Sunderland End 53-Year European Exile as Torreense Tie Switches to Leiria
Half a century of waiting ends in Portugal
Sunderland will bring a 53-year wait to an end on Thursday night when they face Torreense in the Europa League, their first competitive venture on European soil since 1973. The club's previous continental outing was the second leg of a European Cup Winners' Cup second-round tie against Sporting in Lisbon, when they travelled as FA Cup holders then playing in the Second Division.
There is a pleasing symmetry about the trip. Just as second-tier Torreense caused widespread surprise by beating Sporting in last season's Portuguese Cup final, so Sunderland's own European history is bound up with a meeting against the Lisbon giants. Torreense's reward for that cup triumph was a place in the Europa League's initial phase, and their hopes of reaching next spring's sudden-death rounds were boosted when they beat Lillestrom 2-1 in Norway last month.
Régis Le Bris is expected to rotate his squad, with a Premier League visit to Bournemouth on Sunday to follow, but it would be a minor shock if Sunderland fail to beat opponents who are struggling in LigaPro, where they sit 15th with six points from seven games.
Capacity rules force venue switch
Torreense's home ground, the Estádio Manuel Marques in Torres Vedras, 31 miles north of Lisbon, holds just 2,431 spectators and does not meet Uefa capacity regulations. The match has therefore been switched to the medieval town of Leiria, an hour's drive north of Torres Vedras and almost two hours from the luxury Logic hotel where Sunderland are basing themselves after failing to find suitable accommodation elsewhere.
Almost 4,000 Sunderland fans are travelling to the 23,888-capacity Estádio Dr Magalhães Pessoa, normally the home of the second-tier side União Leiria. With a limited supply of local hotel rooms, some supporters are staying in Lisbon or Porto, while others have found lodgings in nearby towns and villages, including Fatima.
Very much a pilgrimage town, Fatima is one of the most important shrines in the Catholic world and attracts more than six million tourists every year. As visitors from Wearside sightsee in forecast bright sunshine and 25C, they may be tempted to pray for respite from a harsh north-east winter at the Stadium of Light.
Torreense plot stout resistance
Torreense do not intend to merely make up the numbers. Back in the club's home town, locals are preparing for an annual national day of celebration on 20 October, commemorating the role played by an imposing series of forts and military defences built in 1809-10 and known as the Lines of Torres Vedras in defending Lisbon from French invaders during the Peninsular war.
Torreense are hoping to demonstrate similarly stout resistance against a team led by a Frenchman and staffed heavily by French-speaking players. Sunderland have reason to be wary of Stopira, Torreense's influential 38-year-old captain and left-back, who played for Cape Verde at this summer's World Cup, along with their gifted playmaker João Marques and Ghanaian striker Malik Abubakari.
The challenge for Sunderland is to use this last blast of southern European warmth to revitalise a season in danger of unravelling.