Leões/Lions Awards 2013

First off, apologies.. I’ve been a badblogger for a while. Twitter’s just so much easier to pay attention to do. I don’t actually have to write things down. Besides, it’s been a rough season. It’s been the Sportingequivalent of Grave of the Fireflies.

Secondly, huzzah! It’s the second annual Leões/Lions Awards! There have not been too many things that were award worthy this year but I’ll try my best.

I realise there’s one more game left to play but.. what the hell!

Let’s kick things off then.

Goal of the Season: Ricky van Wolfswinkel (1st) vs. Braga (link) – Not to take away from the lovely diving header that finished the move but the cross from André Martins is what put this goal as my number one. Cédric hit the ball forward for André Martins to run onto and the cross was just a product of perfect technique and the finish capped off what was our best moves all season long.
Runners Up: Bruma vs. Gil Vicente (link), Cédric vs. Nacional (link), Ricky van Wolfswinkel vs. Guimarães (link)

Worst Signing of the Season: Khalid Boulahrouz – It’s been a pretty terrible period of signings from Sporting especially after the promise of the last year. Far from going from young-ish players with potential (Carrillo, Jeffrén, Capel, van Wolfswinkel) it seemed this season was a return to signing older players. Many of them did not do very well but I think Boulahrouz was perhaps the worst. Just remember him being sent off in the Benfica match at the Alvalade. It was a telling sign that Marcos Rojo only started to really improve when he was in central defence with Tiago Ilori instead.
Runners Up: Danijel Pranjic (how did he ever play for Bayern?), Gelson Fernandes (added nothing to the team, like Rinaudo without the energy)

Signing of the Season: Fabrice Fokobo – It’s been slim pickings to think of our best signings. Fabrice Fokobo has hardly played that much first team football for Sporting but on pure potential he looks like he could turn into a very good signing. The performance against Porto stands out and, of course, his goal against Tottenham Hotspur in the NextGen series. Wow.
Runners Up: Marcos Rojo (only started to settle near the end of the season), Zakaria Labyad (potentially a very talented player but has failed to show much of it so far)

Young (U-23) Player of the Season: André Martins – It took until Jesualdo Ferreira’s appointment for André Martins to really get much of a run in the first team but he has shown he’s one of our classiest players. Without him in the side the team look even less likely of ever creating a chance.
Runners Up: Eric Dier (just missed out on the award, looks like a great prospect), Tiago Ilori (really benefiting from first team football)

B-Team Player of the Season: Ricardo Esgaio – Adaptable and a great finish it seems Ricardo Esgaio’s development has massively improved thanks to the B-Team. Had he not been required for first team commitments he would have scored even more.
Runners Up: Eric Dier (that freekick vs. Benfica B, phwoar), Bruma (improving greatly but needs more time)

Player of the Season: Rui Patrício – As always, São Patrício. Please never leave us. Although he probably finally will this season after having just made his 250th appearance for the club it’s depressing to think where we would be without him. The only player who gives 100% every single week)
Runners Up: Diego Capel (has the knack of finding goals when they’re needed most and constantly runs his socks off), Fabián Rinaudo (all heart and all passion)

Godinho Lopes Award for Being Shit: Godinho Lopes. This award needs no explanation.
Runners Up: Godinho Lopes, Godinho Lopes

Match Report: Celtic U19 1-2 SPORTING U19

Sporting made it two wins out of two in their NextGen Series campaign so far with a 2-1 victory in Glasgow against Celtic. After Celtic opened the scoring Iuri Medeiros equalised just before half-time followed by a late Luís Cortez winner.

There was early concern for Sporting after just 10-minutes when Tobias Figueiredo was substituted and Braima Candé had to come on to replace him. It will be a worry also for B Team manager Oceano. Tobias replaced Pedro Mendes early on in the B Team’s game against Marítimo B last week and having both injured will be a major concern.

It was then Celtic who took the lead in the 23rd minute after Callum McGregor teed up Denny Johnson in the box for the home side.

After a slow start for Sporting they started to improve as the game went on and Iuri Medeiros got the equaliser after Carlos Mané’s pass just before half-time.

Sporting got better in the second-half and substitute Luís Cortez scored an excellent long-range effort to give Sporting the win in the 76th minute.

It was another good result for the young Sporting side before they have a far more tricky NextGen fixture against PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands on the 26th September before playing the result of the group games all at home later on in the year.

