Amorim had started out as a coaching intern at Casa Pia before taking full charge and guiding them to promotion on a minimal budget.

“As a coach, the most important thing for Ruben is to get a close relationship with his players,” adds Simao, who played for his friend at Casa Pia after recovering from a traffic accident in 2018 which left him in a coma.

“The accident was about the same time he was appointed coach at Casa Pia.

“Sometime later I sent him a message and said: ‘Look, what do you think about having me in your team?’ He said: ‘Please, we cannot mix our relationship. You were in a coma four months ago, you are 33, and you are an expensive player for Casa Pia.’

“Then, after one week, he messaged me to say: ‘Look, I want you in my team. Let’s make it happen.’”

It was not all plain sailing, however, and Simao remembers Amorim’s reaction when things did not go to plan.

“I have seen many times him getting angry because he wants to play well and win.”

One such occasion came following a defeat by Amora, managed at the time by Russiano – Amorim’s friend from his childhood.

“It was very good to see a good friend again,” says Russiano. “We spoke and remembered the things when we were young. My team won 1-0!

“At Casa Pia he decided to play a different system and switched to 3-4-3. They went on a run that put them in first position. He is the second ‘Special One’.”

Victor Seabra Franco, president of Casa Pia, says Amorim was paid an “insignificant” amount of money because of a tight budget and limited resources.

“I won’t mention the numbers, because they’re so small that it’s not worth mentioning them,” he adds.

“For the matches, which were at 3pm in Alentejo or Algarve, we would set off early in the morning, we trained at night. Ruben changed things and we started training in the morning.

“Sometimes there was no water, for example, but even with all the difficulties, there was a group, and Ruben – and those players liked Ruben.

“They did everything so that Casa Pia and Ruben could win.”

There were tears shed among the players when Amorim announced he was leaving Casa Pia after just one season.

“That’s the saddest memory of Ruben’s presence – the day he left Casa Pia,” says Seabra Franco.

A Glasgow-based sports flooring firm, Sprung Gym Flooring, has ‘hit the ground

running’, having been asked to supply floors for the sets of three global movie and TV

productions.

Producers of ‘Mr Loverman’, ‘Mutiny’ (starring Jason Stratham) and ‘The Woman in Cabin

10’, starring Keira Knightly, have all requested set flooring from the Glasgow business.

With Glasgow firmly established as a world centre for film production – with big-budget

movies such as World War Z and Indiana Jones previously having been filmed in the City

Centre – local businesses have boomed with requests for sets, costumes and people to play

extras.

Sprung supplied a sprint track for Mutiny; rubber gym flooring rolls for The Woman in Cabin

10, and is set to supply tatami mats for Mr Loverman.

Offering commercial and home gym flooring as well as a multitude of sports mats, sports

floors and tiles, as well as FIFA-approved outdoor artificial turf, the company also floors

schools, nurseries and hotels. Its floors are installed at Manchester United’s training facilities

as well as branches of Soho House and the firm provided flooring for several venues at the

last Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow.

Managing Director Richard McKay said: “Glasgow’s starring role as a production centre for

the global film industry is exciting not just for the people of the City, who get to see their

hometown portrayed in different guises on the big screen, but for local businesses, who can

really benefit from the big productions that are filmed here.

“From supplying flooring for gyms to seeing our products as part of the sets for movies that

will be seen around the world has been surreal but fascinating for our team, which is based

in the Hillington area of the city.

“We hope to see a great many more big-name movies being filmed in Glasgow in the future,

creating jobs and revenue for local businesses.”

Sprung Gym Flooring is based at 51 Watt Road, Hillington.

www.gym-flooring.com

Alex Pereira continued to shine as the MVP of the promotion after claiming victory in his fourth main event title fight in 11 months.

Pereira (12-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) defended his light heavyweight title for the third time by defeating Khalil Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC).

The challenger put up a stiff fight early, but ultimately, the champ retained by stopping Rountree with a hellacious flurry at 4:32 of Round 4.

Both landed well-placed countershots early in the fight. Pereira kept Rountree guessing with kicks, while the champ only dealt with punches coming in his direction in a competitive first round.

Pereira missed with a big head kick attempt in Round 2, leaving an opening for Rountree to crack him with a big punch. A combination and a heavy head kick soon followed, securing a clear second round for Rountree.

Early in Round 3, Rountree continued to land hard counterpunches, backing Pereira into the fence. Midway through, Pereira went back to adding hard leg kicks to his offense to slow down Rountree’s responses, which proved to be a pivotal point in the fight.

