Throwback to when the Axadrezados beat Borussia Dortmund
We are in the last week of the 2024/25 season when all five of Portugal’s representatives involved in UEFA European club competitions are in action.
The perfect opportunity, therefore, for Portuguese football historian Miguel Lourenço Pereira to take us on another journey into the past, as he recounts Boavista’s first ever victory in the Champions League - a prelude to a golden era for the Porto-based club...
Few would imagine how many happy nights were is store in the future for Boavista supporters when Borussia Dortmund came to town in the late autumn of 1999. That season had been the first Champions League experience for the Porto side and things hadn’t turned out spectacularly well for them, but then an unexpected last golden night paved the way for a winning cycle that would have them crowned kings of Portugal in addition to becoming a well-respected side all over Europe.
“Strange kit”
Boavista were known in Europe in the 1990s as that club with a strange kit. At least that was how Italian goalkeeping legend Walter Zenga called them before a decisive match in the 1991/92 UEFA Cup. Inter were reigning champions in the competition while the Portuguese side were playing in Europe for the tenth time in their history, and yet they came out surprise winners of that tie. It was their biggest ever European night and a presentation card of sorts.
The club from the Bessa zone of the city of Porto had once been a title contender in the mid-1970s when José Maria Pedroto was their manager, years before he took the role that would eventually make him immortal on the other side of town. Yet, during the 1980s they stepped back to fight for a mid-table finish, occasionally capable of ruffling the feathers of the best but usually just happy to compete.
Rise to prominence
However, under Valentim Loureiro’s presidency and with Manuel José as manager, the club went on a high at the turn of the 1990s. Boavista became regulars in both the UEFA Cup – reaching the last eight in 1994 only to lose to eventual finalists Karlsruher – and the Cup Winners Cup during that period. In 1998/99, now managed by Jaime Pacheco, they surprised everyone by fighting against their city rivals for the title. Porto eventually came out winners – their fifth win on a row – but the expansion of the Champions League paved the way for Boavista to clinch a ticket for Europe’s biggest club competition for the following season.
Pacheco bangs team into shape
Jaime Pacheco was a no-nonsense manager and so he built a no-nonsense team. Fully supported by João Loureiro, Valentim’s son and former frontman of pop-act Ban, who took on his father’s role as club president, Pacheco took his time to build a winning side. He took advantage not only of the club’s youth setup but also the ability of signing low profile players not only in Portugal but also from Brazil. From smaller sides came the likes of Ricardo Pereira in goal and Pedro Emanuel in defence, and they were also able to attract players who were on the fringes of the Big Three squads such as internationals Ion Timofte, Erwin Sanchez and Jorge Couto.
Brazil, as happened regularly with Portuguese sides from the time, also turned out to be a preferential market for transfers over those seasons and when Boavista kickstarted the 1999/2000 campaign the club had finally found a competitive mix that would be the core base of their success later on.
Something special brewing
Around the same time, the iconic Bessa stadium was undergoing refurbishment, already planned by the club and later reinforced by the fact that Portugal won the race to host Euro 2004 at the end of 1999. Unfortunately for the club, as they decided to move for the upgrades all by themselves, without governmental support, they would later find themselves highly indebted. Yet, something was visibly brewing.
Boavista had to negotiate a play-off to access the group stage and they qualified in extra-time by beating Brondby. Their lower position on the UEFA ranking had everyone expecting them to be drawn into a tough group but for a while it seemed they had luck on their side as they were pitted against Rosenborg, Feyenoord and Borussia Dortmund, not exactly a set of juggernauts.
Still, things didn’t start well. On 14 September Boavista debuted in the group stage at home and were routed by the Norwegian side. A resounding defeat at Dortmund followed by two 1-1 draws against Feyenoord as well as the results in the other matches left every option open for the later group stage matches. A painful defeat against Rosenborg ended their chances of making progress to the second group stage – with the Norwegians surprisingly topping the group – but there was still a glimpse of hope to reach third place and continue in Europe in the UEFA Cup.
