The coach readies his side for a game against FC Famalicão

In Liga Portugal action, Sporting Clube de Portugal face FC Famalicão on Matchday 20 this Saturday. Coach Rúben Amorim talked about this, and a busy month of February, in his pre-match press conference.

“FC Famalicão are a team who always have talent. In these games, without much responsibility to win, they have the ability to keep the ball and create danger for any team. Their stadium is a different ground, where it is always very difficult."

FC Famalicão are currently eighth and have lost their last two matches. Although they are the joint-lowest scoring team, they have made defensive consistency count, with the joint-fifth best record of 23 goals conceded.

The team led by João Pedro Sousa have not won at home since Matchday 10 (3-1 against Gil Vicente FC), but Amorim talked up the talent present for FC Famalicão.
“If Puma or Chiquinho play, I think they can both play together. Or Puma [Rodríguez] can come inside because he is very fast and very physically strong. [Jhonder] Cádiz touches the ball more often, inside the area, and has a lot of headers, so we have to safeguard the crosses in. On the other hand, a large part of their routine on the left goes through [Francisco] Moura, who is suspended. All of this will come into play,” he detailed.

“They have the talent to beat Sporting CP, but we have to respond to that, because we are fighting for the title and we want to maintain our place at the top."

With Sporting CP about to start a gruelling month of February, featuring seven games in three different competitions (Liga Portugal, Taça de Portugal and the UEFA Europa League), Amorim highlighted that the coaching staff look, above all, at “the space between games, with the focus in general being on the next match."

“Our job was to tell the players, and they are fully aware of this, that everything that happened in the last game - the atmosphere, the pitch, the duels we won and the shots we had - will now have no bearing on this game. It will be completely different."

In Vila Nova de Famalicão, winter signing Koba Koindredi will be among the options to play, but Jeremiah St. Juste will be absent again through injury.

Afterwards, asked to assess Sporting CP's movements in the January transfer market, Amorim highlighted that the idea was to “prepare not only for the present, but above all the future,” both in terms of arrivals and departures.

He first explained that loanees Afonso Moreira and Dário Essugo “needed minutes to gain confidence and take the next step up,” before also addressing Rodrigo Ribeiro's transfer to Nottingham Forest FC.

“For one reason or another, he couldn't develop like others did in the first team. What I wish is the best of luck for Rodrigo, because he has a lot of talent. In a very competitive league, a lot is down to him and his coach.”

Regarding Koba's arrival, he described him as a reinforcement to “prepare and safeguard the future and anticipate things that we think could happen."

“We are not only buying the player he is now, but also what he can become, because in a few years we would have to pay a lot more for a player like him. We didn't get certain players who, perhaps, would be a better value now and a better reinforcement for the immediate future, but Koba is a player for now and very much thinking about what he can become."

"He has a lot of quality, but he still needs a lot of work. The important thing is to see that there is talent and, without a doubt, Rafa Pontelo and Koba are very talented players."
“We have depth in the squad and there are, at most, nine days left until Ousmane [Diomande] and [Hidemasa] Morita will return. I feel that the squad is on the right track and, without major injuries, we have the squad to compete in all competitions and give opportunities to all of our players," he guaranteed.

“The main thing is the league title, but we are not going to give up on the Europa League or the Taça de Portugal. The focus is on becoming champions. It also has a psychological impact on the fans and on the way we want to win consistently, and the impact of us getting into the Champions League. If we can win everything, then great. We will need a lot of luck, but you know that luck is not lacking sometimes.”

​The midfielder bolsters the squad in the winter transfer window

Introducing himself, Koindredi described himself as “a player with a lot of quality with his feet, technique and physical ability, and very calm. I always want to help the team."

At GD Estoril Praia, Koindredi shared the dressing room with Mateus Fernandes, who is on loan there from Sporting CP.

“The atmosphere at the Estádio José Alvalade is amazing. It’s a very beautiful stadium, very big, and I’ve seen that with the fans there it’s a crazy atmosphere. I will work hard to do my best and to help the club win trophies."

The coach's verdict on an 8-0 win over Casa Pia AC

After the 8-0 win against Casa Pia AC for Sporting CP, coach Rúben Amorim, spoke at a press conference to discuss the match.

“It was a victory that we needed, but it's only worth three points and to maintain our position at the top of the standings. The important thing is to feel that the team, even with a great result, never take our foot off the accelerator and we always want more," he began by telling journalists.

"I think that against SC Braga we played better than today, but today we managed to score the goals and that unlocked the game. We also didn't concede goals and, in addition, we controlled practically all of Casa Pia AC's attacks, without letting them create anything.”

