Resende João António Alves Ferreira (Albergaria-a-Velha, December 1952), f icho by UD. Salamanca in the month of July 1976, and changed the history of our club forever ... Alves became his two seasons as a player unionist, in the most remembered player-myth of our history ... but everything has a beginning ...
The first reference to João Alves in relation to Spain, was his participation in the XXIV Nations Youth Championship 1971, held in the former Czechoslovakia, where he shared Portugal group with Spain, although Alves, on that occasion, did not play any minutes in the clash that we measured the team Luso and Portugal's 1-0 win ... was the Spain of the Zaldúa, Tanco, Carlos Leal ...
was not until 1974 (approximately two years before joining the UDS), when the young Portuguese black gloves, became progressively a promising player coveted by several European clubs ...
Although Alves has recognized that his best game in the Union gave exploded two years earlier in the Boavista Porto.
Pierced there, from the CDMontijo where he also played in the Portuguese first division, since the team faced the eternal hegemony Harlequin Porto-Benfica-Sporting winning for the first time in team history, also black and white, two Cups of Portugal consecutively in 1975 and 1976, the first of them won in the Jose Alvalade the almighty Benfica (2-1), with a goal of João Alves included.
A modest Boavista that became important after the arrival of Alves and coach Jose Maria Pedroto, reaching the top spot in the first division Portuguese and getting, after lifting the two cups, tracks shares in the Cup Winners Cup, as Alves debut in the continental sky, besides the best player award in 1975 ... Portuguese
The good end of the 74-75 season by Boavista, (4 th in league and Cup champion), he was made to involve, as a revelation of the football team luso at the time, summer in two international tournaments played on English soil, as were the Trofeo Ciudad de Zaragoza and the Trofeo Ciudad de Granada, which saw the first match-UD.Salamanca Alves, which accounted for one, if anything, more brilliant publicity for the Portuguese player.
The Trofeo Ciudad de Zaragoza, was played at the Stadium of Romareda between 18 and 20 August 1975, and was attended by the host team, Boca Juniors, the Vojvodina and the aforementioned Boavista, the trophy stayed in Zaragoza and Boavista was ranked 4th, but Alves was highlighted by the press, and scored the goal in the match against Real Zaragoza.
Then, between 21 and 23 of August, attended UD.Salamanca International Trophy City of Granada, next to the team of land, Boavista Sportu Alves and Bucharest.
Union disposed of Granada in the semifinals (0-1) with a goal by Alvarez and the team measured the final Arlequin, which had previously defeated the Romanian team shootout to rock.
Thus 23 August 1975 João Alves faced a year earlier to which would be their future colleagues, with the shirt-white team the city of Oporto. ...
The Boavista was far superior to a UD Salamanca came home with D'Alessandro, Churches, Huerta, Boats, Weigle, Rezza, Alvarez, Robi, Victor Perez Pita.
"The meeting has been entertaining and at times even brilliant, thanks to the outstanding shares of Alves, a sensational player, and Salvador, which is based players Boavista game. The Traid Garcia placed a Robi (not marker) on Alves, led to this, he is the man that makes the whole play Boavista easily dominate the midfield "
Alves was named the best player in the Trofeo Ciudad de Granada and left his business card in our country, and a sensation in the technical secretariat of Salamanca, did that one year after competing with other European clubs were moving in his signing tab.
Figure Alves, started the season 75-76, still in the ranks of Boavista continued to grow, to calls for national team Portuguese had to add the debut in European competition, particularly in the Cup Winners Cup ...
The road was shorter in the year of the continental debut Boavista, after eliminating the modest Spartak Trnava in knockout phase, the mighty Glasgow Celtic at the time, ended the hopes of the promising Portuguese team and Alves, buried in the second round at the legendary Celtic Park ...
Alves, in the background, watching impassively as it enters the goal Botelho one of many of Celtic (3-1), which led to the elimination of Boavista its debut in Europe.
But modest growth of soccer in the Luso team was not parallel to economic growth, and by the summer of 1975, the lurking Alves transfer of the force as a lifeline from "Chess", Olympique Marseille and Sevilla CF, sounded like prime candidates.
needs became more important to go into the season 75-76, and the fact that the runner was Boavista league behind Benfica and Cup champion for the second consecutive year, wine if not to precipitate the events of his transfer.
Alves with the ball in the Portuguese Cup final they won (2-1) to Vitoria Guimaraes in 1976.
The English sports press was expressed well at the end of the season 75-76:
"... The Boavista under the guidance, José Maria Pedroto the national coach luso, and in the field by that exceptional footballer, artist of the ball to style of more refined Brazilian players is Alves, that of " black gloves, as is ; you know, left in the dark teams traditionally more strong and that were always in the fight by the title ... "
At the end of the season 75-76, with Robi transfer to Atletico Madrid for 22 million pesetas, the wide area of \u200b\u200bthe field of orphan UD.Salamanca stayed away from a conduit, the technical secretariat of the Union was considering the names of Several foreign players for that position, given the recent nationalization of D'Alessandro and free form as foreign and names sounded like Octavio Portuguese, and Hungarian Kocsis, but eventually agreed to transfer Boavista player for 12 million pesetas ... so then narrated:
"The contract is has signed by three years and in the fourth Boavista will have the option back on this player in the event that he or UD.Salamanca you interested the termination of the contract.
Part economic has not been announced, but rumored to the figure seems to be transfer 12 million and two million Seasonal "
But three years is not met and Alves left, spoke of" saudade "and unsatisfied ambition of land Alves charras to go ... and kept playing, but far from the Tormes, and succeeding, especially at Benfica, in two stages, which kept moving the ball as only he could do and scoring goals ...
Temp. Benfica-Sporting 78-79 5-0, we see Alves driving the ball in the first image, and scoring the last two goals of the meeting, the last of them from penalty, in a packed Stadium of Light.
Years later, before signing for Paris Saint Germain, where seriously injured, said the error to Portuguese newspaper A Bola:
"It was the biggest mistake of my life back to Portugal and leave Salamanca, Spain should have gone in and accept the thirty million ESP I had promised to nationalize English Salamanca, if they have been made could have reached one of the largest in Spain that are far superior in footballing and financial capacity of the Portuguese "
In two seasons, 76-77 and 77-78, charra forged his legend, to play rhythm passes, goals ... magic ... and yet he has not been forgotten.
And sometimes, in all these years I've been out of Salamanca, somewhere, far away in one of those old football modest gatherings to share, someone who combs a cane, says ... ¿of Salamanca?, I remember that Portuguese, black gloves, playing like angels ...
was in 74 when they had the first news of Alves in Spain ... but even today, more than 30 years later , in a modest corner of the English, in any such conversation then football, good football fans still remember him and continue linking their name to our Salamanca ... and ... his legend continues to grow relentlessly, within those black gloves.
Images taken from websites and blogs: pnvelhaguarda, gloriasdopasado, vedetaoumarreta, memoriagloriosa, itnsport