Sporting U19 XI: Mickaël Meira; Mauro Riquicho (Wilson Manafa 54′), Tobias Figueiredo (Braima Candé 10′), Rúben Semedo (YC), Michael Pinto; Edilino Ié, Farley Rosa (Bruma 66′), Filipe Chaby; Iuri Medeiros (Scored 45′), Carlos Mané (Cristian Ponde 66′), Alexandre Guedes (Luís Cortez 66′, Scored 76′)
Subs Not Used: Guilherme Oliveira, Wallynson Mallmann

Adrien Silva Renews Contract Until 2017

After a lot of speculation over the summer that Adrien SIlva was looking to move away from the club (with some rumours stating abroad or even FC Porto) it seems that the Portuguese midfielder is here to stay after signing a new contract to keep him with the club until 2017.

Adrien’s new contract includes a release clause of €40,000,000. Adrien stated after signing his new contract that it had always been his plan to stay at Sporting.

Since returning from his season on loan with Académica, Adrien has been a regular in Ricardo Sá Pinto’s side so far this season.

Sporting’s Europa League Group Stage Squad Announced

Sporting’s squad for the group stage for the UEFA Europa League has been announced on the UEFA website. The full squad with B team members is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Rui Patrício, Marcelo Boeck, Victor Golas, Luís Ribeiro
Defenders: Daniel Carriço, Xandão, Khalid Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo, Cédric Soares*, Tiago Ilori*, Emiliano Insúa, Tobias Figueiredo*, Michael Pinto*
Midfielders: Stijn Schaars, Marat Izmailov, Zakaria Labyad, Fabián Rinaudo, Adrien Silva, Bruno Pereirinha, André Martins, Danijel Pranjić, Kikas*, Edelino Ié*, Filipe Chaby*, João Mário*, Luís Cortez*, Elias, Gelson Fernandes, Zezinho
Forwards: Jeffrén Suárez, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Diego Capel, Valentín Viola, André Carrillo, Carlos Mané*, Iuri Medeiros*, Ricardo Esgaio*, Bruma*, Betinho*

(* – Players with an asterisk are on the ‘B list’)

Match Report: SPORTING B 3-2 Marítimo B

Sporting B will go into the international break as Segunda Liga leaders after beating Marítimo B 3-2 in their latest game.

After losing the first game of the season Sporting B have won every game since then.

It didn’t look too easy at first when it was Marítimo who took the lead through young German defender Patrick Bauer after just 15 minutes of the game gone. It was though against the run of play with Sporting having the majority of possession.

Sporting’s possession finally told when Diego Rubio set up Betinho to equalise just 8 minutes after falling behind.

There will be some concern for Pedro Mendes who was taken off injured not long after the equaliser with an injury to be replaced by Tobias Figueiredo. With Santiago Arias still out injured it leaves the B team looking light in defensive options.

Sporting won a penalty after referee Luís Ferreira spotted a handball in the area. Ricardo Esgaio stepped up to score his 3rd goal of the season, all of which have been from penalties.

After the break Luís Ferreira was on hand to spot another Marítimo handball in the area and award Sporting their second penalty of the game. This time it was not Ricardo Esgaio taking the penalty but instead Diego Rubio who also scored from the spot.

Marítimo gave Sporting a nervous end to the match when substitute João Vieira pulled a goal back but Oceano’s men (or boys) held on to take the win.

Sporting B XI: Victor Golas; Ricardo Esgaio (Scored 38′), Pedro Mendes (Tobias Figueiredo 24′), Tiago Ilori, Michael Pinto; João Mário, Filipe Chaby, Zezinho; Bruma (YC), Diego Rubio (Scored 57′, YC) (Iuri Medeiros 70′), Betinho (Scored 23′, YC) (Nii Plange 75′)
Subs Not Used: Luís Ribeiro, Kikas, Lucas Patinho, Gaël Etock

Sporting News Round-Up

It’s been a busy week for Sporting with a few games, the close of the transfer window, and the Europa League groups drawn so it’s time for another huge round-up of all the Sporting news.

First, we’ll catch up with Sporting’s last two games in which Sporting had varying success.