Amorim considered that his side demonstrated the “mentality of a big club,” both through their constant offensive stance and through their response to the defeat against SC Braga in the semi-final of the Taça da Liga.

“Despite it being a difficult week, we saw growth in our mentality and in terms of what we have to feel, because every trophy we fail to achieve is a failure -which is also part of football. It was also a reflection of the fact that the players want to win and repay the fans for the way everyone applauded after we were eliminated from the Taça da Liga. We really want to win trophies for Sporting CP.”

“I like the direct way of playing more, as we always want more goals. At home we have to be strong. Especially at home, we have controlled the games and had the most of the ball," he highlighted, before outlining the improvements that have been felt in the team from season to season.

“We are maintaining our level, whether we are losing or winning, and we are maintaining our level of performance. We are improving a lot in attack, which is also because we have new characteristics and Viktor [Gyökeres] also gives us that (…). I think we have all evolved, both coach and players, and we have seen what kind of characteristics were missing. I feel like this is a team that want more, and are aware of what we want to do and the difficulties we will face in the season. We still have three competitions to win."

Asked about some individual players, Amorim acknowledged that Pedro Gonçalves “is still recovering from his foot problem”, explaining his substitution at half-time, which also served to “give others the opportunity to get on the pace."

"Ousmane Diomande has not been playing for so long for his national team, which is something that worries me, and Jeremiah St. Juste felt, while warming up against SC Braga, that he had a problem with his foot."

Finally, he looked to the upcoming game, away from home, and the mission against Famalicão.

"We have to do our job. We need to win the next game to stay in first place,” he concluded.

The team rebound from cup disappointment with a thrashing of Casa Pia AC

Returning to the Estádio José Alvalade after three consecutive away games, Sporting Clube de Portugal brushed aside Casa Pia AC in a comprehensive 8-0 win on Liga Portugal Matchday 19. After their defeat and elimination in the semifinal of the Taça da Liga, which had interrupted a run of eight wins on the bounce, they responded with a devastating attacking display.

Against the side 13th in the division, who had won their last two away fixtures, coach Rúben Amorim repeated the ten outfield players in his starting lineup from the loss to SC Braga. Only goalkeeper Antonio Adán returned in goal. Furthermore, this game marked Geny Catamo's comeback for the squad, after having represented Mozambique in the African Cup of Nations.

Os Leões were going for their 15th victory in 16 games this season in Alvalade, and did not take long to test the opposing defence. Viktor Gyökeres hunted a long ball and headed it into the hands of goalkeeper Ricardo Baptista, who shortly afterwards had his reflexes tested by a shot off the left foot of Marcus Edwards.

It was before a quarter of an hour had been played, from a dead ball, that Sporting CP made it 1-0. Nuno Santos hit a free-kick perfectly into the area and Sebastián Coates rose to head into the back of the net.

Then, in the space of just two minutes (the 23rd and 25th), Sporting CP tripled their lead in front of their 32,869 fans in attendance. Firstly, through a quick move off a recovery by Francisco Trincão, which was continued by Gonçalo Inácio and Pedro Gonçalves, Gyökeres finished at will. Soon after, Morten Hjulmand, under no pressure, clipped the ball cleverly over the Casa Pia AC defense and isolated ‘Pote’, who slotted in from the one-on-one.

After half an hour of play, Gyökeres made an unstoppable move inside from the left, and was only stopped when he was fouled inside the area: He himself stepped up for the spot kick, and put it away for his 15th goal in the league this term.

Immediately, Casa Pia AC coach Pedro Moreira made the first substitution, but the bleeding was not stemmed and his side were increasingly defenceless. Trincão shot wide and Coates was bested by Ricardo Baptista in a series of chances.

Next up it was Edwards who entered the visiting area at full speed and, just when it looked like he had been disarmed, the ball fell to Trincão, who showed precision with a low shot to add his name to the scoresheet.

For the second half, Amorim brought on Daniel Bragança and took off Gonçalves, who had contributed a goal and an assist. Before the hour was out, Geny Catamo and Paulinho came on for Ricardo Esgaio and Edwards, respectively.

Sporting CP insisted on continuing to control the pace. With the team camped out in the opposition midfield, Coates hit the bar in search of his second goal of the night.

Geny Catamo made it 6-0 with a great hit, inspiring Amorim to replace Inácio with Matheus Reis and Hjulmand with Dário Essugo to give them minutes.

Captain Coates got his second half goal, and Trincão also scored his brace, rounding off an outstanding 8-0 result.

