Issa Doumbia is said to be “perfectly” adapted to Sporting, and says she has no doubt that she has chosen “the right place to meet the goals and evolve to get further”, namely the main selection of Italy.
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09/11/2026
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Ims Doumbia shared, this Monday, an extensive open letter in the Italian project Cronache di Spogliatoio, in which he spent his career ‘clean, pointing out as the highest point the recent debut on the list of convos of the main Italian team, less than four months after it was acquired by Sporting to Venezia, for a sum of 20.5 million (plus six million in bonuses)
“ I still remember the emotion I felt when they called me to the national team. The moment of the call was private, just like when I was summoned to the sub-21 selection. I was so unbelieving when they woke me up to break the news that I thought it was a prank, and I fell asleep again. Only then did I realize”, he started writing.
“ I was notified by the Sports Director of Sporting, after the last game before the break. You waited for me to play so you wouldn't put me under pressure and keep me calm. ‘Issa, Roberto Mancini came to see you, you go to the national team’. He had told me nothing, to avoid influencing me”, he added, referring to the two-ball draw with Arouca, in the José Alvalade Stadium.
The 23-year-old player did not hide, moreover, that he was “precisely for this” who left for Portugal: “It was the right place to fulfill my goals and evolve to get further. It's the right team. I've adapted perfectly since early. From Venice to Lisbon. I just have to improve my language, but I have only been here three months”.
“ I came here because I could immediately play the Champions League and test myself to a much higher level. For me, it was the perfect platform. A great team that plays for goals of the highest level, with a European spirit, that can provide me international games ", pointed out.
“I did 18 games, including those of the national team, within two and a half months. It was an impulse for my career. I came from Serie B, it was a nice jump, but it was given with knowledge of cause. This window, at this level, allowed me to reach the national selection ", completed the average of Costa-Marfinense ancestry.
“OK, Issa, the time has come. You really are living it”
Issa Doumbia then looked at September 9, when she had the opportunity to debut in the Champions League, in Sporting’s ‘married’ victory over Galatasaray, by 3-1: “I started in the formation ranks of a Serie C team [the AlbinoLeffe], and I don’t give anything for granted.”.
“I was lucky enough to find a club that believed in me and gave me the right route for my journey when I left for Venezia. Two years later, I'm on the national team and I play the Champions League. I want to go back to find the AlbinoLeffe, to see the children who dream of becoming soccer players ", can read.
“ I remember marking the goal that saved us from the demotion, it is a joy that I will take forever with me, because it allowed me to repay for one last time something to the leaders and the people who supported me. When I heard the Champions League music, the emotion went down my throat”, he confessed.
“ Feel the League of Champions song live while you're on the field... it's, I'd say, private. I can't express in words the emotions I felt, I tasted it with all my heart, with an infinite impression. I went into the field saying to myself ‘OK, Issa, the time has come. You're really living it," he concluded.