Rui Quinta: “[Vitor Pereira] will be cheered, Porto record untouchable” | OneFootball

4,716 days.

That is how much time has passed since Vítor Pereira’s last match at the Estádio do Dragão as FC Porto manager, namely the famous victory over Benfica, sealed by Kelvin’s goal, on May 11, 2013. This Thursday, the Portuguese coach returns to the Dragons’ home, now to face Nottingham Forest, his current club.

Fate would have it that the coach, now 57, would return to a stage he knows well, in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. The English side reached this stage after eliminating Midtjylland in the round of 16, while the blue and whites saw off Stuttgart.

With these elements on the table, and ahead of the reunion between coach and club, Rui Quinta, Vítor Pereira’s assistant during his spell at the Dragão, gave his assessment of Nottingham’s Portuguese manager.

“He was very smart in the transition from assistant to head coach”

“I never felt he was held back. If there is one place to start coaching at the highest level, it is FC Porto. At that time the club had exemplary organization and a squad full of quality. It is extraordinary when we have that at our disposal. Vítor was very smart in the way he made the transition from assistant to head coach; he had the respect of all the players,” says Rui Quinta.

“Leaving? He and his family were under huge exposure”

Under Vítor Pereira, FC Porto played 60 league matches and lost only one, in 2011/12, against Gil Vicente. For Rui Quinta, the explanation is relatively simple.

“Any team is the image of its coach. Beyond that, it also had to do with the belief that was established and the trust placed in the coach. When you have a capable coach and a quality squad, everything becomes easier. There was a great deal of confidence in the ideas being conveyed,” he says, highlighting in this regard the way the 2012/13 squad reacted to the draw against Marítimo on matchday 23, which left the club four points behind leaders Benfica:

“The title was in doubt, but Vítor was able to rally the players and unite them around his belief. I remember him saying there were seven games left and that if we won them, we would be champions. And that is what happened.”

Considering that, if FC Porto had not gone out in the Champions League round of 16 against Málaga in that second season, they “would hardly have become champions,” the coach naturally highlights the match of Kelvin’s goal. “It is something that stays in my head; whenever I talk about my time at FC Porto, that is the first thing I think of. It was a hard-fought win against a good opponent, who also had not lost in the league. It was a great, emotional moment.”

With so many positives, why did the coaching staff not remain in charge of the club in 2013/14? “That is a question that has to be put to Vítor. At the time, given the circumstances in which he lived through that final phase of the league campaign, it was what he felt was the right thing to do. It had to do with the whole environment surrounding everything; he and his family were under huge exposure. It was partly to protect himself and to experience other things,” explains our interviewee.

And although more than a decade has now passed since Vítor Pereira’s ‘goodbye’ to FC Porto, Rui Quinta believes the coach will be warmly received at the Estádio do Dragão:

“Vítor is a three-time champion coach: one title as an assistant and two as head coach. During that period he suffered only one league defeat. These are facts. I may not like him or someone else may not like him, but the truth is that he is one of the most successful coaches in FC Porto’s history. I believe he will be very well received; the fans know how to recognize those who worked for the good of the club. A standing ovation? I think so; his record at FC Porto is untouchable. He returns now after 13 years and will be well received. He always made it clear that he wanted to coach in the Premier League, and he deserved the opportunity he is having.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.