Sporting CP now have 49 points and remain outright leaders by 1 point over SL Benfica and 5 over FC Porto. Next up, the team travel to play FC Famalicão.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Ricardo Esgaio (Geny Catamo, 58’), Eduardo Quaresma, Sebastián Coates [C], Gonçalo Inácio (Matheus Reis, 73’), Nuno Santos, Morten Hjulmand (Dário Essugo, 86’), Pedro Gonçalves (Daniel Bragança, 46’), Marcus Edwards (Paulinho, 58‘), Francisco Trincão and Viktor Gyökeres.

The coach and his players are keen to return to action on Monday against Casa Pia AC

This Monday at the Estádio José Alvalade, Sporting Clube de Portugal host Casa Pia AC on Liga Portugal Matchday 19. Coach Rúben Amorim was present at a pre-match press conference to preview the contest.

Starting by revealing that Geny Catamo is returning from the African Cup of Nations and, therefore, fit and in the squad, he turned his focus to the opposition.

"Casa Pia AC have changed the way they play. They now use a 4-4-2 and have similar dynamics to those used by Paulo Fonseca some time ago. They have a good identity, we can recognise well where the positions are, and they have quality. Just like how, in Chaves, we had to avoid crosses, in this one we will have to do that too, both from the fullbacks and the players between the lines. It's going to be a difficult game, but unfortunately we have had more time to work and we are prepared. We have to win to keep our place in the table," he told journalists.

Asked about the days following elimination from the Taça da Liga, Amorim admitted that it had been "a long week" and that "it seems like it has been a month between games."

"I feel that the team are still stuck in the last game, and only when the ball gets moving against Casa Pia AC will certain things disappear. We have never needed to get a game underway so much to get back on track. (...) We are feeling the defeat. There was a lot of silence afterwards, but we've been working well. I know the players are still thinking about the last game. I am the quickest in moving on to the next game and it was even hard for me, so imagine what it was like for the players. The team are very focused on what they are doing, but I feel like it was one of the defeats that has lingered the longest."

Asked about the impact a trophyless season would have on Sporting CP, Amorim responded that "I will leave of my own accord" at the end of the campaign if that were to happen.

"Two years in a row without winning silverware cannot happen at a big club like Sporting CP."

"In the game against SC Braga, they played very deep and took away our depth . Whether the other teams do the same thing or not depends on us. If we hit the post three times, if we send a shot wide in front of goal... if all this happens in another game, then the antidote to us has been found, which is the ball not going in."

Reinforcing his view that the current position in the top spot "doesn't say anything about what will happen until the end of the season," the coach also explained that, "due to the way they have been playing" and the fact that their fate is in their own hands, "Sporting CP can get the title if we work game by game."

Regarding the return home, he commented that, in Leiria, "it felt like a game at Alvalade."

"The stadium was full of Sportinguistas and we won't feel much of a difference. The applause for our team reflects the atmosphere of unity, but we have no illusions. We have to win the game, play well and have a good initial feeling. We can't wait to play, and it being in Alvalade is even better," he added.

Finally, Amorim commented on Iván Fresneda's situation.

"Fresneda did individual work and has already done some non-contact drill with us. I don't know for sure when he will return."

The coach gives a post-mortem on the Taça da Liga elimination

At the end of Sporting Clube de Portugal's 1-0 defeat against SC Braga, coach Rúben Amorim said that elimination from the Taça da Liga "will not have an impact" on the remaining objectives.

"We have the other competitions to win. It will be mandatory to win trophies this year. There is more pressure on us because there is one less trophy available, but it doesn't change what we want to do. The pressure is the same, we want to win the other silverware up for grabs," he began by telling journalists at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria.

"What we were missing were goals. After SC Braga's goal we were lost, because I changed things when I should have let the team settle down. I already had that substitution in mind. What went wrong was that SC Braga scored from their only opportunity, while we had many chances and we couldn't," he said.

Asked about the support shown by the many thousands of Sportinguistas at the end of the match, the coach stated that "There are games in which one team are superior, but don't dominate at all times and the fans are not satisfied. The fans are certainly not happy with us losing out on a trophy, but the Sportinguistas see a team giving everything and they support us because there are more honours at stake. This doesn't end here and we have four months to go in a final sprint."

"I can't fight facts, but I look at the games this year and there hasn't been a game in which we weren't the better side and deserved to lose - apart from against Atalanta BC [in Alvalade in the Champions League] in the first half. What matters is the result, I understand that, but I look at the team and I feel they have good things. In the end we'll see if they have what it takes. We only lost control of the game for five minutes, but SC Braga weren't better at any stage of the game and that's also a fact -although not as tangible as the result," he commented, before saying that he expects the fans to be out in force against Casa Pia AC.

