A 0-2 victory over Rio Ave FC keeps them top of the group

Sporting Clube de Portugal beat Rio Ave FC 0-2 on the second matchday of the Taça da Liga group stage, maintaining their 100% record in the competition. A goal by Gonçalo Inácio and an own goal by the home team's Boateng -both in the second half- moved the team one step closer to advancing in the competition.

Coach Rúben Amorim made only one change in the starting lineup from the clash against SC Farense, bringing in Antonio Adán in place of Franco Israel.

The first half started at a relatively slow pace, but Sporting CP had a good opportunity after just three minutes, when Nuno Santos shot wide following a clever move by Pedro Porro. Moments later, José Marsà also tried his luck, but missed the target.

Rio Ave FC responded in the 15th minute, with Leonardo Ruiz shooting over. At the other end, Pedro Gonçalves found a good position in the area, but was unable to finish off the chance.

After a Paulinho header saved by Jhonatan, Rio Ave FC could have scored when Leonardo Ruiz went through on Adán, but the Spanish goalkeeper prevented a goal with his block.

In the 41st minute, Nuno Santos had a shot saved by the goalkeeper, and the game went into the halftime break with the score at 0-0.

Sporting CP's dominance was accentuated in the second half and both Nuno Santos, Marcus Edwards and Francisco Trincão tried to make it 0-1 in the opening minutes.

Porro then crossed, Paulinho's shot forced a save from Jhonatan defense and, on the rebound, Francisco Trincão was unfortunate not to hit the target. Rio Ave FC had one of their few dangerous attacks of the second half, with Leonardo Ruiz shooting narrowly wide.

Finally, the deadlock was broken in the 62nd minute. Off a direct free kick, Edwards sent the ball into the area and Gonçalo Inácio, with an excellent header, scored for Sporting CP..

With the score at 0-1, Jhonatan once again denied Paulinho and Trincão, before Amorim brought in Arthur Gomes and Manuel Ugarte in place of Marcus Edwards and Dário Essugo.

The second goal was not long in coming as, in the 73rd minute, Porro sent in a free kick from the left and Boateng deflected it into his own net.

Doubling the lead brought tranquility to the team and to the match itself, which ended 0-2. Sporting CP are the outright leaders of Group B with six points, three more than Rio Ave FC and SC Farense. CS Marítimo, last placed in the group, are the next opponents on Tuesday, December 13th.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [C] [GK], Gonçalo Inácio, José Marsà, Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro, Dário Essugo (Manuel Ugarte, 71'), Pedro Gonçalves (Sotiris Alexandropoulos, 84'), Nuno Santos, Marcus Edwards (Arthur Gomes, 71'), Francisco Trincão (Rochinha, 84') and Paulinho (Jovane Cabral, 84').

The coach gives his thoughts on the upcoming Taça a Liga game

Rúben Amorim is not expecting an easy game in Vila do Conde, where Sporting Clube de Portugal play this Wednesday, against Rio Ave FC in the Taça da Liga.

“It will be a decisive game, even if nothing is decided yet, but what we want is to win, continue to play well and not concede goals against a team that like to play with the ball, that have a very good dynamic and good finishing. They are always dangerous when they can impose their ideas, and they have a coach that I like a lot, in Luís Freire," said the Sporting CP coach.

"We have to pay attention to the individual characteristics of a team that are growing, who are playing at home and that in the cup competitions have an even greater ambition. We have to win and extend a run of consecutive victories to four -which for this group is nothing special because we had a long winning streak last year and we have to get back to normal."

Amorim added that “It's going to be a difficult game, but I'm very excited to see the team, their evolution and what we've practiced. I expect a good game that, as always, we have to win."

Manuel Ugarte, returning from the World Cup, will be among the options available to Amorim.

“He came back earlier than the others, he needs to have a few minutes and he will be called up for the squad. As the game unfolds, we soon see what is best to do, because the important thing is to win”.

One player who won't feature is Jeremiah St. Juste.

