barreiros crowd went wild and with good reason too. Mourinho knew it was all over for him, regardless of what happened next, and so did the players who couldn’t muster any resistance. They just trawled through the pitch waiting for the game to be over, content with not conceding a fourth instead of going for the goal that might, somehow, bring them a ray of hope.

It was a performance as grey as their alternative kit worn that night. It was as poor as any Benfica side has ever been away from home, and it was Marítimo who could have scored an historic fourth if a clear foul from Calado on Lagorio had been turned into a penalty kick. It wasn’t, and Benfica were spared the humiliation, but it also served to show that Marítimo needed no help to thump their storied opponents. They had run riot all night and had the visitors in their pocket by the time the game ended.

Joel Santos, who recently made a comeback at 50 years of age Norwegian club Sauherad, in action

Eagles out of Europe for the first time, Marítimo make it via the Portuguese Cup

By the time the Benfica squad were on a plane back home, they were tenth in the league, one point behind Marítimo, who jumped up to eighth. Worse, they were trailing Porto by 10 points and Salgueiros, in the final European qualification slot, by six. It wasn’t an impossible job, but it looked tougher by the day. In the end, what all Benfica fans dreaded happened. Mourinho was out after beating Sporting 3-0 and a showdown with president Vilarinho; Toni came in, but results didn’t go his way either. Benfica finished the season sixth and, for the first time, would not have European football for the following season, finishing below União de Leiria, Braga, Sporting, Porto and surprising league champions Boavista.

Marítimo’s campaign didn’t take off after that iconic win, and they finished 11th, a disappointing end after so many had predicted them to finish in the top five. It could have been a terrible season for the Madeira side, but this was also the year they got to the Portuguese Cup final again, after losing the 1996 edition to Sporting. They disposed of future league champions Boavista in the semi-finals and went on to face Porto at the Jamor in what was Fernando Santos’ last match for the Dragons. It ended 2-0 to the northern side, with Pena and Alenichev the scorers, but since Porto was already qualified for the Champions League, Marítimo took their place in the UEFA Cup for the 2001/02 campaign, a way of compensating for the poor league performance.

Mariano tracks Benfica left-back Diogo Luís, who has gone on to forge a career in TV punditry

Lagoria and Mourinho take opposite career paths

Lagorio, the hero of the Benfica match, was not even at the Jamor. Despite being the side’s top goalscorer, he had returned to Mexico where he played the following campaigns before ending his playing days almost in anonymity in Peru. Few Marítimo supporters would have ranked him as one of their top strikers, but the memory of that night still lingers. The night an almost unknown striker seemingly put to bed the notion that José Mourinho was an elite football manager.