The Handball team won against Braga ABC, by 30-23, for the 2nd round of the championship

"Win for us." The 996 fans present at the João Rocha Pavilion requested and, with no option of choice, the Sporting Clube de Portugal handball team agreed. In a match played until the last second under the watchful eye of Frederico Varandas, Club President, the lions ended up winning with a 30-23 victory against the ABC of Braga, for the second match of the National Championship .

In this particular game, we can, without a doubt, highlight the most crucial position of all: goalkeeper. Unstoppable throughout the encounter, Aljosa Cudic presented all the Sportinguistas with categorical defenses who, on several occasions, 'saved the lion's skin'. 

In a first part on an 'equal foot', it was up to Frankis Carol to open the scoring in favor of the Greens and Whites. In a team full of talent it becomes very competitive to fight for the place of the best scorer of the match. In the first half we can highlight the four goals of Frankis Carol, the three of Pedro Solha and, among others, those of the reinforcements Chiuffa and Neven Stjepanivic, which in the case of the latter, reversed the disadvantage to 5-4, and after the 9th minut, the advantage was of six goals (16-10).

Returning from the interval, the commanders of Hugo Canela appeared in a higher level compared to the first part. It was also up to Frankis Carol to open the count on the scoreboard again. Always changing between the six and seven goals, Frankis Carol's right-hand finish, Ivan Nikcevic's free-kick, Chiuffa's strike, and Rueda and Edmilson's performance. In a (good) fusion of technical-tactical factors, the lions did reached the first of many victories in the João Rocha Pavilion. To all of you, Sportinguistas, "Welcome to Handball".

The futsal team won 11-0 against Fabril, winning their 8th trophy in the competition

"Yes, hello? Am I talking to the Sporting Museum? Get some space, we're leaving Loulé with another trophy in our pockets!"

After the 11-0 victory against Fabril, the futsal team is on its way to Alvalade.

The commanders of Nuno Dias entered the court wanting to solve the game as early as possible with quick offensive transitions. The first attack came just in the opening minute from Cavinato, who opened the score at the Municipal Sports Pavilion in Loulé, after an assist from Léo, the number 17 only had to touch it in.

The story about the second goal is very simple: Dieguinho enters, Dieguinho scores (5 '). The ball then went back to game only to increase the advantage. This time through Pany Varela (6 '), assisted by Varela after recovering the ball by Dieguinho. The same trio for the fourth goal, but with positions changed, gave right to the second goal of Dieguinho, served by Pany (7 ').

Speaking of scoring second goals, the arrival to the half dozen had the "wizard" Merlin as the protagonist (9 'and 10'), after two hits towards the goal.

At half-time, the lions had already had a hand on the Super Cup, while Fabril had little time to breathe and recover from each goal.

Cavinato went on to make the first goal of the second half (28 '). Special attention was also given to the eighth goal of the afternoon, which was scored by Dani (30 '), in what was his first goal in an official competition for the senior team. Merlin closed his personal account by signing a total of three goals.

To finish in beauty, Pany scored his second (39 ') and Pedro Cary was the last to shout "goal" with all the Sportinguists who moved to Loulé. Eight Conquered Supercups and one certainty: This is an omen for a season in which the futsal of Sporting CP will need (more) space in the storefront that is destined to them in the green and white Museum.

The athlete was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit

Nelson Évora, the recent gold medalist in the triple jump in Berlin, European champion and national pride, was this Monday received by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who awarded the lion, together with Inês Pereira Henriques, European champion in 50km march.

The ceremony at the Palácio de Belém began with a brief speech of the President. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized the merit of the athletes and thanked them for "believing in what they are and what they can achieve, not to give up on more ambitious goals, to combine work, consistency and humility". He emphasized, leaving an appeal: "These are qualities that should be a lesson to us all. We need more self-esteem, greater ambition, a lot of consistency, and humility", he finished.

