Excellent season ended in European qualification and record for points at Primeira Liga. Coach Daniel Ramos managed to improve last season’s performance and brought Açorianos to their highest achievement in competition.
Açorianos struggled to get into a positive form, as they picked only 4 wins and lost 7 times in the first 14 rounds. Coach Ramos took a while to find the ideal shape and XI and that resulted in Santa Clara having a poor first part of the season.
However, as soon as a stable lineup was finally found, Santa Clara started an impressive run from late January to mid April, where they almost only lost to big teams. The arrival of Japanese Morita had a major impact on the team as they finally found their true balance.
Marco in goal and Cardoso at the back found a new reliable partner this season in Venezuelan Villanueva. Morita is a great asset, together with Anderson in the middle, giving enough backup for Lincoln to focus in creating plays. Cryzan intercalated good moments with some quiet games.
The star of the team was unquestionably the winger/forward Carlos Júnior. The former Atlético MG reject finally lived up to his potential this season and was the references in attack that the team needed after Thiago Santana was gone.
Santa Clara is expected to be a solid force for next season, but it will be interesting to see how they will cope with playing European midweek games for the first time in their history.