"It's a difficult time for him and I know what he's going through, because I've also been through it in my career, but he's very positive about things. He has suffered a lot with this last injury, he's recovering, but we don't know when he'll be back. We will look to find the balance so that he gets to play many games. The important thing is that his quality is there and that he also has a lot of human qualities."

Of his renewal with Sporting CP, signed last week, Amorim stated that “I feel prepared for everything. What I want is for Sporting CP to reach a point in which we can keep our players. I want to be an important part of this project and I really enjoy being at Sporting CP, as well as working with people like Hugo Viana. That, perhaps, has more value than some other things."

Monday training at Academia Cristiano Ronaldo

Sporting Clube de Portugal returned to training this Monday morning at the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Alcochete, with their focus on the match against Rio Ave FC scheduled for Wednesday night.

Targeting another win in the Group Stage of the Taça da Liga, the players continued with the preparation for the game in Vila do Conde. They remained without Luís Neto, Jeremiah St. Juste and Daniel Bragança, who are undergoing treatment with the club's medical department.

A further session will be held on Tuesday at 10am, and at 12:15pm coach Rúben Amorim will preview the match in a press conference.

Sporting CP win 6-0 in Taça da Liga debut

Sporting Clube de Portugal opened their Taça da Liga campaign with a comprehensive 6-0 win over SC Farense in the group stage. A Paulinho brace, plus goals from Marcus Edwards, Pedro Gonçalves, Arthur Gomes and Mateus Fernandes, helped the team to victory.

Rúben Amorim made five changes to the starting lineup compared to the visit to FC Famalicão, bringing in Franco Israel, José Marsà, Dário Essugo, Nuno Santos and Marcus Edwards in place of Antonio Adán, Jeremiah St. Juste, Sebastián Coates, Hidemasa Morita and Manuel Ugarte, respectively.

Sporting CP started at full throttle, and racked up eight shots in the first ten minutes. Just four minutes in, Francisco Trincão had a strike saved by goalkeeper Ricardo Velho, and, off the follow-up, Pedro Porro also tried his luck and was inches away from making it 1-0. Soon after, Nuno Santos' shot deflected off a defender and Velho intervened again.

On eight minutes, Porro set up Paulinho, who missed the target.

The deserved opener came in the 20th minute, when Santos found Trincao, whose ball into the heart of the area was met by Paulinho to finish.

Sporting CP scored again two minutes later. Dário Essugo recovered the ball in midfield and the counterattack ended with Paulinho shooting. Velho's save came back to the striker, who converted second time around to make it 2-0.

SC Farense tried to respond with their first shot shortly after the half-hour, Rui Costa hitting his effort just wide, but the play was still controlled by Sporting CP.

Before the break, Porro provided a pass for Marcus Edwards, who danced through the opposition defence, finished classily and took the score to 3-0 at the interval.

Upon the restart, in the 48th minute, Porro advanced down the right and worked a ball into the area, where Pedro Gonçalves placed a shot into the back of the net.

In the 61st minute, Trincão was replaced by Jovane Cabral and the intensity of the game began to drop, but Sporting CP were always close to scoring again. With just over 20 minutes left, it was Arthur Gomes and Mateus Fernandes' turn to come on, replacing  Edwards and Santos.

Cabral's best contribution was a shot wide in the 74th minute, but a few moments later Sporting CP made it 5-0, when Porro's through ball was latched onto by Paulinho and he laid off to Arthur Gomes for the finish.

Mateus Fernandes won a penalty kick, and the 18-year-old midfielder himself was called upon to convert and past Velho, taking the score to 6-0 and scoring on his debut for the first team.

After a 6-0 win, next Wednesday the team play their second game of the group stage away to Rio Ave FC.

Sporting CP: Franco Israel [GK], Gonçalo Inácio, José Marsà, Matheus Reis, Pedro Porro (Ricardo Esgaio, 80'), Dário Essugo (Sotiris Alexandropoulos, 45'), Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos [C] (Mateus Fernandes, 69'), Marcus Edwards (Arthur Gomes, 69'), Francisco Trincao (Jovane Cabral, 61') and Paulinho.