Staying in Europe the target
For that to happen Feyenoord had to be beaten at home by Rosenborg and they needed to win at home against Borussia. Boavista was yet to win a match in the Champions League and not many expected things to change. They were in for a surprise.
Dortmund were not at the top of their game, the final sparks of the Ottman Hitzfeld golden age disappearing on the horizon, paving the way for a new generation of players, led by the likes of Amoroso and Dedé, who would become star figures for the side over the following years. Boavista could have tossed in the towel, but Pacheco was a fighter, and, despite some surprise callups, the side entered centre stage with a clear purpose of gifting the Axadrezados supporters an early Christmas present.
It was 2 November and only 7,000 fans came to the stadium to witness history in the making. Ricardo played in goal instead of Cameroon international William, while Litos and Sérgio were flanked by Paulo Sousa, the historic club captain, and Pedro Emanuel, adapted to play on the wing. Jorge Silva, Luis Manuel closed the midfield, as Nilton and Emanuel offered width and the attacking speed came from the partnership of Wellinghton and Douala. There was no Timofte, Sanchez, Silva or Jorge Couto but still, the crowd were in for a flying start.
Strong start rewarded
First, centre-back Pedro Emanuel, who would later be part of Mourinho’s all conquering FC Porto side, was fouled inside the German box but Slovak referee Lubos Michels decided to play on. A few moments later Emanuel, rushing through the left wing after a throw in, found himself with the ball on his feet and in a shooting position so decided to gamble and it paid off. The shot was powerful and deflected slightly off the back of Jurgen Koehler before it found its way into Jens Lehmann’s goal. The Bessa stadium erupted in pure ecstasy and since there were still no goals at the De Kuip, many started to believe the impossible might even happen.
Goal-scorer Pedro Emanuel, who would later captain FC Porto, got the plaudits after his winning goal in A Bola’s indivdual player report card
The only thing Dortmund could do after the early goal was search for crosses into the box where the giant Bobic or Addo would put Ricardo to the test. The understudy goalkeeper, in his first season for the club, performed brilliantly and the Ruhr side never looked menacing enough.
The same could be said of the early events on the second half, with Heiko Herrilech already on the pitch to add more attacking power for the visitors. Then a Nilton red card could have changed everything as Dortmund, with one extra man, launched even more crosses into the box, only to eventually end in Ricardo’s safe hands. For thirty minutes Dortmund had the upper hand but were incapable of capitalizing on it.
As news of a Feyenoord goal came from Rotterdam everyone assumed the chance of getting through to the UEFA Cup was done and dusted but when Michels signalled for the tunnel, the Bessa stadium finally could find space to breath. It was the first win for Boavista in Europe’s golden club competition, a prequel of what was about to happen next.
The A Bola match report the day after the unlikely victory for the Axadrezados
Gateway to a golden era
Boavista would suffer during that season domestically but eventually managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup. The following season they made history by winning the Portuguese league, only the second side out of the Big Three to do so, something not equalled twenty-five years on.
In 2001/02 Boavista returned to the Champions League and once again faced Dortmund, this time winning fair and square the match at Bessa and qualifying for the first time for the second group stage, after two decisive draws against Liverpool. During the second group stage they drew against the reigning continental champion Bayern Munich but two defeats against Manchester United – these opponents would be two of the semi-finalists of that season’s Champions League – meant they finished the round third.
It would be their last hurrah in the competition as, in the following season, they were beaten by Auxerre in the play-off rounds moving to the UEFA Cup where they eventually reached the semifinals. Boavista were 90 minutes away from a Porto derby in the final in Seville but eventually a sole Henrik Larssen goal meant elimination by Celtic.
Boavista haven’t played a single European match since, the club’s momentum crushed by issues such as the Golden Whistle affair, the subsequent relegation and bankruptcy, but the memory of their first win against a Champions League winning side will never be forgotten on the west side of Porto city.
By Miguel Lourenço Pereria, author of “Bring Me That Horizon – A Journey to the Soul of Portuguese Football”.