"The Sportinguistas will almost certainly fill the Estádio José Alvalade. We have to regain our strength and go after the ball with more hunger. We really want to win. There will still be a lot of things that happen before the end of the championship and there are four months coming up in which we will want to achieve our objectives."

Finally, Amorim commented on Eduardo Quaresma's form: "We have seen the games. He has been a surprise for everyone. The way he plays and attacks... There is no need for the coach to be talking about the ability he has demonstrated in the last few games."

Despite controlling the contest, the team lose 1-0 to SC Braga in the semifinal

Sporting Clube de Portugal's Taça da Liga campaign came to an end with a 1-0 defeat against SC Braga in the semifinals, sending them home from Leiria unable to defend the trophy.

The Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa was sold out for the Final Four game, with the overwhelming majority in the stands being Sportinguistas. Rúben Amorim made changes to his starting lineup from the game against Vizela: Antonio Adán and Paulinho were rotated out, as Franco Israel and Marcus Edwards came in.

Sporting CP were looking for their ninth consecutive victory in all competitions and fourth consecutive presence in the Taça da Liga final, and demonstrated this throughout the first half, laying siege to an unresponsive SC Braga. That was despite the opposition being the first to shoot, after two minutes, when Ricardo Horta's effort was easily saved by Franco Israel.

From then on, it was one-way traffic. Little by little, Sporting increasingly controlled possession and dangerous chances. On 11 minutes, the first of them came about: A move on the left saw Pedro Gonçalves play to Francisco Trincão to shoot, with Matheus saving. Soon after, and surprising everyone in the process, Gonçalves decided to strike from very far out, only being denied by the woodwork.

Trincão threatened again in the 23rd minute, with Matheus intervening, and both Gonçalves and Nuno Santos narrowly missed the target midway through the first half. SC Braga managed a timid response in the 34th minute, when Zalazar shot wide from distance, but Sporting CP were very strong at both ends. On the offensive, Sebastián Coates gave Matheus problems and, from the resulting corner, Nuno Santos smashed a shot against the bar.

Going into the break, Eduardo Quaresma had an excellent solo move end with a strike wide, and off a tidy counterattack, Nuno Santos sent a trivela against the upright.

Bad luck prevented Sporting CP from reaching the break in front after an opening 45 minutes that featured 11 shots and 62% possession.

The pace dropped slightly in the second half, but Sporting CP continued to be the only team continually looking for a goal.

In the 54th minute, from one of the first moves in which he had space in the entire match, Viktor Gyökeres was sent through by Marcus Edwards and put his left-footed shot wide. Soon after, from another counterattack, the Swede tried to return the favour to the Englishman, but a defender cut it out.

Gonçalves combined with Francisco Trincão and another strike found its way wide, then Nuno Santos applied too much power to his own chance.

The opportunities seemed endless, but the ball didn't seem to want to go in and SC Braga, in their first chance of real danger, put the ball into the net. Zalazar crossed and Abel Ruiz headed in to make it 1-0.

Amorim decided to send on Matheus Reis and Paulinho to replace Sebastián Coates and Ricardo Esgaio, but it was SC Braga who threatened in the 69th minute, when Zalazar took advantage of a Sporting CP error to shoot straight into Matheus Reis.

With 15 minutes remaining, Franco Israel made two tremendous saves: first from Víctor Gómez's shot and, off the rebound, from Ricardo Horta.

Trincão and Gonçalves both had unsuccessful efforts before the end, as a harsh 1-0 scoreline eliminated Sporting CP from the competition.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Eduardo Quaresma, Sebastián Coates [C] (Matheus Reis, 68'), Gonçalo Inácio, Ricardo Esgaio (Paulinho, 68'), Morten Hjulmand, Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos, Marcus Edwards (Daniel Bragança, 76'), Francisco Trincão and Viktor Gyökeres.

The squad prepare for Monday's home game in Liga Portugal

Sporting Clube de Portugal returned to training this Friday at the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Alcochete, starting preparations for Monday's Liga Portugal game (8:45pm local time) against Casa Pia AC at the Estádio José Alvalade.

Coach Rúben Amorim called up six B team players for the session: Lucas Anjos, Geovany Quenda, Francisco Canário, Emanuel Fernandes, Guilherme Pires and Martim Botão.
Iván Fresneda continued his work with the club's Medical Department.

Os Leões will train on Saturday morning behind closed doors.

The coach previews the final four stage of the competition

Sporting Clube de Portugal take on SC Braga this Tuesday (7:45 pm local time), at the Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa in Leiria, in the semifinals of the Taça da Liga.
Coach Rúben Amorim dismissed the fact that their opponents have won just one of their last four games, insisting that they will provide a tough game.