Nelson Évora was awarded with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit. He was accompanied by Artur Torres Pereira, President of the Management Committee and Carlos Silva, technical director of Sporting CP athletics. The Portuguese hero said that "It is undoubtedly a great honor to receive this award. Any athlete, when he starts his career, has many dreams, but he can never foresee that this day will come. I am happy for this step and for continuing to honor all the Portuguese", he began by saying, then answering the reason why he had never accepted such a distinction.

"After everything I went through, I felt it was not the ideal time. I did not have easy days, which were divided between the public's sympathy versus the relationship with the press, which was not good. So I figured I'd have to keep working to feel it was the right time to do it. The day has come, but that does not matter now. What matters now is that I have been awarded and I am very satisfied ", explained the athlete.

Three-time National Champion has won another achievement after a dreamy season

The three-time National Champion futsal coach, Nuno Dias, was chosen - for the third time in a row - as the best coach of the 2017/18 SportZone League.

The coach, who has been ahead of Sporting CP’s futsal team since the season of 2012, is also the coach with more titles in Portugal

Members with free entry to this Thursday's match

This Tuesday (August 28th) will be marked by the first derby between Lions and Eagles at the new Under-23 league. At 5:15 pm, the Sporting Academy will open doors for the third day of the Revelation League.

Members with quotas on time will have free entry to the Stadium Aurélio Pereira. The price for non-members is fixed at 4 euros.

Nuno Dias's team discipline made the diference

It was the title match and the lions don’t usually fail when it comes to raising trophies. In the re-issue of the last two UEFA Futsal Cup finals, Sporting CP beat Inter Movistar (4-2) and won the Masters Cup. In Portimão, and with many green and white supporters in the stands, the three-time national champions became the first Portuguese team to win the coveted pre-season trophy.




Although we have several new faces, the team dynamic remains; "We knew it was not going to be an easy competition. Sporting CP did their job well and we achieved these two victories. This shows the power that our team has, even with many players leaving and the entry of others. The group is reacting well and those who arrived too", confirmed Dieguinho.

In spite of the conceded goal, Peseiro, the head coach praised his team's character

After the tie in the derby of the third round, and taking into account the characteristics of the match, José Peseiro acknowledged that the 1-1 result turned out to be positive. "According to what happened, the draw was a good result for us. We could have played with low lines, save intensity and we did not. We wanted to push high and so we ran a lot. Closer to the end of the match, Benfica was better than us and we did not have any intensity. We paid the bill at the end of the game, "he explained.

Still about the physical wear felt at the final stretch, Jose Peseiro said that the teams are with different competitive indices. "Benfica are on the sixth official match and we are going on the third. This is to justify the fact that we did not balance the game in the last minutes as we balanced in the first half. We lacked condition due to several factors. One was that we did not start the season with some of these players and another was that we had fewer official games, "he said.

Although we are in an early stage of the season, the coach acknowledged that the team's goal is to reach the end first. "It's very difficult for anyone to be at Sporting CP and not think they have to win titles. More difficult is to conquer them. We know the value of the other teams and we are here to fight. We made a point. Now it's up to us to rest well and think about winning the next game, "he said.

The stance of the lions and supporters was not forgotten by José Peseiro. "I want to congratulate our supporters who were here and congratulate my players, who acted in a self-sacrificing way and showed a lot of character in the pursuit of the goals," he concluded.

Sporting CP was winning but the reds managed to tie the game

Salin gave it all but could not defend the header of João Félix, near the end, which established the final result in the Lisbon derby (1-1). A penalty from Nani, in the 63rd minute, gave hope to the lions, who leave the match with the same points as the rival (both with seven points).

