Betinho gola splits the points and sees Sporting B finish in 10th

Sporting B closed the Ledman LigaPro season with a 1-1 draw against Sp. Braga B this Saturday. Both goals came in the early stages, with Ogana striking for the hosts after just two minutes and Betinho levelling eight minutes later.

"We had a good first-half, despite the slip in concentration and letting in a really early goal. We were the better side, although our performance slipped a bit in the second-half because we knew that the result wouldn't make a difference in the league", said coach João de Deus at the final whistle, going on to reflect on the season as a whole: "We finished in a reasonable 10th place. We were a bit spent in terms of quality this year, but with a lot of work we did well collectively."

Bruno de Carvalho released statement

CLUB STATEMENT

Publishing information brings with it obligations that some members of the press refuse to comply with.

For three years we have been discussing these poor practices. However, certain members of the press continue to act in this way, against all of the regulations of their profession.

In this light, we would like to clarify the following

1. Octávio Machado will not be replaced by anybody.

Octávio Machado will continue as the Director of Professional Football.

In addition to his role as the Fans Liaison Officer, André Geraldesis responsible for the Players and Families Support Office, which serves the professional football team and the club's other teams. The only change made to this office is that it will now cover youth football and the Sporting Olympics Office;

2. Virgílio Lopes will continue to lead the Sporting Academy and Youth Football.

Dr. Guilherme Pinheiro is the SAD administrator who is permanently at the Academy to assist in all issues relating to youth football, allowing for more efficient decision making and the strengthening of investment in the youth system..

This addition was made after being suggested by Virgílio Lopes

3. Hiring players is, as it always has been since the start of the current mandate, in the hands of the President, who is assisted when necessary by the administrators Dr. Guilherme Pinheiro, Dr. Carlos Vieira, Dr. Rui Caeiro and Dr. Sancho Freitas, as well as the SAD legal department;

4. No club has "stolen" Slimani or any other player from Sporting Clube de Portugal and no entity outside of the club decides the future of our players.

All such news articles are pathetic and are an attempt to create anxiety in the squad.

To "decide" the future of any Sporting Clube de Portugal player, clubs must first talk to the President. This of course will not be easy, due to his stance in defence of the club and his players. The players are totally focused on Sunday's match and such news articles have no effect on them;

5. Today an article about the possible substitution of Simeone for Jorge Jesus was released. The SAD administration have contacted Atlético de Madrid, who denied this. That is something that could also have been done by journalists.

Alvalade midfielder scoops Players' Syndicate award

João Mário was named as the Professional Football Players' Syndicate Young Player of the Month for April this week, tallying 18.36% of votes cast to finish ahead of Diogo Jota (Paços de Ferreira) with 12.98% and Renato Sanches (Benfica) with 10.79%.

The results are based on the vote of members of the Players' Syndicate, as well as journalists from A Bola, O Jogo and Record newspapers.

It was actually João Mário's second award in two days, after winning the Player of the Month award attributed by Liga NOS coaches and fans through Samsung's official website.

Useful information for fans travelling to Braga

The club has released the following information for fans travelling to Braga on the last game of the season:
 
– The club's Organised Fan Groups should gather at Estádio José Alvalade by 09h00.

– Fans travelling in their own cars are advised to park near to the Braga Municipal Stadium, preferentially in the Dechathlon carpark.

Alvalade defender features in squad of 23

The Uruguayan national coach, Óscar Washington Tabárez, has named Sebastián Coates in his squad of 23 for the coming Copa America Centenario 2016, to be played in the United States from the 3rd to the 26th of June.

The Alvalade defender, who recently extended his stay with the club, will join up with other stars playing in Europe's big leagues such as Luis Suárez (Barcelona), Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint Germain) and Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid). 

Partnership between Sporting CP and Proforce focusing on youth talent in India

The second round of the DreamChasers recruitment programme designed by Sporting in partnership with Proforce gets underway at the weekend, as part of a drive to boost youth football talent in India. A total of 250 players from the age of 8 to 14, selected out of a group of one thousand, will be in action on Saturday on Sunday, with 15 places up for grabs at the end of the weekend.

