Portugal put six past Andorra in World Cup qualifier

The Portuguese national team sealed a first win in their World Cup qualification campaign this Friday with an emphatic win against Andora (6-0). Ronaldo fired in four, while João Cancelo and André Silva also found the back of the net.

Sporting's Gelson Martins made his first senior international appearance, coming on as a substitute in the 72nd minute for Pepe.

Fellow Alvalade star Rui Patrício completed the full 90 minutes, while William Carvalho featured in the squad but did not play.

Bruno de Carvalho takes part in Leaders Sport Business Summit in London

The Sporting president, Bruno de Carvalho, was in London recently to take part in the Leaders Sport Business Summit, which brings together names from across the sports and business worlds.

Speaking about the event, the Alvalade leader proved pleased with such a prestigious invitation: "It is more and more important for Sporting to be on the front line, with its vision for modernising football. It is one of the most prestigious conferences in the world and I don't mean only in relation to football. It was really important and it is an honour for sporting to be part of such a restricted group. Sporting CP is recognised as being on the front line of some of the important battles in football."

"It was really nice to spend two days thinking about football and to transmit Sporting CP's ideas. Football is going through a big transformation, but we also have to consolidate what has been done, to ensure that it doesn't get lost in the moment. We talked a lot about the present and future of football and we hope to carry on taking part in events at this level", added Bruno de Carvalho.

The Sporting president went on to appeal for Portuguese football to take a long, hard look at itself: "I came back feeling satisfied, but knowing that we still have a lot to do. I have faith that one day I will feel the same about Portuguese football. We are still learning and you can see the big difference between Portuguese football and the others when you go to these congresses. World football wants to be at the very top and sometimes Portugal is lagging behind a bit. We really should reflect and take a step in the right direction."

"It is nice to feel that Sporting CP's ideas are being noticed in football. It is important to know that we were influential in the changes that have happened. Football needs regulation, not only in terms of laws but also in terms of its multi-million euro business which involves more and more people and more and more money", finished Bruno de Carvalho.

Gelson Martins picked to speak for the national team

Portugal's latest sensation, Gelson Martins, left the Sporting Academy this week on his way to represent the Portugal senior team for the first time.

"We still haven't had time to study the opposition yet, because we only arrived yesterday. It will be a tough two matches, against two teams that sit back in defence. In theory they are good opponents for us, but in practice it is never like that", said the Alvalade youngster in an interview with the press, going on to explain his choice to play for Portugal ahead of an invitation from  Cape Verde: "I have played for Portugal since the under-18 team and it has been a long road, but it was natural for me to play for Portugal."

Gelson's form has been attracting a lot of attention, including rumoured interest from Barcelona. "I am not thinking about it. I have nothing to say about it honestly", he added.

Bruno de Carvalho sees deal as opportunity to develop technologically

Sporting CP agreed a protocol with Inphtech this week, with the goal of developing personalised laptops.

“We picked Sporting CP because the club has been looking to do something innovative in recent years. Today the club is looking to win and Infhtech lines up with that", said the Inphtech administrator, Tiago Ramos.

President Bruno de Carvalho was also on hand to share his thoughts: "Since coming in we have looked to team up with companies who focus on modernity. We like being associated with technology companies and Inphtech is a sign of quality. It is a perfect partnership that will move us forward in terms of technology."

Former Sporting striker back to commentate for Champions League encounter

It was 21 years ago that Andrzej Juskowiac last put on the green and white shirt, after 87 games and 31 goals for Sporting, from 1992 to 1995.

The Sporting legend was back in Alvalade on Monday, where he will commentate on the Champions League hosting of Legia Warsaw for Polish television.

“Legia are going through a tough time right now, they fired their coach last week. The new coach, Magiera, will have a hard time and maybe the result isn't even that important. Poland hasn't had a team in the Champions League group stage for 20 years and to come back into the competition with a 6-0 loss (against B.Dortmund) is really tough", said the former Sporting forward, adding: "We are talking about a team that not physically prepared and that will play on the defensive. If Sporting pushes the pace, Legia won't have a chance. Their most dangerous player is Nikolic, who did well in the qualification round. He didn't play in the first game, but he will tomorrow probably. Legia have a good keeper as well, Malarz."

