Portuguese Football in English

PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: Sorriso gets Famalicão smiling

After three draws, one loss and an extended break for international football, Famalicão got back to winning ways against Vitória SC in the ninth round of Liga Portugal fixtures.

Colombian goalkeeper Juan Castillo tried to resist Fama’s pressure, making eight saves, however Mathias De Amorim broke the deadline in the latter stages of the first-half.

To cap off an extremely dominant display, Sorriso put the cherry on the cake for Famalicão after Gil Dias’ impressive demonstration of anticipation, composure and vision.

Only Óscar Aranda (9) scored more goals than Sorriso (8) last season for Famalicão.

In the absence (long-term injury) of his wide-attacking partner, the 24-year-old Brazilian forward will be hoping that this inaugural 2025/26 league goal opens the floodgates.

Famalicão currently sit comfortably in fifth, keeping seven clean sheets so far this season. In their pursuit of European football, the latest PortuGOAL Figure of the Week will certainly be their source of inspiration in attack. Kevin Fernandes reports.

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Marcos Vinicios Lopes Moura was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, where he would start his footballing journey with ABC.

ABC is in the Guinness Book of Records for having won ten consecutive state championships from 1932 to 1941. Their glorious history contrasts to a modest present.

Marcos Vinicios continued close to home after three years with the Campeão das Multidões, continuing his development with Série A’s Juventude, where he truly transformed into Sorriso.

Sorriso means smile in English, a nickname bestowed upon Marcos for one simple reason - the lack of a frown on his face.

In three years, Sorriso climbed from U-17 to Série A football – making 50 appearances in his first season of senior football for Juve and simultaneously capturing the attention of the Red Bull project in Bragantino.

Sorriso by name, Sorriso by nature! (Photo: www.fcfamalicao.pt)

His most successful campaign in Brazilian football was undoubtedly his second season for RB Bragantino, scoring five Copa Sudamericana goals and helping the Braga Boys to Copa Libertadores qualification.

Despite this relative success, Sorriso was loaned out to Famalicão for his first experience outside of Brazil – a loan spell eventually made permanent for 1.5 million euros.

To put this in perspective, Famalicão have only ever spent more on Manuel Ugarte, in 2021.

Sorriso is close to entering his prime years as a 24-year-old winger with almost 200 matches of senior football under his belt, so Idan Ofer (stakeholder in Famalicão and Atlético Madrid) will be looking for reasons to smile.

Sorriso is your typical modern winger – proficient at attacking space in behind while also loving to drive at defenders with the ball at his feet.

The left-footer shows variation in his finishing, not showing bias to near-post or far-post shots – not only interested in creating, but demonstrating composure in front of goal, despite this current phase of lesser production.

According to ZeroZero, Sorriso is top 5 in Liga Portugal for crosses completed, fouls drawn and duels – demonstrating the range in his overall play and contribution to Famalicão’s cohesive dynamic along with fellow selfless attackers Simon Elisor and the highly rated Gustavo Sá.

Famalicão will certainly be looking to PortuGOAL’s latest Figure of the Week to keep the smiles on the faces of one of the surprise packages of the season.

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