Updated at 17.02
A SHOCKED SPORTING Clube de Portugal will play in Sunday’s Portuguese Cup final despite a horrific ordeal that saw a 50-strong gang of masked and hooded men brutally attack players and officials at training.
Wearing t-shirts bearing the club’s emblem the mob invaded Sporting’s training ground on Tuesday and went on the rampage, terrorising players and personnel and vandalising dressing rooms.
Dutch international Bas Dost, Sporting’s top scorer this season, required stitches to his neck. A photograph of his bloodied face appeared on social media.
“It was a distressing situation and we are all shocked,” the striker, with 27 league goals to his name this season, told Dutch news website Algemeen Dagblad.
“This is a drama for everyone, I am empty,” the 28-year-old added to Portuguese website Ojogo.
He had scored in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Maritimo Funchal which left Sporting in third and missing out on Champions League football next season.
Argentina international Marcos Acuna and Croatia’s Josip Misic were also assaulted in the raid on Sporting’s Alcochete training base in the Lisbon suburbs.
The team met their player’s union on Wednesday to discuss how to react and whether to pull out of Sunday’s Cup final against Desportivo das Aves.
A team statement later confirmed that despite their frightening ordeal they would face Desportivo in four days time.
“We are not in a physical or psychological condition to resume normal training immediately,” the players said.
“But because the Cup final is a celebration of Portuguese football, and also out of respect to our club, we will play in the final.”
The horrific incident left Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “worried by the image this projects of Portugal to the world”.
He added: “I’m concerned as Portugal is a power in professional football, and I’m worried about the seriousness of what’s happened.”
Portuguese police have made 21 arrests, according to the government.
Several hundred Sporting fans made their way to the team’s Alvalde stadium on Tuesday night to lend their support to their stricken team’s players and management.
Supporters group ‘Juventude Leonina’ condemned the attack on social media.
“The Juventude Leonina numbers more than 7,000 fans. It deeply regrets what happened and disassociates itself from these events.”
Sporting issued a statement of their own, decried what it termed “acts of vandalism and the attacks on (our) athletes, coaches and professional staff.”
The Portuguese Primeira Liga said: “The perpetrators of these incidents are not fans of football, they are criminals.”
Tuesday’s drama follows last month’s war of words between players and the club’s president who had threatened to suspend almost all of the “spoilt brats” in the first team.
Bruno de Carvalho launched a rant on social media following Sporting’s 2-0 Europa League quarter-final first leg loss to Atletico Madrid.
At this moment in time, Jack O’Donoghue might be an upgrade to the back row. Coombes is the one that Munster cant afford to miss time. He was next level on Saturday.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: and I even think Coombes is better at 6 than 8
@Macca1986: better at 8 than 6, sorry.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: agreed, cj, ruddock must be scratching their heads at how Pom got 2 year with the irfu. He was brilliant on his day but that day is too irregular nowadays.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: How J.O.D doesn’t get a starting place in that Munster team is unbelievable. He is a serious athlete and makes a difference every appearance. If he moved to Connaught or Ulster he would be first name on their team sheet
@Will: That you Liam Toland ?
@Will: that you Liam Toland?
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: yeah JOD has had a great year, lots of eye-catching carries. POM looked wrecked at the weekend.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: based on what, it is certainly not form. Add in the fact POM can play 7 and gives a more balanced back row.
Coombes was great at carrying but he needs to hugely improve his defence; 5 missed tackles is too many.
@B Collins: yet he had 1 carry against Leinster and went backwards.
@John Buckley: I dont know what balance he offered in the time he was playing on Saturday. O’Donoghue is more abrasive I’d say. POM really brings value to the lineout but that’s not really a massive USP.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL: it was a lot more ballance than JOD offered and the stats show it. 10 tackles in 49 minutes from a man you constantly state can’t tackle shows you have no clue and are just continuing your vendetta against POM.
@Macca1986: Has to be 8….
@Macca1986: Has to be 8..
@John Buckley: No vendetta. Just say it as I see it. I think you might slightly embellish the impact that POM has. Nevertheless, each to their own.
@Seán Upton: you got me….
Wouldn’t see this as a bad thing as a Munster fan. O’donoghue brought more energy and power in 15 mins than o mahony in 65. O mahony has been out of form for way too long.
@hypebeast: …yeah, to be honest!! One of his biggest fans but looked a shadow of his former self last Sat.
@Michael Murray: as did every munster player
@hypebeast: can you get anything right? POM played 49mins to JODs 31 minutes.
POM made more passes, tackles (10 in 49minutes for the people who say he doesn’t tackle), defenders beaten and carried for more meters than JOD. In fact JOD doesn’t beat him on any stat, so who had the bigger impact?
POM has been in great form this season, it’s a blatant lie if you state otherwise.
Better off without him – his biggest attribute lately is going missing in big games !
Doesn’t matter if he’s injured, the angry face and pashun will do the job.
you’ll probably see munster rise for this game and couldn’t put in a performance last weekend
@Macca1986: Couldn’t or weren’t left put a performance in by a better more physical team. Can’t rise and play with 30% of the ball.
@Alan Noonan: I love pain so re-watched it last night, the amount of missed tackles was horrendous, that is not Leinster being brilliant its Munster being sloppy. The aggression Leinster showed was top drawer, munster lay down too easy and let them walk over us. Shocking level of performance for a final.
@Ronan: Pressure, physicality and tempo leads to missed tackles. Defending for that long also.
@Ronan: Going back over the years Munster have had a habit of doing that the week before a Heineken game and played out of their skins.
Was always a league came though never a final.
Hopefully we can show our best form on Saturday.
@Alan Noonan: Alan a lot of the missed tackles happened in the first 20 minutes. Been a problem all year.