THECoaches Paulo Fonseca and Marco Silva, who will be opponents for Sporting and Benfica, respectively, shared a dressing room at Belenenses, in a 1996/97 season remembered today in Lusa by former teammate and Portuguese international Paulo Madeira.
Paulo Fonseca, who will be presented today as Rui Borges’ successor in command of the ‘lions’, formed many partnerships in the center of defense with Paulo Madeira, while Marco Silva, right defender, made his debut at senior level this season, in a Belenenses team that concluded this edition of the I League in 13th place, with 40 points.
“I was with Paulo Fonseca at Belenenses and, later, at Estrela da Amadora. He was a calm central defender, who had a good relationship with everyone. Very calm, calm and peaceful. At that time, I had no idea that he could reach this level. He has every merit in now returning to coach a big club”, he stated.
Paulo Madeira, 56 years old, is now a football agent and had no idea that his two former colleagues, with whom he maintains friendly relations, could be high-level coaches, remembering the ’embarrassed’ Marco Silva at that time, who played two games for the Restelo club’s senior team, both with Paulo Fonseca also on the field.
“I didn’t fully catch on to Marco Silva, I think he would be the captain of the Belenenses youth team and, many times, we did training sessions where players from the youth team were needed and Marco was one of those who came. At that time, the youth team looked at the main team with more respect and Marco, as polite as he was, when he went to train with the main team, I was the captain and he called me ‘sir’. Even today I joke a bit when I’m with him”, recalled the 24-time Portuguese international.
The personalities they had as footballers remain as coaches, considered Paulo Madeira, who sees Paulo Fonseca with a “calmer” profile on the bench, as opposed to a “more irreverent, dynamic and interactive” Marco Silva.
“Paulo Fonseca is calmer and calmer. As a player, he wasn’t that aggressive central defender who gave ‘hits’, he was a technical central player playing and didn’t get into much conflict. Marco had a bit of that irreverence that he has today”, he pointed out.
With a notable career at Benfica, Paulo Madeira does not hide his desire to see Marco Silva have more success with the Eagles than Paulo Fonseca at Sporting, but he found the return of both “positive for Portuguese football”.
“Benfica is playing well and winning. Marco takes and adds players and the team responds in a very positive way. For Marco it is positive, as it gives him a lot of ‘headache’ and he manages the physical part of all the players. At Sporting, many players left and it is undergoing restructuring. Not saying anything about Rui Borges, but the arrival of Paulo Fonseca will always change something”, he said.
Paulo Fonseca, 53, returns to Portuguese football after 10 years, in which he successively managed Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Rome (Italy), Lille (France), AC Milan (Italy) and Lyon, which he left in third place in the French League, after nine rounds, three points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain.
The coach, born in Mozambique, will find Sporting also in third place in the I League, but nine points behind champion FC Porto, which leads thanks to a 100% victorious campaign, and four behind Benfica, in second place.
Paulo Fonseca left Portugal in 2015/16 – after winning the Portuguese Cup with Sporting de Braga – to coach Shakhtar Donetsk, where he was Ukrainian champion and won the Ukrainian Cup in the following three seasons (2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19), having also won that country’s Super Cup in 2017/18.
In Portugal, Paulo Fonseca also won a Portuguese Super Cup, in 2013/14, in a short and unsuccessful spell at FC Porto, one of the three clubs he coached in the first division, along with Paços de Ferreira and Braga.
