The 2012 Taça de Portugal Final was the final match of the 2011–12 Taça de Portugal, the 72nd season of the Taça de Portugal, which is the main Portuguese football knockout competition organised by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The final was played at the Estádio Nacional, Oeiras, on the 20 May 2012. The final was contested between two Primeira Liga teams, Académica and Sporting CP. Académica were appearing in their fifth final, whilst Sporting CP were appearing in their 26th final. In Portugal, the final was televised live in HD on Sport TV and RTP1. En route to the final, both sides progressed through six rounds to reach the final. Matches up to the semi-final were contested on a one-off basis with the exception of the semi-finals which were contested over two-legs, with a match at each team's home ground.
Académica defeated Sporting 1–0. Marinho's fourth-minute goal was enough for Académica to claim their second Taça de Portugal in their history after their first cup triumph came in the inaugural edition of the competition in 1939. As Académica won the cup competition, they went on to play Porto in the 2012 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in August 2012. Académica would also guarantee European football were they qualified directly for the group stage of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League by winning this competition.
Background
Académica were appearing in their fifth Taça de Portugal final. Académica had previously won one Taça de Portugal which was the inaugural cup final in 1939, and had previously lost three cup finals (1951, 1967 and 1969). Sporting CP were appearing in their twenty-sixth Taça de Portugal final. They had previously won the Taça de Portugal fifteen times (1941, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1954, 1963, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1995, 2002, 2007 and 2008), and had been beaten in the final ten times (1952, 1955, 1960, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1987, 1994, 1996 and 2000). Prior to this match, Académica de Coimbra and Sporting CP had previously met sixteen times in this competition. Académica de Coimbra had won four times whilst Sporting had won twelve.
In Académica's and Sporting's entire history, both sides had met on 139 occasions, with Sporting winning 97 games, Académica winning 19 and the two drawing 23 times. The last meeting between these two sides in this competition was in the 2006–07 edition of the cup in a quarter-final tie in which Sporting defeated the Coimbra-based side 2–1. This was the first time that each side had met each other in a cup final. The last meeting between these two sides in domestic league action was on the 30 April, three weeks before their meeting at the Jamor. Sporting defeated the briosa 2–1 at the Estádio José Alvalade. Académica's last victory over Sporting was a league game fixture on the 6 February 2010, where the estudantes defeated the Lisbon side 2–1.
Route to the final
Académica
As a Primeira Liga team, Académica entered the 2011–12 Taça de Portugal in the third round, where they were drawn against Portuguese Second Division side Oriental at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra. Académica defeated the lower league side 1–0, with a goal from central defender Markus Berger. The fourth round saw Académica pitted against cup holders Porto in a home tie. After an uneventful first half, the first goal of the game came just after the hour mark through Marinho. As the game drew to a close with Académica in the lead, Porto's manager Vítor Pereira brought on two attacking-minded players in James Rodríguez and Kléber to try to get an equalizer for the visitors. Ten minutes from the end, Hélder Cabral skipped past Porto's Maicon on the left, who then picked out a cross for an unmarked Adrien Silva, who slotted the ball past Rafael Bracalli. Académica scored a third goal at eighty-nine minutes as Éder intercepted the ball in the center of the pitch and threaded the ball to Diogo Valente, who, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, slotted the ball to the 'keeper's left, which gave Académica a 3–0 win over a big three side.