In terms of results surely Euro 2004.. was really sad with the defeat on the final against the greeks.
But the really sadest moment I ever had in soccer was...
Jamor - Portuguese Cup Final Sporting - Benfica, the day a benfica fan murdered a Sporting fan with a flare, it hapened about 30m below me.
I was there very early. The sadness began early, when the police force arrived late and simply wanted to break their way on their trucks through the mob, causing avoidable mayhem.
Then came the entrance... I saw ppl having to throw apples away, for "securty reasons". Earlier in the morning I witnessed 2 trucks from the fan associations of both clubs entering without any control, taking "stuff" into the stadium without any police control.
Before game start a first very light was fired from the No Name boys, which crossed the stadium and ended just above our stand, igniting a tree. It was shot straight at our stand, not a "mortar" shot to the sky. Police did nothing, they should have halted everything at that point untill they could identify who had taken verylights into the stadium.
None was done. The game started. After a while benfica scores a goal. Suddently I see a white smoke trail across the field coming in our direction, about 20m above grass level. I had just the time to grab my sister and jump to the floor, when I got up I realised the rocket had droped lower in the final meters, about 30m below the point I was at.
The news broke quickly. A Sporting fan was brutally killed, his torso was complety blown by the rocket, he was bleeding to death a few meters below. Anger and sadness quiclky broke throughtout the stand, once all Sporting fans realised someone was killed. The game wasn't stopped, but the word quiclky spread out "we should all leave, this is too shameful, today there is not game". Sporting fans quietly and slowly started leaving the game, still in the first half, while the whole northern stand of benfica fans shouted offensive remarks like "já se vão embora" (are you leaving already?) as if we were leaving because of a early 1-0 goal and not because we had just witnessed the saddest moment of our lives as soccer fans.
I was very angry because I suddently realised that the same police forces that made ppl throw food out were also the same that let flares in the stadium. I shouted at a riot policemen in anger, he stood still, I could have got a good spanking there but I was crying in total anger.
The game went 3-1 I think to benfica, it was never halted. In the end more dismay as I heard Michel Preud'Homme saying on the radio something like "Yes, it was sad that someone died, but we won the cup and that's fantastic".
The incident went as an "accident" when it was obvious that it was assassination, since not one but 2 shots were fired horizontally, one missed us, the other killed one of us, it wasn't a single accidental shot nor a shot directed to the sky that accidentaly landed on us.
Although the flares were brough by No name, Benfica never punished No Name Boys. Not a single benfica "sócio" demanded justice against a supporter association that was famous of even attacking other benfica supporter fan associations.
The culprit, Hugo Inácio was charged with "involuntary" manslaughter" and caught a handful of years... after 2 years we fled from jail in misterious circunstances never to be caught once again.
2 seasons ago No Name Boys showed a flag in a game against Sporting saying:
"Hugo Inácio és o nosso herói" (Hugo Inácio you are our hero).
Never did a single benfica fan protested against this.
The Sporting fan killed was a poor man that left 2 kids and a widow in finantial dificulties. Sporting helped thev guys till today, as far as I know. I met them a year ago after a forum in which I participate decided to raise a christmas charity among us to offer them, we travelled to their city and offered them lunch, took photos and offered them our humble offer. His brother, a benfica fan told me: "Sporting never failed on us. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about benfica. They never talked to us".
This is the saddest moment in my soccer life and one that changed my views on soccer and even benfica and it's fans (not saying they are all killers, but never saw a single one quiting from being a socio or demanding for justice against No Name Boys because of this). Maybe now you can understand why for me there is healthy rivalry with Porto, Boavista, etc but not with Benfica. Benfica is for me something else. A club that protected and assassin and his fellow helpers, a club without a single fan that demanded justice and a club that never bothered to help the needed family.
If you read all this thank you and sorry for the sad story, but that was the issue here
