Former Surs boss Andre Villas-Boas elected as Porto president

Portuguese football has experienced a historic moment: Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa is no longer president of Porto. The 86-year-old had been in the post since 1982 and still felt he had the strength to rule for one more term, but in the early hours of Sunday morning his defeat in the presidential elections of the 'Dragons' was confirmed. His successor will be Andre Villas-Boas.

At 46 years of age, the former Porto coach in the 2010-11 season returns home to become the 34th president in the club's history. His coaching career did not flourish as much as it had promised, but now he has a chance to prove his worth in the highest possible position at his hometown club.

Villas-Boas' career started very, very young. At 16 he was already giving advice to Bobby Robson and at 21 he became coach of the Virgin Islands, and subsequently began working on Jose Mourinho's coaching staff. He followed him through Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, and in 2009 began his solo career with Academica de Coimbra, which he saved with flying colours after finding the team bottom of the table on his arrival.

His greatest success was undoubtedly at Do Dragao. Villas-Boas replaced the long-serving Jesualdo Ferreira, who had signed for Sheikh Al-Thani's new Melaga, and in that season he managed to win four titles: Super Cup, Portuguese League, Cup and Europa League. That was the great team of Otamendi, Moutinho, Fernando, Freddy Guarin, James Rodriguez, Hulk and the great Rafamel Falcao.

 

April 28, 2024

After that year, and constantly compared to his mentor Jose Mourinho, he followed in his footsteps by joining Chelsea. However, he was sacked in March and replaced by Di Matteo, who went on to win the Champions League. He then moved on to Tottenham, where he was sacked after a season and a half, before moving on to Zenit St Petersburg, Shanghai SIPG and finally Olympique Marseille. Russia and France are his two longest spells.

We haven't seen him coaching in the last three years, although we have seen him take up hobbies such as motor racing. In fact, in 2018 he took part in the Dakar Rally with Toyota and in 2021 he raced the Rally of Portugal in the WRC2 category at the wheel of a Citroen. Now he is returning to the world of football in a big way, after a campaign in which he has won over the majority of members, although not the ultras. 

After their victory there was tension outside the stadium as members of the fans invaded the garage at Do Dragao with shouts of "we only have one president!". So tense begins this project in which there is a Spaniard involved, Andoni Zubizarreta. The former goalkeeper becomes the new sporting director of Porto, a position he already held at FC Barcelona and Olympique Marseille, where he coincided with the new Porto president.

Under Pinto da Costa, the Dragons became one of the biggest clubs in Portugal and won a total of 68 titles. A new era begins on Sunday, that of Andre Villas-Boas, and it does so on the day of the Portuguese 'Clasico' against Sporting CP. The 'Lions' can take a definitive step towards the title, while Porto, in a sporting crisis, must win to avoid jeopardising their third place.

 

April 28, 2024