Rountree was busted open from strikes, and a jumping knee from Pereira prompted a heavy forward-pressure attack to seal the third round.

Bruised and bloodied in Round 4, Pereira continued to pick apart his opponent with sharp single strikes while trying to evade the return punches. Pereira turned up the pressure as Rountree began to back away, drawing out a wild firefight.

Rountree was forced to cover up as he retreated to the fence with his right eye swollen shut, but Pereira was cautious of the counters and didn’t leave himself open. “Poatan” got a hold of Thai clinch to dig in more strikes, and the following flurry of heavy punches closed the show.

GOLF’S civil war is on the brink of a £1BILLION peace deal.

Rebel tour LIV’s Saudi Arabian backers are poised to cough up the staggering fee to become part of the PGA Tour circuit.

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The money will give Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, who bankroll the breakaway LIV Golf, an 11 per cent share in the Tour.

In return they will get two places on the PGA Tour board — including the post of chairman.

Superstars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have played key roles in the peace talks.

The deal still has to be approved by PGA players but they are expected to agree.

The Saudis happily paid Jon Rahm nearly £500million to become their most high-profile recruit a year ago.

PIF have assets of £720bn, so forking out £1bn to become an accepted part of the golfing establishment appears a small price to pay.

The deal will finally end the stand-off between the PGA and LIV, who announced the breakaway circuit three years ago.

They lured Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter with multi-million pound deals.

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The first event was held near London two years ago. Players were immediately banned from playing in PGA and DP World Tour, who run European golf, events.

LIV put on 14 events this year but their tournaments will now come under the PGA umbrella.

The sweetener for golfers who stayed loyal to the PGA Tour is likely to be another massive cash injection into the £1.2bn fund created this year to reward those players.

The DP World Tour will also benefit, as their ‘strategic alliance’ with the PGA Tour will be reinforced, with extra cash diverted for prize money.

Porsche has insisted that it is not going into Saturday’s World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain with a conservative approach as it looks to seal the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles. 

The German marque will start the Bahrain 8 Hours “looking to maximise its finishing position” with both its 963 LMDhs, according to Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

That comment comes despite the fact that Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer in the #6 PPM entry only need to finish ninth to secure the title. 

“Our feedback to everyone is: ‘don’t do anything differently to what we have been doing’,” said Diuguid on the eve of the 2024 WEC series finale.

“We haven’t gone points racing at a single event this year and we are not going to go points racing on Saturday either. That’s what’s got us into this position.

“We are going to do what we have been doing the whole season: let’s go out there and try to beat them [the opposition].”

#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Urs Kuratle, head of the LMDh programme at Porsche Motorsport, added that the strategy is “not so different from our normal approach”. 

But he explained that Porsche and PPM could modify its plans over the course of the eight hours.

“We have to be flexible and have to react to whatever the race presents,” said Kuratle. 

Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach suggested that it would be possible to over-think its strategy going into the race in Bahrain. 

“If we tried to predict everything, we would have to go through every scenario, and it would be too much of a puzzle for the team,” he said. 

Porsche will be taking an approach that it described as “situational”. 

“If you are leading the race and your strongest competitor is out, obviously you are not going to take any risks,” explained Laudenbach. 

“And if someone is coming up on you with nothing to lose, you might handle it differently than if you are racing your direct competition for the championship, because they will be making sure they don’t damage their car as well.”

Porsche’s task in the manufacturers’ standings is more difficult than in the drivers’ championship. 

It is only 10 points ahead whereas Vanthoor, Estre and Lotterer have a 35-point advantage with only 38 up for grabs.

A victory for second-placed Toyota would give it the manufacturers’ title even if Porsche finishes second.

Toyota took the point for pole position courtesy of Brendon Hartley in the Japanese manufacturers’ #8 entry, but that will have no bearing on the destination of the title if one of the GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercars wins the race. 

But it could prove crucial in other scenarios, however. 

If the best Toyota takes second and the best PPM entry fourth, for example, the two manufacturers would be tied on 179 points. 

The Japanese manufacturer would then take the title on countback by virtue of more second places.

The drivers of the #6 963 have 150 points going into the race in Bahrain to the 115 of second-placed Ferrari crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina. 

Toyota drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries have 113 points and are also mathematically in with a chance of the title. 

Porsche has 161 points in the manufacturers’ standings to Toyota’s 151, while Ferrari on 134 points is nominally in title contention. 

The Bahrain 8 Hours kicks off at 2pm local time and 11am GMT.