In a derby full of events - which does not mean that it was especially well played - the figure of the Lion goalkeeper emerged as the most decisive on the field (and who could have expected this?). During the first half, Benfica only created opportunities in set pieces, with Rúben Dias and Cervi close to scoring, were it not for the opposition of the green and white goalkeeper. José Peseiro prepared the team to move up in the field, with Montero and Bruno Fernandes to fit in the middle and one of the midfielders to be on top of Fejsa. The strategy proved effective, forcing the group of Rui Vitoria to look for Grimaldo and André Almeida to overcome the pressure. Even without the initiative, Sporting CP was always a team present in the offensive midfield, taking advantage of the opponent's ball losses to accelerate. Acuña, who played alongside Battaglia, showed that he could be useful in that area of the field and had some moments of association with Bruno Fernandes or Nani, as well as Montero - excellent in using hid body to impose on the central field and continue moving forward. Raphinha, another novelty in the team, was the solution used to attack the blank space, especially in the back of Grimaldo. At half-time, the idea was that José Peseiro had managed to surprise Rui Vitória.

Benfica entered the second half and decided to put the lions in their midfield, always using the aisles to create advantages. At this stage, Peseiro's class was still glowing to get to the attack, not running many risks and opting for direct play. With less than half an hour to go, a play often repeated at Benfica's stadium gave rise to one of the bids of the match - Bruno Fernandes gained space to cross on the right and Rúben Dias comitted a foul inside the box on Fredy Montero. Nani, in return to the derby of the Portuguese football derbies, tricked Odysseas and put the green and white in advantage. Rui Vitória sent Seferovic and 'boy' João Félix to react to the goal conceded and, from here on, only played in the midfield of Sporting CP. The strategy imposed in the first half, which led to long journeys by the middle and forwards, was felt in the final stretch of the game, with lions showing less ability to win duels. Faced with the dynamics of the reds attack, Jose Peseiro brought Petrovic in to support the worn-out Battaglia and Acuña, unable to erase 'all the fires'. At the side, Ristovski and Jefferson were punished by the opponents aisles and the equalizer confirmed the trend. Rafa crossed to the front of the Brazilian side and João Félix headed in the back of the Macedonian. The least deserved to get the ball to the nets was Salin, who made a series of monumental defenses to hold the team. The point that the lions bring to Alvalade is everyone's, but it is more of the Frenchman who became unlikely hero of the derby.

Who said it was Abdoulay Diaby who arrived to Alvalade from Brugges

Abdoulay Diaby is already on the loose in Alvalade and was presented alongside Sousa Cintra, President of Sporting Clube de Portugal - Futebol, SAD.

"I am very happy to be here. Sporting CP is a great club and as soon as I learned of the possibility of coming here I did not hesitate", he began by saying at a press conference at Estádio José Alvalade. The 27-year-old from Mali came to José Peseiro's team to give a completely new side to the team. A bet on depth and speed, the forward who came from Club Brugge was given a 60 million euro termination clause and took on the interest he sees in the country as his next challenge.

"I know that Portuguese football has great clubs, which are always present in European competitions. The league level is good and I think it might be interesting for me. And the coming to Lisbon too (laughs)", he said. The left-hander, when asked if he would 'marry' well with Bas Dost, promptly replied: "We are very different players and we can complement each other. Besides the goals, which are very important for a striker, I can add other things. The season is long and I hope to contribute, "he explained.

Before signing for the lions, Diaby spoke to Mathieu, who encouraged his arrival. "He told me to come, that he would like it very much. The team plays quality football, the club's conditions are fantastic and the team is good", he finished.

Sousa Cintra took the floor and praised his latest athlete. "I am very pleased that he has arrived and I think Sporting fans will be very happy, it will be very important. He is the fastest player in Portuguese football, probably. He has a great ability, which gives depth to the attack, him and Bas Dost make a perfect match for more goals. He's used to being a champion. It will bring great contribution to the ambitions of Sporting CP, "he clarified.

Luís Martins looking to extend unbeaten Ledman LigaPro run

Looking ahead to do Ledman LigaPro matchday 34, which will see Sporting CP B host Olhanense, coach Luís Martins warned his players to alert, despite their recent rich run of form.

"There are no easy matches and this is a really specific context. We are coming out of a tough situation and we want to keep this positive run going. We know it will be difficult and we can relate with Olhanense in relation to the fight against relegation. Of course we want the points, especially playing at home. We want to show that the international break has helped us a bit. We haven't won anything yet, but the lads are focused on getting the three points", said Luís Martins.