The first was a massively disappointing 0-1 defeat at home to Rio Ave. Edimar’s well worked goal in the 40th minute was enough for the visitors to secure the win. The game was typical of the first opening games for Sporting. Sporting had plenty of possession but failed to break through the Rio Ave defence and at times looked hugely out of ideas – and when they did make chances proceeded to miss them. In the second-half also saw the debut of the new Argentine forward Valentín Viola.

Sporting XI: Patrício; Cédric Soares (YC), Khalid Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo (YC), Emiliano Insúa; Gelson Fernandes (YC) (Valentín Viola 72′), Adrien Silva (Zakaria Labyad 46′), Elias (André Martins 46′); André Carrillo (YC), Diego Capel, Ricky van Wolfswinkel
Subs Not Used: Marcelo Boeck, Daniel Carriço, Danijel Pranjić, Jeffrén Suárez

After the game Ricardo Sá Pinto was furious and promised a win and goals in the next game in the Europa League against AC Horsens. Last week the sides drew 1-1 and Horsens goalkeeper Frederik Rønnow stole the show.

Sá Pinto’s side truly delivered with a thumping 5-0 victory to secure a place in the Europa League group stages (draw to follow). Danijel Pranjić started ahead of Emiliano Insúa at left-back to make his full Sporting debut.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who had been misfiring in previous games, opened the scoring after 8 minutes with a lovely half-volleyed finish. Thomas Kortegaard was unfortunate to see a ball bounce cruelly off his knee and then into the net to put Sporting 2-0 ahead at half-time.

After the restart Ricky van Wolfswinkel got his second goal from close range after some poor Horsens defending from a corner. André Carrillo scored the goal of the game when his superb strike from the edge of the area hit the underside of the cross bar and went in before a good Elias strike finished the hammering.

Sporting XI: Rui Patrício; Cédric Soares, Khalid Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo, Danijel Pranjić; Gelson Fernandes (Daniel Carriço 74′), Adrien Silva (André Martins 65′), Elias; André Carrillo (Jeffrén Suárez 65′), Diego Capel, Ricky van Wolfswinkel
Subs Not Used: Marcelo Boeck, Xandão, Emiliano Insúa, Zakaria Labyad

On Friday 31st August came the Europa League draw which saw Sporting drew in Group G alongside FC Basel, KRC Genk, and Videoton FC.

Interestingly, Hungarian side Videoton are managed by one-time Sporting player Paulo Sousa. As well as that Renato Neto is also on loan at the Hungarian club from Sporting and it is where former Sporting player Marco Caneira is currently playing.

Full fixtures:

20th September: SPORTING vs. Basel
4th October: Videoton vs. SPORTING
25th October: Genk vs. SPORTING
8th November: SPORTING vs. Genk
22nd November: Basel vs. SPORTING
6th December: SPORTING vs. Videoton

Before we move onto all the transfer news there will be Sporting players involved for Portugal over the next international window:

Portugal: Rui Patrício
Portugal U-21: Cédric Soares, André Martins and Pedro Mendes

Speaking of Rui Patrício. Patrício signed a new contract with the club keeping him at the club now until the end of the 2017/2018 season. On top of that Rui Patrício’s release clause has been increased to €40,000,000.

So now to the transfers.

Sporting completed only one transfer in to the club and that was of Júlio Alves (brother of Bruno Alves) joining Sporting B on loan for the season from Turkish club Beşiktaş.

There were plenty of moves out of the club though, albeit almost all loan deals…

Florent Sinama Pongolle cancelled his contract with Sporting meaning he is now a free agent. Pongolle spent last season on loan at Saint-Étienne and will be widely remembered as being one of Sporting’s most wasteful signings.

Wilson Eduardo will be spending next season on loan at Académica after almost making it into the first team this year.

Valeri Bojinov, who was certainly never going to play for Sporting again, has moved on loan to Hellas Verona. Bojinov had long been rumoured to be joining Torino but ended up at Hellas instead.

B-Team defender João Gonçalves will join Vitória de Guimarães on loan.

Another B-Team defender, Atila Turan, will be in Turkey next season playing for Orduspor. He’ll be playing alongside former Sporting player Miguel Garcia.

And finally, in the most surprising move, Oguchi Onyewu will be playing for Málaga next year. Onyewu did little wrong last season with Sporting but his loan deal will mean he get more first-team football. The arrivals of Rojo and Boulahrouz made his departure more likely.

So there you have it! The B-Team are facing Marítimo B later today with a report to follow later.

