Estoril Praia’s game against FC Arouca kicked off the Pro League’s 2020/2021 season.
The António Coimbra da Mota Stadium was the stage for the opening ceremony of the competition and the victory against the Arouquense club. The Magician’s team was highlighted for the victory achieved and for the message it carried on the game jearseys.
Estoril Praia entered the field with Dani F. on goal, in defense with João Diogo, Hugo Basto, Hugo Gomes and captain Joãozinho, in midfield with João Gamboa, Rosier, Zé Valente and Bruno Lourenço. On the offence, Magicians’s team featured Aziz and André Vidigal.
It took less than 1 minute after the whistle of referee João Malheiro Pinto for Estoril Praia to open the scoring. João Diogo crosses to the second post, where the young André Vidigal appeared, who make the goal, on his debut with the Magician’s jersey. The 22-year-old forward was elected Man of the Match by SportTV at the end of the game.
Mister Bruno Pinheiro made the first substitution after 65 minutes of play, putting Paulinho on the field and removing André Vidigal. After 82 minutes, Cícero returned to the pitch to replace Zé Valente. A year and three months later, the brazilian midfielder, who was stopped due to injury, returned to wear the Estoril Praia jersey. After the 4 minutes of compensation given by the match official, Miguel Crespo replaced Rosier on the field.
The Estoril Praia game jersey was also highlighted in this game, through an innovative campaign to appeal to the presence of the public in the stadiums. Learn more about the Emotion is at the Stadium campaign.
The opening match of the Pro League was also marked by refereeing, which included assistant referee Vanessa Gomes, the first woman to referee an official professional football competition in Portugal. At the beginning of the game, Vanessa Gomes was handed a ball autographed by the players of both teams, by the hands of the Executive Director of Competitions of Liga Portugal, Helena Pires.
