Madeira February 2008

Funchal - elderly tourists , mainly British or German, mingling students some with bare, flat midriffs and ever changing February weather.

An atmospheric old town with very nice restaurants and bars together with a sizeable marina and nearby casino are all set up to cater for the (well heeled) tourist industry.

It has two main teams , slightly incrongrously playing in different stadiums, one (Maritimo) in the city stadium , within somewhat uphill walking distance of the centre . The other,Nacional, a steep drive up the mountainside , my journey being made in part dense fog/low level cloud .

In the first game Maritimo met league leaders Porto, had one good chance , missed, and from then on the visitors and league leaders dominated, scoring strategically on the stroke of half time. Two goals later in the 2nd half and Djalma being sent off for two yellows helped secure a comfortable win.
Lisandro Lopez looked every inch the leagues top goalscorer getting two & Tunisian Sektioui the other.
Porto had a decent size group of supporters though probably quite a few live locally.


Nacional played Vitoria Guimaraes, watched by less than 500, for only about half an hour before the low level cloud /fog made it unrealistic to continue , after two stoppages. It's the first time I can remember having a game postponed for too much cloud.

Rather than see the re-scheduled Nacional match (played the next day) I chose to visit Machico , along the coast from Funchal, and see them lose 1-0 to Valdevez in the Portuguese 3rd level. In a scenic ground a small crowd of around 200 watched this encounter.

Refreshments - some nice food, especially fish, from a good choice of restaurants.

Caipirinha count = 2 Poncha (the local cocktail) = 2

more pics at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/40709503