Issa Doumbia has already debuted in the Italian selection and begins to collect her first compliments after entering the field in front of Turkey. Rui Borges expects the best version of the player Sporting has picked up from Venezia.
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30/09/2026
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Ithis Doumbia is living a truly memorable year of 2026. After having made the Venezia jump to Sporting, where he now has the possibility to play in the Champions League, as happened in front of Galatasaray, the Italian average young man has already reached the main selection of Italy, having been used in the two games of the new cycle of the selector Roberto Mancini.
After adding the 10 minutes in the defeat against Belgium (1-2), last Friday, Doumbia deserved the longest period of play in the victory imposed on Turkey (4-1), entering the field shortly after the game time.
The Italian press was particularly pleased with the performance of the selection in this last match and the Sporting player also deserved praise, since it helped to “hold the midfield”.
The evaluation is, moreover, shared by various Italian media, which mostly attribute grade 6, on a scale of 0 to 10, to the average Sporting.
“ It takes your muscles to rebalance a team that in the second part had lost some distance between sectors. It is confirmed as an average that combines quantity and quality”, read, for example, in the analysis of Sky Sport.
In turn, the Corriere dello Sport points out that the Sporting player “was very well”, while the Sport Mediaset describes Doumbia as a “strengthened” and “very hardworking” player.
The Corriere della Sera highlights the “clearness and quick response” of Doumbia, while the portal Tuttomercatoweb points to the importance of the entry of the middle leonino, who “entered to hold the midfield in the most complicated phase” of the meeting.
The evaluations thus leave positive signs on the impact of Doumbia, while the average seems to have already gained the confidence of the selector.
The azzurra squad is back in action, in this League of Nations, already on Friday, with a visit to France, in a much more demanding test, before again measuring forces with Turkey. Doumbia should deserve more minutes, leaving Rui Borges... to ‘sweep hands’.
Full statement in Alvalade?
This is because Sporting still deals with some “growth pains” caused by the deep renewal of the squad, with some reinforcements late in asserting themselves definitively. Issa Doumbia, which led to an investment of more than EUR 20 million, has revealed some exhibitional irregularity, but the good response in the selection may be the missing step to also ‘unlock’ in Alvalade.
Rui Borges has also said to predict a great future for the average of 22 years, highlighting his side of “street football”, but also admitted that the former Venezia still has to improve some capabilities.
“He’s a kid with enormous potential. It's far from what you can give, honestly. It has fabulous potential and is growing tactically. He's a kid with street football. He will play the same against a team from the Portuguese Championship as the Champions League. It is a growth of the game, because two years ago it was in the fourth Italian division”, said Rui Borges, in the preview of the game with Famalicão, even before the call of Doumbia to the Italian selection was revealed.
“ It has great potential. You're gonna be a fabulous player in the future, I guess. You've been doing very well. He likes to listen, learn and grow up. He is a modern player and I am not surprised that the selector of Italy has him under eye ", pointed the coach of Sporting.
Doumbia thus has on her shoulders the pressure to assume greater predominance in a Sporting that has already stumbled for more than once in the national championship, currently six points away from the leader FC Porto.