There is no other way to say it: it really has been 40 years of this. Exactly two weeks after celebrating his 40th anniversary as President of FC Porto, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa celebrated another national title, the 23rd championship since he took the leadership over the institution he has always loved. Amid the celebrations at Estádio da Luz, the most successful director in football history highlighted the “excellent tactics” that Sérgio Conceição “devised for this match”, “one of the architects” of the title, along with “the players, the fans, all together, in a communion of ideas and with the same determination”.

A customised victory
“We had an excellent tactic, which our coach designed for this match. He knew how to make the right substitutions. It was a victory of everyone, but above all of Sérgio Conceição, who prepared this match to last detail.”

Fantastic atmosphere and tremendous joy
“Sérgio is one of the architects. You can’t say that he is this architect, as the coach of any champion is just one of the architects, along with the players, the fans, all together, in a communion of ideas and with the same determination, all lead the team to the title. Sergio... he is the one who inspires these players to overcome themselves. The atmosphere is fantastic, there is tremendous joy, they see their work throughout the year pay-off, they know they were the rightful winners. If it wasn’t today, it would certainly be against Estoril, but this just means a calmer week, not celebrating, as we still have a Cup to win.”

Oblivious to naysayers and the voices-for-hire
“I would be in a world of pain if, after 40 years, I still listened to the controversies created by the press closer to our rivals or by the naysayers. They have their prepaid mantras, but it doesn’t worry me at all, it doesn’t affect me. We set a path, we drew a goal on the ground and we crossed it together, and that’s the only way to win.”

Sérgio Conceição
“It’s true that he has a release fee, but it he would have to want to leave and I don’t believe he wants to leave. He still has a lot to win at FC Porto, he’s young, he has time to pursue his career at other more powerful and richer clubs. But he is so involved in this project that I don’t believe that, even if he is contacted, he would want to leave. It already happened to us with two coaches, José Mourinho and Villas-Boas, for Chelsea, Villas-Boas did it eight days before the championship started, which created big problems for us. Any manager who has a release fee can use it. But I don’t believe it nor am I worried, because Sérgio Conceição is so imbued with the spirit of the Dragon that I honestly don’t believe it. He’s focused on the Cup and, when it’s over, I’m sure his focus will be on the Super Cup, to win another trophy.”

Benfica’s president missing in action
“Everyone was very nice. We said hello to great Benfica glories, like Toni or José Augusto... The only person I’m not sure was here, because I didn’t see him before, during or at the end, was the president, Rui Costa. I don’t know if he was here, but if he was and didn’t say hello, only he can say why. When he went to Estádio do Dragão, I was mindful of seating him in the front row. I would be worried if we had lost the match, but it was a well-deserved win.”