The “Albufeira Winter Cup”, a winter competition that brought together four emblems, ended last Thursday, December 22, with a victory for Roma, coached by José Mourinho, against the Dutch side of RKC Waalwijk.
The competition included three friendly matches with teams from Portugal (Casa Pia AC), Spain (Cádiz CF) and the Netherlands (RKC Waalwijk) and marked the return of José Mourinho's team to Albufeira, after his stay in July.
The executive of Albufeira City Council was present on the last day of the event and distinguished the Italian team with a salute of honour.
José Carlos Rolo, mayor of Albufeira, underlined the importance of the return of «a world-class club and a highly recognized coach» for the promotion of the Municipality across borders.
«This visit reinforces the Municipality's ambition to become a European City of Sport in 2026», highlighted the mayor.
«Albufeira has demonstrated, in recent years, its enormous capacity to host high-competition events and athletes», said Cristiano Cabrita, vice-president of Albufeira City Council and responsible for Sports and Youth.
According to the mayor, «the investment in infrastructure and in the quality of the sports equipment available are, with all certainty, part of what is the success of these events».
The Italian team, which held a pre-season training camp from the 13th to the 24th of July of the same year, confirmed that this was once again "a very positive experience due to the conditions offered by the City Council and Imortal FC to the athletes and the the entire technical team and, of course, for the sympathy of the people of Albufeira».
Tiago Pinto, director general of Roma, also said that the team "hopes one day to be able to return".
The “Albufeira Winter Cup” thus ended with two victories for the Giallorossi, against Casa Pia AC and the club from the Netherlands, losing the first game of the competition, to the Spaniards of Cádiz CF.
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