Football Season Guide

Desportivo das Aves are back into the Portuguese top flight after an eleven year absence. Last season, a great 2nd place in Second division was the achievement that allowed Aves to get access to Liga Nos. More than just that, Aves finished the season with an unequivocal 17 points difference to 3rd place, showing how ready they were to take this step up. For this season, as usual in promoted teams, Aves will be presenting a completely different team from the one that gave them access to First Division, including the main coach. Experienced José Mota drove Aves to success in the second division, as seems to be his speciality, but for this new challenge the board decided to bring in a more modern manager. Ricardo Soares arrives to Aves after a not so bad half season at Chaves last year. He will have a lot of players with much experience in the Portuguese first division including several names he worked with at Chaves. Carlos Ponck, Rodrigo, Nélson Lenho and Bruno Braga were all habitual picks from Soares, last season. Sami and Salvador Agra are talented wingers whilst Derley will want to pick up on the form he had five seasons ago when he scored 18 goals for Marítimo. Goalkeeper Facchini along with the especially reliable and talented midfielder Vítor Gomes are also safe bets for the season.