The players spend time with fans during the preseason training camp

Geovany Quenda, Conrad Harder, and João Simões, in a collaboration between the Sporting Foundation and CASLAS - Centro de Assistência Social Lucinda Anino dos Santos, in Lagos, met several young fans at the hotel where Sporting CP are staying during their preseason camp.

The Sportinguistas were full of curiosity , asking several questions that were fielded by the players.

How did you feel playing against Manchester City?
Quenda: "It's a game that no Sporting fan will easily forget, it was very important for us at that time. I felt good and was confident."

What was it like to become two time champions?
Harder: "Becoming a two-time champion was an incredible feeling. I didn't expect how crazy it would be, and sharing it with all my teammates was spectacular. I hope to experience it again."
Simões: "We knew what we wanted from the start and we did it. We really enjoyed it, because we deserved it, after everything we'd been through during the season."

What is your daily routine?
Harder: "After training, I take an ice bath to help my legs recover. Then I have lunch, go home, take a nap and spend time with my family, with my girlfriend when she's here... or with Zeno [Debast]."

What influence did the Sporting CP academy system have?
Simões: "It was great. I lived with more than 50 Sporting CP players, all with the same dream of reaching the first team, and we are lucky to have made it here. We felt like a family. It was a time I will cherish for the rest of my life. I started playing because of my older brother's influence. I was three years old. I played for Silves FC, who were based very close by, then for Portimonense SC, and then I came to Sporting CP. It was all because of my father and especially my brother, and thankfully it's going well. I'm following my dream."

What was it like for Simões to score at the Estádio José Alvalade?
Simões. "It was a dream come true. There are no words to describe it. Quenda even gave me a hard time for crying (laughs), but it was a really good feeling. I was really happy."

How was Quenda's first team debut?
Quenda: "It was a huge honour to see my work recognised, but it wasn't a good game for me because we lost. And it was in a final, in last season's Supertaça Cândido Oliveira."

How does it feel to score in a final?
Harder: "It was incredible. Scoring in a final was something I'd dreamed of since I arrived. Helping the team and winning the trophy was special. It has to be the best goal of my career."

Who are the best players you've faced?
Quenda: "The best players I've ever faced? Maybe Maxi Araújo or Matheus Reis, because I'm always facing them in training,"

At the end of the meeting, João Simões highlighted the importance of the initiative.

"It's great to have the young kids here, because I remember myself at that age, curious to know what our idols do on a daily basis. It was a fantastic initiative. We also learned from them. We saw what it's like to be a child and how happy they are with a simple reaction from us," he explained.

"It's given us the chance to break up our routine of training, resting, training... And we have the opportunity to do a good deed. Even if it's a small thing, it's the least we can do for those who support us."

José Rocha, a member of the CASLAS board, whose main mission is to contribute to the inclusion and social promotion of younger population groups, people with disabilities and the elderly in the Lagos area, added that: "It's a day that will stay with the kids for the rest of their lives. They always have an image of football players as stars they want to emulate, who they want to be like, and this was an opportunity for them to connect with some Sporting CP players, and they're obviously delighted. They were already very anxious yesterday and today it was very difficult to keep them under control until we got here, they were all so excited,” he shared.