The project will see the chosen players join a residential programme for give years, under the guidance of Sporting's coaches at Kolhapur's Dr. Cyrus Poonawala International School. There will of course be a chance to visit the Sporting Academy in Lisbon too!

Defender at Alvalade for the 2016/2017 season

Sporting has extended its loan with the player Sebastián Coates.

Official statement: 

"Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Sunderland AFC for the athlete Sebastián Coates for the extension of his loan until the end of the 2016/2017 season. Sporting SAD wishes Sebastián Coates the best of professional and personal success".

Coates arrived at Alvalade in the January transfer window and has played a crucial role at the heart of the Sporting defence, featuring 12 times already in Liga NOS and Europa League matches.

Tickets for the last match of the season on sale as of Wednesday

Sporting will travel to the Braga Municipal Stadium, for a 17h00 kick-off on Sunday the 15th of May, on Liga NOS matchda 34 (last game of the season).

Tickets are on sale as follows:

WEDNESDAY | Club Members with a Gamebox 2015/2016 and who have held a Member Gamebox for 13 years (100%)
THURSDAY | Club Members with a Gamebox 2015/2016 and who have held a Member Gamebox from 7 to 12 years
FRIDAY | Club Members with a Gamebox 2015/2016 and who have held a Member Gamebox for 1 to 6 years
SATURDAY | Club Members in general

Until tickets sell out, the Estádio José Alvalade ticket office will be open from 10h00 to 20h00.

€20 | Sector A16 + A15
€30 | Sector A14
€60 | Sector A13

A valid Member Gamebox must be shown on purchase of tickets (with April 2016 fees paid. Each Member Gamebox is valid for 1 ticket. Each person can bring a maximum of 4 cards.

V. Guimarães steal the points in the second to last game of the season

Sporting slipped to a 4-2 defeat on Ledman LigaPro matchday 45 this weekend, at the hand of V. Guimarães B.

João de Deus rang the changes for the starting whistle, bringing in Jorge Silva at right back and Tomas Ruka along side Domingos Duarte in the heart of defence. Guimarães, in the fight to avoid the drop, come out winging in the early stages, taking charge against a Sporting B team that looked content to manage the space while Guimarães moved the ball around. Stojkovic came off his line in the 5th minute in an attempt to collect possession, but Domingos Duarte was on hand to intercept Areias' shot. The instability at the back took its toll shortly after, when a free-kick from the right actually saw Stojkovic made an unbelievable stop from te first attempt, but the Sporting defence was unable to clear away the loose ball and Denis took the opportunity to put his side ahead. The goal was just the shake up Sporting needed and João de Deus' side went about constructing their best spell of the half. After a decent effort from range from Daniel Podence, Fábio Martins come just inches from levelling (34’). V. Guimarães' second goal was completely against the run of play, as a series of stray passes saw Vítor Campelos break away and double their lead through Tyler just three minutes before the break.

Sporting CP come out fighting after the break, but a harsh deflection off Domingos Duarte following an Elinho shot ended up with the ball sneaking past Stojkovic to practically sentence the final result. Although doing a better job of stringing passes together in the second-half, some positional errors punished Sporting B's efforts to get back into the game. Tyler set up Rafael Barbosa for a fine finish from a tight angle, but the reaction looked to have come just a little to late. However, the introduction of Betinho flipped the action on its head once again and a good bit of play between the forward and Cristian Ponde saw the latter make it 3-2 with ten minutes to play. Sporting B's mammoth effort was however dashed in the final stages, with another Guimarães goal closing the scoring.

V. Setúbal with almost 44 thousand spectators

This season has not only been fantastic on the pitch, but off it as well.

On Saturday night, against V. Setúbal, Estádio de Alvalade hosted a total of 43.827 spectators. The packed crowd saw this season's average break the 40k mark, more specifically an average of 40,017 fans over the 17 Liga NOS matches played in Alvalade this season.