‘IF WE BEAT THE BLUES I’LL TREAT OWLS FANS TO CAKES’
Forward has taste for glory
BEATING Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? Piece of cake. At least that’s what Sheffield Wednesday forward and part-time pastry peddler Marco Matias is hoping.
The 29-year-old has faced plenty of challenges since arriving from Portugal in 2015, not least spending 18 months hampered by a debilitating groin injury.
He’s also had to learn English from scratch and, in December, started his own business in the city’s fashionable Peace Gardens.
Lisboa is a patisserie specialising in Portuguese cakes, particularly the famous Pastel de Nata – a small custard tart beloved of Lisbon locals.
“I actually started to think about the idea as soon as I arrived here in England,” explains Matias, who hails from Setubal, the same seaside town as former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.
“But my English was not good enough. I learned day by day, not with lessons but by talking to my team-mates. It was not easy but it is a little better now.
“I kept the project on my mind and, after last season, I started to think about it seriously. Sheffield is a beautiful city and I know from talking to people that they enjoy Portuguese cakes - especially the Pastel de Nata.
“I saw an opportunity, so why not? And in the end, it was easy - I just brought all the staff from Portugal!”
Patrons hoping to see famous names like Bernardo Silva and Ruben Neves flocking over the Pennines for a taste of home will be disappointed,
We will go there to enjoy and to win. Do I fear Chelsea? No
however.
“You may see some Sheffield Wednesday players there,” laughs Matias, who has pledged to retain his shop even if he leaves the Owls when his contract expires in June. “But the most famous person you will see is the chef. He is a family friend and one of the best in Portugal at what he does!”
Sadly for Matias, he has rarely been able to say the same during a stop-start fouryear stint in South Yorkshire.
Difficult
The striker finished the 2014-15 campaign as the highest-scoring Portuguese player in the Primeira League, his 21 goals for Madeiran minnows Nacional prompting Wednesday to part with £4m for his services.
A spectacular strike against Leeds in his fourth appearance suggested the Owls had bagged a bargain. Then, Matias vanished.
One start in the 2016-17 season. Two the following year. No goals. No assists. Only now, approaching the end of a contract unlikely to be renewed, is he showing anything like the form of those early days. What happened?
“The reason - the only reason - was the injuries I have had,” he says wistfully. “I had trouble with my groin for a year and a half. I’d rest, come back, train. Then the pain would come again.
“Nobody knows why exactly it happened. I think it was maybe the number of games. In Portugal you play once a week. Here it is two, sometimes three. It was a big change for my body and perhaps it could not cope.
“As a player, it is very hard. We want to play, we want to run. When we can’t do that, it is a difficult moment. I had to be strong mentally.”
Did it hurt to be written off as a flop by Owls fans?
“A lot,” admits Matias, whose tally of 16 appearances and three goals this term are both records for his time at Hillsborough. “I wanted to show all my potential. When I arrived here I scored a goal against Leeds. Then I scored against Middlesbrough. It should have been the start, but it was after that game I started to feel the pain.
“Finally I had an operation and now it is sorted out. But yes - the feeling I have is regret that I couldn’t give my best.”
If ever there was a time for Matias to shine, it is this evening at Stamford Bridge. With relegation unlikely and the play-offs out of reach, the FA Cup is the last chance for Wednesday to save a season languishing in the doldrums.
Admittedly, that is a tall order against the likes of Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kante and, in all likelihood, Gonzalo Higuain, the fearsome former Real Madrid and Napoli striker who this week joined the Blues on loan from Juventus.
Great
Maurizio Sarri’s side will also be buoyed by Thursday’s victory over Spurs in the Carabao Cup semi-finals - not that Matias is bothered. “I didn’t watch it actually,” he shrugs nonchalantly. “But we know how good they are and we are ready for it.
“We will go there to enjoy, and to win. We will give our best for the club and the fans. Do I fear Chelsea? No, not at all.
“We can stay here doing tactics and things like that. We can look at their squad and say ‘He is a great player, he is a great player’. But on the pitch everything changes. So let’s see what happens.”
In decades past, the FA Cup final was the only flavour European audiences ever had of British football. Dennis Bergkamp famously grew up with a dream of lifting the trophy, but not Matias.
“I just started to watch when I came from Portugal. I saw the Premier League a lot, but not the FA Cup. I learned of its importance only when I got here, but I understand now what it means,” he said.
“We will have 6,000 fans at Chelsea and it would be more if it was allowed. That tells you how important it is.”
He also has cup pedigree of his own after helping Vitoria Guimaraes slay the mighty Benfica to win the Portuguese Cup in 2013.
“One of the best days in my career,” he says. “The joy… I do not have the words in English to describe how happy I felt that day. To do that here would be fantastic.”
And if Wednesday do make it all the way to Wembley, Matias is considering a special treat for the club’s supporters.
“Maybe I will offer free cakes at Lisboa,” he laughs. “But only for one hour!”