1998-05-12: Sporting Lisbon 2-1 Celtic, Friendly

Match Pictures | Matches: 19971998 | 1997-1998 Pictures

Trivia

  • Thebig newswasn’t on the pitch but the pre-match announcement of Jansen’s resignation.
  • This was a fulfilment of part of the original deal to bring Cadete to Celtic.
  • Celtic flew out to Portugal the day after winning the league on the 10/5/98.
    On the day of the game Peter McLean, Celtic's public relations manager called a Press conference to announce that Wim Jansen was stepping down as Celtic Head Coach citing irreconcilable differences with Jock Brown.
    Jock Brown and Fergus McCann called a Press conference in Glasgow to say that no attempt had been made to make Jansen change his mind and that he would probably have been dismissed anyway.
  • The bookies immediately installed Martin O’Neill as the favourite to take over as Head Coach.

Sporting v Celtic 1998

Review

A pointless game where hardly anybody turned up (the rumour being that Cadete was going to get a cut of the gate receipts so people stayed away). The bombshell wasn’t on the pitch but the pre-match announcement of Jansen’s resignation.

Teams

Sporting Lisbon:
Tiago, Vinicius (Saber, 46), Pedro Martins, Paulo Alves, QuimBerto, Marco Aurelio, Beto (Giminez, 71), Assis, Leao, Edmilson (Luis Miguel, 62), Simao Sabrossa,
Subs not used: Nelson, Vidigal, Alfonso, Martins, Renato
Scorers: Alves (26), Giminez (85)

Celtic:
Gould (Pilkington, 45), Boyd , McKinlay, MacKay, Stubbs , Lambert, Brattbakk, O'Donnell, Blinker, Donnelly, Burchill (Elliot, 75)
Subs not used: Vaugh, Potter, Convery, Smith
Scorer: Stubbs (40)

Referee: Coroado (Lisbon)
Attendance: 600

Articles

  • Match Report(see below)

Pictures

Articles

The 75,000-capacity Jose de Alvalade stadium housed a meagre 400 people as Celtic lost 2-1 to Sporting Lisbon. As the former Celtic striker Jorge Cadete was expected to take a cut of any gate receipts because the game was part of his transfer from Sporting Lisbon to Parkhead, the low turnout might at least give Fergus McCann something to smile about at last this week.
Bearing in mind that Celtic players have been celebrating their title win for a few days, it was no surprise when Sporting went ahead after 25 minutes.
Paulo Alves took advantage of Alan Stubbs' negligence to slot the ball past Jonathan Gould from ten yards, but the defender made up for that just two minutes before the interval by unleashing a 30-yard free kick into the net to equalise.
With minutes remaining, a Giminez header secured a 2-1 win for Sporting.

  • Manager Interview

Wim Jansen Post match
"I was proud of the way they played tonight.
"They gave everything just like they did for the whole season.
"They were a joy to work with, and I will miss these boys because they were such a good group.
"I will go back to Parkhead, stay in Scotland for a couple of days and then I will go home to Holland.
"Going back to Parkhead will not be a problem. Parkhead didn't do it. It is not necessary for me to speak to Jock Brown any more after this."