Hosting of the side from the Polish capital set for 10th consecutive crowd over the 40k mark

A total of 38,000 tickets have already been sold for Sporting's Champions League hosting of Legia Warsaw on Tuesday, in Estádio José Alvalade.

With sales expected to continue on Monday, this could be Sporting's 10th consecutive official match with more than 40,000 fans packing out Alvalade:

Tickets for Champions League matchday 2 are available from €15 for Members and €25 for fans, with the match included in all Gamebox 2016/2017 packages.

Onlines sales are exclusively for Sporting Clube de Portugal members (maximum of 4 per member. The Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices are open from 10h to 20h, with tickets available for both Members and fans.

Entry is prohibited to children under the age of 3 and all spectators must have a valid ticket.

Vice-president Carlos Vieira at the IIII National Sports Forum

Sporting's vice-president Carlos Vieira was at the III National Sports Forum this week, invited to speak about the work being done to balance the Alvalade books in line with UEFA regulations.

"Sporting CP has been publishing detailed accounts. This board of directors showed the consolidated accounts for the entire Sporting Group for the first time, which is something that not every Portuguese club does. As far as I know, from the big clubs only Sporting and FC Porto have done it", said the Alvalade director, adding: "The previous board missed the numbers set by UEFA's fair-play rules and it discredited Sporting's management. We have restructured and it has worked out brilliantly. We were not penalized financially and that allowed us to turn in the results which we have been."

Carlos Vieira finished with a reflection on football in general: "Clubs in Portugal cannot just focus on players' economic or sports rights. Football is a really important industry in Portugal, Europe and around the world and we have to build up a capacity to keep our best assets. We have to convince players that playing in Portugal is just as good as in Spain for example."

Prozis Alvalade's official nutrition partner for professional football

Local council president announces tribute paid by a fan

The president of the Leiria Municipal Council, Raul Castro, today confirmed that Rui Patrício a statute will be commissioned of Rui Patrício in March 2017, next to the city's sports park.

The idea came courtesy of the business man Carlos Matos and his brother Vítor, who had declared that they would see a statute built if Patrício won Euro 2016. "When I was watching the match I promised that I would make a statute of him if Portugal became European champion, but I didn't think it would actually happen! I lost the bet of course", explained Carlos Matos to Lusa.

The statute will be sculpted by Celestino Alves and will be the image of Patrício's save against Griezmann in the final.

Jesus' side lead for 89 minutes against the European champions

Sporting came just seconds away from writing yet another glorious chapter in the club's history on Wednesday night, with a brave Champions League performance in the Bernabéu that saw Sporting lead until one minute before the end of regulation time. However, Cristiano Ronaldo and Morata had other ideas, scoring two last gasp goals to snatch away what would have been thoroughly deserved points.

Football can be cruel sometimes, but Jesus' side did themselves proud with a performance that was thanked by the thousands of Sporting fans who made the trip across the Spanish border to support their side.

Madrid on the other hand had to wait until just seconds before the final whistle, after having been frustrated by the classy duo of William Carvalho and Adrien Silva in the middle of the park.

Leading the attack, Gelson Martins was in absolutely unstoppable form and was constantly aiming his sights at Casilla. It was through the Alvalade starlet that most of Sporting's attacks materialised.

Of course Bryan Ruiz's magic with the ball at his feet was a constant source of danger for Real Mardid, but it was Bruno César who set Sporting on what would have been an historic victory with a shot across the face of goal in the 48th minute that the Madrid keeper was unable to keep out.

The result looked to have been secured, before Ronaldo netted what was a heartbreaking yet brilliant free-kick squeezed in at the post. Patrício managed to get a hand to the shot, but not even the Alvalade shotstopper could keep out such as well-placed effort.

Deep into added time Morata popped up with a header inside the box to complete the turn around and snatch the points.