“Nothing against Benfica, but my dream was really Sporting”

Marco Almeida was once considered one of the great promises of Portuguese football, in such a way that, at only 22 years of age, he was part of the Sporting team that, in the 1999/2000 sports season, put a stop to a ‘fast’ of national champion titles that had lasted for 18 years.

Born in Barreiro, he arrived at the José Alvalade Stadium at only ten years of age, adding consecutive loans to Casa Pia, Lourinhanense, Campomaorense and Southampton, before permanently disengaging in 2001, and continuing career in Alverca, Ciudad Murcia, Maia, Portimonese, Nea Salamia, Lusitania de Lourosa and Akritas Chlorakas.

However, before that, when he was at the end of his contract with the green and white emblem, he received an invitation to travel to Benfica. In an extensive interview given to the Tuesday edition of the newspaper The Ball itself explained why it refused to strengthen the eternal rivals.

“ I've always taken my loans as a growth phase. I've never seen them as if I didn't miss them. Sporting always accompanied me, being in Campo Maior or England, there was a phone call, meetings, to know how things were going, I never felt that it was disposable”, he began by stating.

“ I didn't want to go out to Southampton, I felt it could be my year of affirmation, but there was a leader who didn't understand it like that... I ended up going, I accepted on behalf of Sporting, because I believe a lot in a sentence that always conveyed to me in football, especially in Sporting, ‘People pass by, but the club stays’. I will be eternally grateful for what Sporting has managed to do to me, both as a man and as a professional”, he continued.

“In December, under the Bosman Act, Southampton submitted a five-year proposal to me and a Benfica phone call came up, with a proposal far higher than it had. I waited, I wanted to hear from Sporting and it was Louis Duque who called me. Nothing against Southampton, nor against the Benfica institution, but my dream was to affirm myself in Sporting, the club of my heart ", completed.

“Gonçalo Inácio does not have this tendency to be a born leader and I think that, at the moment, Sporting is missing”

Looking at Sporting's sporting current, the now sports director of the Sport Club of Santo António de Lisboa, 49 years old, the former central defense looked precisely at the backsliding sector of the team on orders to Rui Borges, and at Gonçalo Inácio's statement as captain.

“ Since the departure of Coates, it was a voice of command in the field and in the locker room. Gonçalo Inacio is an excellent player, so he is in one of the best clubs in the world, but he does not have this tendency to be a born leader and I think, at the moment, this lacks Sporting ", defended Marco Almeida.

“ Some aggression was lost, in a good way, other things were won. Football evolves and there is a great tendency that the centers are technically good, to start building from behind ", concluded.