League announces matchday 30 fixture times

Sporting will visit Moreira de Cónegos at 20h45 on Saturday the 16th of April, to take on Moreirense on Liga NOS matchday 30.

Three-nil win against Jamaica puts Costa Rica in driving seat in CONCACAF group B.

Bryan Ruiz once again captained Costa Rica this week, this time for a 3-0 win against Jamaica that all put grantees his side top spot in CONCACAF group B.

After Borges opened the scoring in the 7th minute, the Alvalade forward found the back of the net in the 37th minute with a rocket of a shot. Venegas closed the scoresheet 12 minutes from time.

Tiago Martins for Liga NOS matchday 28

Tiago Martins, 25, from the Lisbon Football Association, has been named for Sporting's Liga NOS matchday 28 visit to Belenenses.

André Campos and Pedro Mota will act as linesmen.

This will be Martins' second Sporting match of the season, following the 0-0 draw in Guimarães on matchday 24.

Belenenses-Sporting CP will kick off at 21h00 on Monday the 4th of April, in Estádio do Restelo.

Sales begin on Wednesday

Tickets for Liga NOS matchday 28, which will see Sporting visit Clube Futebol Os Belenenses, will go on sale at the Estádio José Alvalade ticket offices (from 10h to 20h) as follows:

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY | Club Members with a 2015/2016 Gamebox
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY | Club Members
SUNDAY AND MONDAY | General public

A valid Gamebox or Member card must be shown (with March 2016 fees paid), with each card valid for one ticket. Each person can use a maximum of four cards.

Kick-off is scheduled for 21h00 on Monday the 4th of April, in Estádio do Restelo. Tickets are for the North Goal End and are priced at €13 each.

Jorge Jesus on Johan Cruijff, who passed away age 68 this week

Jorge Jesus added his own words to a growing list of tributes to Johan Cruijff today. The Alvalade coach actually spent a spell with Cruijff in 1993, when the Dutchman was heading up Barcelona's Dream Team.

“As a coach he was a real idol for me for his art and creativity on the pitch, but what made me really like him was the way he set his team out at Barcelona. It is the same idea that is still used today, by Luís Enrique. It was a really unique culture. It was completely out of the normal, a really attacking style. Cruijff saw football a lot differently compared to everyone else. For him, football was an art. It wasn't just for the sake of it that he said he would prefer to win 5-4 than 1-0. For Cruijff, it wasn't enough to win. The team had to put on a show and Barcelona still think like that today. He passed that idea of Total Football on to Guardiola and Luis Enrique. Today we lost a man who gave a lot of ideas and respect to the game", Commented Jesus, adding: "I was also a bit influenced by the idea that just winning isn't enough. I am a big fan of that idea and that is how I see football, but there is only Cruijff. He is one of the mentors of modern football."

Alvalade midfielder scoops yet another award

João Mário has been named as the Professional Football Player's Syndicate for the month of February, after having already won the award in January.

The Sporting midfielder, who is currently away on international duty, won a total of 16.94% of the vote, beating the Guimarães keeper Miguel Silva (13.72%) and Iuri Medeiros (11.62%), who is currently out on loan..

The voting is tallied from the choice of the Player's Syndicate (40%) and sports journalists and is for players under the age of 23.

PPFL announces coming Liga NOS fixtures

The Portuguese Professional Football League has announced the dates for the next two Liga NOS matches, coming up after this weekend's international break.

Sporting will make the short trip to Restelo to take on Belenenses at 21h00 on Monday the 4th of April, before hosting Marítimo at 20h45 on Saturday the 9th of April.

Alvalade with 83 names included in 32 national squads lists

Add up the numbers and you come to the inevitable truth: Sporting is the club who has provided most players for the national team. Since 2010, a total of 32 squad lists have been issued. Together, Agostinho Oliveira, Carlos Queiroz, Paulo Bento and Fernando Santos have named 702 players (mostly the same group of stars), 83 of which were from Sporting, followed by 79 from Real Madrid and 68 from FC Porto.

The arrival of Fernando Santos is showing no sign of reversing the tendency, with Rui Patrício, William Carvalho, Adrien and João Mário all set to face Belgium and Bulgaria in the coming round of friendlies.

Top-10 teams providing players to the national team:

1st Sporting: 83

2nd Real Madrid: 79

3rd FC Porto: 68

4th Sp. Braga: 59

5th Zenit: 47

6th Benfica: 40

7th Valencia: 37

8th Besiktas: 25

9th Fenerbahçe: 24

10th AS Monaco: 21

Bryan Ruiz back in scoring form with brilliant effort against Arouca

"I dedicate my goal to the fans who have been supporting me a lot. I have felt great our last two games, but I was finding it hard to score", opened Bryan Ruiz in a post-match interview, before reflecting on his side's overall performance: "We played really well. We have been in great form, all we needed was goals. We were clinical today and scoring four in the first-half helped a lot. We are really happy, but of course we want more."

Jorge Jesus on Sporting's 5-1 in against Arouca

Sporting CP put five goals past Arouca this Saturday, in what Jorge Jesus saw as a  a clear display of the superiority shown by his side throughout the season.

“We have shown throughout the season and recently that we are better than our opponents. We showed that in Guimarães and here against our rival. Today we played against the team that is in 5th and that hadn't let in a single goal in five matches. They are a team that defend well, but we were really objective. We got the win, which was our main objective. It wouldn't have made a difference if it had been by one goal of three, but obviously  it is better like this. We showed a lot of class today and the lads really deserve a lot of credit", said Jesus, adding: "The fans deserve for us to win by this kind of margin. We will battle to the end, because that is how champions are made."