Sporting News Round-Up

It’s been a while since our last update so there’s plenty of news to catch-up on before Sporting take on Rio Ave in the first home league game of the season tomorrow.

Firstly, last Sunday the Primeira Liga returned to action last weekend and Sporting took on Vitória de Guimarães at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques and the game ended a dull 0-0 after a promising opening. Fortunately Braga, Benfica and Porto also drew all of their opening league games so a false start is not too bad.

The game also saw official debuts for Khalid Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo, Gelson Fernandes and Zakaria Labyad with the latter appearing as a substitute. Here was Ricardo Sá Pinto’s team for the game:

Sporting XI: Rui Patrício; Cédric Soares (YC), Khalid Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo (YC), Emiliano Insúa; Gelson Fernandes (Zakaria Labyad 72′), Adrien Silva (André Martins 46′, YC), Elias; André Carrillo (YC), Diego Capel (Jeffrén Suárez 89′), Ricky van Wolfswinkel (YC)
Subs Not Used: Marcelo Boeck, Daniel Carriço, Stijn Schaars, Fabián Rinaudo

After that Sporting opened up their Europa League campaign with a trip to Denmark to face AC Horsens. Again Sporting drew but managed to get a goal too courtesy of André Carrillo after Martin Spelmann opened the scoring for the home side.. Indeed, Ricky van Wolfswinkel will feel aggrieved that he failed to score when the Dutchman wasted a couple of chances throughout the game. The performance at the very least, was an improvement over the game against Guimarães.

Sporting XI: Rui Patrício; Cédric Soares, Khalid Boulahrouz, Marcos Rojo, Emiliano Insúa; Stijn Schaars (Zakaria Labyad 58′), Adrien Silva, Elias (André Martins 78′); André Carrillo (Scored 79′), Jeffrén Suárez (Diego Capel 66′), Ricky van Wolfswinkel
Subs Not Used: Marcelo Boeck, Daniel Carriço, Xandão, Gelson Fernandes

There was also news that Rui Patrício has signed a new contract with Sporting taking him with the club all the way until 2018. This will at least put any transfer rumours to bed for a few days.

Patrício said that he was “very happy with this outcome” and “renewing with Sporting was something I really wanted”. Rui also said how he wanted to help the younger players out whilst at Sporting to improve their development.

Meanwhile in the B team for Oceano -

Sporting B picked up their first competitive win since they returned to action this season. Sporting won 2-1 against Sporting Clube da Covilhã after going behind to Gilberto’s early strike. It was Betinho and Diego Rubio (returning from suspension) who got the goals for Oceano. João Gonçalves stepped in for Santiago Arias who was injured in the last game against Guimarães B. Pedro Mendes also saw a red card after receiving a late second yellow card meaning he would miss the next game against Atlético Clube de Portugal.

Sporting B XI: Victor Golas; João Gonçalves (Iuri Medeiros 68′, YC), Pedro Mendes (YC, YC+RC), Tobias Figueiredo, Michael Pinto; João Mário (Filipe Chaby 87′), Zezinho (YC), Ricardo Esgaio (YC); Bruma, Nii Plange (Diego Rubio 72′), Betinho
Subs Not Used: Luís Ribero, Tiago Ilori, Atila Turan, Gaël Etock

Atlético Clube de Portugal proved a tricky tie for Oceano da Cruz’s men at the Estádio Tapadinha. The game was very even with Victor Golas being Sporting’s best player for most of the game.

Bruma was the man who made the difference with an excellent strike to put Sporting ahead after 72 minutes with Atlético goalkeeper Filipe Leão helpless to stop it.

Sporting went further ahead just 5 minutes later via another Ricardo Esgaio penalty after a handball in the area. Atlético pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute when Hugo Carreira headed in from close range to set up a very nervous finish for Sporting.

The game was made certain in the very final seconds when Gaël Etock ran through a tired Atlético defence and slotted under Leão to give Sporting B another win.

Sporting B XI: Victor Golas; João Gonçalves (Filipe Chaby 46′, YC), Tiago Ilori, Tobias Figueiredo, Michael Pinto (YC); Zezinho, Ricardo Esgaio (Scored 76′), Iuri Medeiros; Bruma (Scored 72′), Diego Rubio (Eric Dier 78′), Betinho (Gaël Etock 46′, Scored 90+5′)