Mafra Falls to Vizela but Hope Remains in Relegation Fight

As I walked into the Estádio Municipal de Mafra, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” was playing, and there was a nervous anticipation among the fans. Today, Mafra would be hosting promotion hopefuls FC Vizela.

To give you context on this game, last year, FC Vizela were relegated from Liga Portugal, the top tier of Portuguese football. They had been in the Portuguese league for the past three seasons (prior to this one) and have a passionate fanbase, with many from the northern city making the almost four-hour trip to Mafra on the day.

Mafra, on the other hand, are on their third coach of the season. They are in last place in Liga Portugal 2, and fans are becoming exasperated with the results, especially since the club has been in Liga Portugal 2 since the 2019–2020 season and finished in sixth and ninth in the past two seasons.

Both clubs entered the field with something to gain.

If Vizela won, they would be within three points of a promotion spot. If Mafra won, they would have moved up one spot to 17th, putting them five points away from getting out of relegation. At the end of the day, when you’re in a relegation fight, you need every point you can get.

In the end, the visitors came, and they conquered 4–1 in favour of FC Vizela. Here’s how it happened.

A Quick Start

Vizela came out all guns blazing, scoring two goals in the opening 12 minutes. They were technically sound – almost every ball played was snapped and kept along the ground—which allowed them to play extremely fast and create openings and spaces to exploit.

In the book Soccer IQ by Dan Blank, he shares something called a “speed ladder”:

• Slowest – A player dribbling the ball while making lateral movements and fakes.
• Slow – A player running with the ball, straight ahead, at top speed.
• Faster – A player running without the ball.
• Fastest – A moving ball.

“Nothing on the soccer field is faster than a moving ball. Nothing.” – Dan Blank

Although there are a number of talented dribblers on the team, Vizela certainly abides by this rule, trying to play the ball quickly to the proper foot, and it works well for the team. They didn’t shy away from getting the ball to their star dribblers, though. Vizela would often play it wide to their wingers, who would take the ball, drive forward, and then cut inside or put in dangerous crosses. In fact, the first two goals both came on the back of crosses from the flanks.

The Pundits’ Prediction

Some pundits were expecting a low-scoring affair because Mafra hadn’t conceded a goal at home in the past four games, and FC Vizela struggled to a nil-nil draw against Leixões the game before.

Despite the Mafra faithful hoping for their defence to stay strong against a talented side, their defence didn’t hold up, and their attack wasn’t much better.

Despite Mafra having the first clear-cut chance—despite Mafra’s wingers and striker Friday Etim putting some good chances on net, and Gui Ferreira smashing one home with his knee in the 58th minute – many of the chances were half-chances, and it looked like a real struggle for Mafra to progress forward.

Looking to the Future

There are several theories as to why CD Mafra are struggling this season: no confidence, lack of experience within the squad, wrong tactics, losing some of the best players in the last transfer window, and trouble with the build-up.

Many of the Mafrense faithful and even new coach Paulo Alves have highlighted the squad’s maturity as an issue. However, the median age of Mafra is roughly 23, and Vizela’s is 24. That’s a one-year difference, yet one team looked really confident on the ball, and the other not so much.

A few weeks ago, I was speaking with former Mafra coach Tiago Ferreira about the youth of the squad, and I asked him, “What’s an advantage to having such a young team?” He replied by saying the energy these players have is incredible — a marked difference in perspective.

Undoubtedly, coming into a team that’s in relegation is always difficult (and it will be tough for new coach Paulo Alves). But if he is able to harness that youthful energy, inject confidence into the squad, and help them progress the ball better, then I think he can turn this around.

Obviously, Mafra needed to do more. At the end of the day, Vizela deserved the win, but there are still 11 games left – lots to play for, lots to still fight for – which makes for an exciting finish to the campaign. The fans are restless and want to see their team put some points on the board.

Mafra’s next game is next week against FC Alverca, who are currently in third place. It is going to be another game in which both sides will be desperate for the three points. You won’t want to miss it.

Until next time,

Jack