“We only need to look at last season. In the quarter-finals, SC Braga were doing very well in the league and we were not -we had been eliminated from the Taça de Portugal and the Champions League- but we managed to win. It will be almost a final around the city of Leiria and everything that has happened in the league will have no influence," the coach began by saying at his pre-match press conference, highlighting his desire to win the competition again.

“We spent a season without winning trophies, so it became mandatory to win silverware this season. We have this opportunity and I value the Taça da Liga a lot, because I won several as a player and it had a great meaning when I won it with SC Braga, in a difficult stage at the beginning of my career. It was a decisive moment for us, the coaching staff, to gain confidence to carry out our work."

Analysing SC Braga, he told journalists “They are opponents who can change some players, as they have been doing throughout the season, and that changes the way they play. If you play Bruma, he is different from Rony Lopes. We are talking about internationals, they have a very good squad and one of the best coaches in the club's history. I expect a very tough game between two teams who want to reach the final and get the trophy. For us, it is mandatory to win trophies this season and we want to start that now.”
Amorim then confirmed the starting roles for Franco Israel, a goalkeeper who has been in the XI for every Taça da Liga game so far this term, and Francisco Trincão, who is in excellent form and has scored in three of the last four games.

“They will be two of the starters, in response to the impact they have had on the team, the importance they have and how we believe in them,” stressed the coach, revealing that Matheus Reis and Jeremiah St. Juste will be in the squad.

 “St. Juste is very limited in terms of playing minutes, but is another option for this match. Matheus Reis has recovered, trained for two days and he felt good, so we’ll see.”
As for the attack, the coach did not want to reveal Paulinho's possible starting role alongside Viktor Gyökeres.

“I'm not going to say if Paulinho will play with Gyökeres. I said Trincão would play but Artur Jorge doesn't know which side that will be. If I say that Paulinho will play, then he will know where Trincão will play”, he said, before informing that Pedro Gonçalves “is a doubt.”

 “He has a problem with his foot, tomorrow we will test him out and we will see."

Amorim concluded by talking about the current format of the Taça da Liga.

“I am more in favour of this group stage, even though it is shorter. Although it is set up to have a final four with the best teams, and this can be seen by the attention it creates, all professional teams must have the opportunity to compete. I am speaking against myself because it overloads our schedule, but sometimes we have to make sacrifices so that everyone has the opportunity to compete and to give more value to the competition.

"A Taça da Liga in which all professional clubs participate has more value than just the four main clubs competing against each other. I like this format because it gives everyone a chance to play and I value the competition a lot, because a trophy is a trophy and it's a chance for Sporting CP to get silverware again this season."

The coach reviews the 2-5 win over FC Vizela

After the match away to FC Vizela, Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim reflected on the 2-5 win in his press conference. He started by addressing the team's offensive capacity at this stage of the season.

“It has a lot to do with the quality of the players, who are starting to get to know each other better and better, and also with the teams we faced, who are courageous and give us some space when they are trying to press higher. We now have this characteristic of attacking from deep," he began by telling the journalists.

“The goals in this game, because of the moment they came, were important, but it is worth highlighting the way we continued to play in the same way even after conceding first of all. FC Vizela scored two goals and rarely reached our final third. It's not a good feeling, but we created a lot of chances and are difficult to defend. Then, with the disadvantage on the scoreline, FC Vizela tried to get a little more on top of us, we had space and we killed the game off.”

“It was a very competent game from the players, and they were very strong under pressure."

Asked about the performance of Viktor Gyökeres, who added two more goals to his tally, Amorim did not hide that the Swedish striker “plays a vital role” in the way Sporting CP attack at the moment.

“There are players who define teams. We had that a bit with ‘Pote’ in our first season here, when he was very regular in his scoring and assisting. Now Viktor gives us a different ability to go deep. He transforms the team because he makes us more dangerous at all times in the game. He has great physical attributes that come through especially at the end of the game."

However, the coach then extended his praise to more members of the squad.

“We are dependent on all the great players, like Marcus [Edwards], who has now dropped off a bit because he was ill and Trincão came through. When one is out, there are opportunities for others and we never know what will happen”, he underlined, before speaking about the position at the top of the table with 46 points.

“We are top, but there is a lot of competition. The players have to focus, as all it takes is a draw and we lose the lead. There’s not much that we have to do other than win, game-by-game.”

“All tickets have been sold out very quickly and what we can guarantee is that we will always do our best, but there is still a long way to go,” he commented in praise of the fans.