PortuGOAL’s Pearls of Portugal: Part One

There’s never been a stronger reminder in recent history as to just how secondary a sport like football, lived to the fullest by me, you and many more around us, is. Society now unites into a sole team, fighting a common enemy, but with plenty of hope and optimism that the time to disperse into our club-tinted hubs shall soon come back.

While we await a hopefully prompt return to normality, the team at PortuGOAL takes a glimpse into the future, highlighting a handful of youngsters tipped to star on the Primeira Liga stage in coming seasons. To begin with, here are three names we as Portuguese football fans ought to keep our eyes on.

Angelo — They're all too young. They can be great or no, and I always lean towards the more conservative calculation....

Football comes to a halt but for the gaming industry all bets are still on

The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has sent societies all over the world spinning into unprecedented times. Naturally, the main concern for the worldwide population is staying healthy, but Covid-19 has also had a massively detrimental effect on economies all over the planet.

The sudden cancellation of all sports events is a source of huge frustration for professional sportsmen and women, coaching and training staff, not to mention event organisers and their employees. A whole industry defined by competitive energy has been forced to put its collective feet up, literally ordered to stay at home in many cases. As a corollary, another sector that has been hit hard is the online betting apps industry.

On This Day: Nani denied his finest Man Utd hour by Bayern in Champions League in 2010 [video]

On Wednesday April 7^th in 2010 Manchester United hosted Germans Bayern Munich at Old Trafford looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The first 40 minutes could hardly have gone better for the Red Devils and in particular Nani, but the Portuguese would be robbed of arguably his finest hour in a United shirt as Bayern staged a comeback.

Pedro Neto: The young Portuguese aiming to build on Ronaldo’s legacy in England

Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Pedro Neto is quickly developing into one of the most exciting young prospects in English football. Neto, along with Bruno Fernandes, is the latest Luso talent to attempt building on the imprint left on the Premier League by Cristiano Ronaldo during his spell with Manchester United.

Speaking to O Jogo, 20-year-old Neto discussed his journey from the youth ranks at Braga to current club Wolves via a stop in Italian football, while admitting his ambitions are to reach the pinnacle of the game like his childhood friend: Barcelona-bound Francisco Trincão.

Wayne Rooney on Cristiano Ronaldo and World Cup 2006: “I’d have done the same”

That many Portuguese football fans nurture a lingering sense of injustice and distrust for the English media can be traced back to the summer of 2006. In Gelsenkirchen, Portugal and England went head to head for the third time in four tournaments with a huge prize at stake: a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

The Seleção eventually won in a penalty shootout, but the game is remembered mainly for the red card issued to Wayne Rooney for stamping on Ricardo Carvalho’s private parts. TV replays shows the Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo was spot on with the decision, but much of the UK media vilified the role played by Rooney’s then Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.

Rooney himself has now set the record straight in his column in the Sunday Times, saying: “I would have done the same thing in Ronaldo’s shoes.”

Ronaldo leads the way as football takes a pay cut

There isn’t much football to report on at the moment, and that’s because there isn’t much football happening in general.

Unless you’re a fan of the leagues that are continuing to play fixtures in Belarus and Tajikistan - which we imagine accounts for very few of you - football doesn’t exist at the moment. We understand the reasons for that. Some things are more important than football, and the disease the world currently faces is one of them.

Flashback: Bruno Fernandes shines as Udinese shock Napoli in 2016 [video]

Today’s trip back in time sees us revisit the first weekend of April 2016, when a young Bruno Fernandes stole the show in Udinese’s victory over Napoli in Italy’s Serie A.

Fernandes was 21 and in his fourth season in Italian football; his third with Udinese who were battling relegation and ultimately survived by a single point. The midfielder’s individual campaign was good enough to earn him a summer move to Sampdoria, and a brace against Napoli in a 3-1 win on Sunday 3^rd April was a standout moment.

“There were many tears” - Portugal’s Rúben Semedo opens up on life behind bars

Rúben Semedo celebrated his 26^th birthday this weekend, marking a year of undoubted progress on and off the field for the Portuguese defender. Semedo is currently on a high point in his career, having endured a turbulent time in his personal life which threatened his freedom and his football aspirations.

Speaking to Canal 11, Semedo admitted that a spell in jail early in 2018 was the most difficult period he has experienced, but now understands he has the chance to rebuild his life.

Filipe — The funnier thing about angelo’s comment is not that he’s wrong about this hurting or helping Portugal’s chances, it’s the speculation that there’s some mysterious powers-that-be who released a world pandemic all so that Portugal wouldn’t repeat as euro title holders! I mean, I’m as pa......

Angelo — Justin- We had one CB. Now we have none. Momentum is everything. Fernandes would've won EPL player of the year, had he a chance to do so. Now, nothing. Pogba will get his way, and have a banner year next year. France's injury worries will be all over, and we'll have an insurmountable injury situatio......

Justin/rochester — @angelo “I think collectively, we should all boycott the Euros next year. The powers-that-be set us up to fail” “ We were prime for this year's tournament, not next. We were going to squeeze whatever juice was still left in guys like Pepe and Ronaldo, and sit back to watch guys like Silva, Fe......

Portugal star Ricardo Pereira: Recovery going well

Ricardo Pereira has been speaking to Sky Sports in England about his ongoing recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered last month. The Portuguese has already been ruled out for the rest of the season, but Ricardo is pleased with the progress being made.

The former Porto man also has words of praise for current Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers, whom he credits with being a major factor in the Foxes being in contention for Champions League qualification in the Premier League.

On This Day: Portugal hero Eder warms up for tournament with brace in France in 2016 [video]

The decision made by Portuguese striker Eder to move to Lille in France on transfer deadline day in February 2016 is arguably an underrated moment in the Seleção’s road to glory. A strong showing in the second half of the season in Ligue 1 earned Eder his place at Euro 2016 and the rest, as they say, is history.