New contract made official this Tuesday

Sporting Clube de Portugal and Rúben Amorim have signed an extension to the first team coach's contract through to 2026.

The 37-year-old coach joined Frederico Varandas, chairman of the Board of Directors, at the Estádio José Alvalade on Tuesday for the celebration of the renewal.

Speaking to Sporting CP media, Varandas announced that it was "a very happy day for Sporting CP."

"We signed Rúben Amorim in March 2020, we are now in November 2022 and we have just renewed his contract until June 2026. This renewal demonstrates a lot about how Sporting CP work today: With discretion, efficiency and a clear direction. It is also a very strong sign of how today Sporting CP are a strong and stable club, with stability being the basis of all success. A contract of this duration always obliges that the parties involved are 100% committed to the sporting project and that there is an extremely high level of trust between them. As president of Sporting CP, I am very happy that we have a contract until 2026 with one of the best coaches in the world and because we will continue to make Sporting CP grow."

Rúben Amorim was equally satisfied with the continuation of his tenure in charge.

"For any coach it is very important to receive the trust of a club when you still have a contract in place, and especially in the worst time we have been experiencing as Sporting CP coaching staff. Renewing with me for a longer period now is a sign of great confidence. Even with the problems that all families have, we have managed to solve them and we are ready for another very difficult three-year cycle. I want to thank all Sportinguistas and tell them that there will be three difficult years ahead; we know that. We are going to have a lot of joy and, sometimes, disappointment too. We will do everything to make Sporting CP a much better club in three years. Thank you for your trust, I am very happy and I am where I want to be."

Since joining the club in the final stretch of the 2019/20 season, Rúben Amorim has already won, a Liga Portugal title (2020/2021), the Supertaça (2021) and two Taça da Ligas (2020/2021 and 2021/2022) as coach of Sporting CP.

The squad prepare for their first appearance in the competition

Sporting Clube de Portugal held a training session at the Academia Cristiano Ronaldo in Alcochete on Wednesday morning, ahead of their debut in the Taça da Liga next week.

Coach Rúben Amorim ran a session in which several players from the youth team joined the squad.

Sotiris, who had played for the Greece national team in recent days, returned and was part of the workout.

The team take the next two days off and return to work on Saturday morning, with another training session scheduled for 10:30am local time.

"It's always nice to have fans close to us," says the forward

Rochinha and Paulinho took part in an autograph session at Suits Inc, sponsor of Sporting Clube de Portugal, on Monday afternoon. The pair had the opportunity to meet Sportinguistas after training.

“It is always good to have the fans close to us and also to realise how much they love the club. This is even more important when we aren't in the position where we want to be in the league," said Paulinho to journalists after the signing session, saying: “I feel a lot of affection at Sporting CP."

“We have to work hard and run a lot. That has to be present in every game and, as we have seen in the last few, when we do that, we will also have a moment to wear one of these suits for a celebration."

Asked about the pause in domestic action for the World Cup, Paulinho commented that “This break is a novelty because it's the first time it's happened, but it could be good because we have more time to train. We had been growing, but we are going to take advantage of this break to improve and continue to grow."

“We are working hard. There's no Liga Portugal games, but we have the Taça da Liga and we have to win. It's strange that we're not all here and there's a competition like the World Cup going on, but we have to continue with our work."

The striker has two goals and three assists in 2022/2023, and assessed what he is lacking this term.

“I feel that I can improve, but above all I hope the season will get better for Sporting CP. That's what I'm focused on; I don't care about the individual aspect, and neither do my teammates. We know that we are better as players when the team are doing better, and we also know that Sporting CP have to do well. Individual accolades are an extra."

Capped by Portugal, Paulinho was in national team coach Fernando Santos's initial shortlist for the World Cup but ended up being left out of the squad.

“We would all like to be there, but the important thing now is that we are all supporting the team. Will I give my all to play in the European Championships? I have to go all-in in the next game for Sporting CP. It will be my work here that will give me the opportunity to go or not."

The coach's verdict on the win over FC Famalicão

After a 1-2 victory for Sporting Clube de Portugal away to FC Famalicão, coach Rúben Amorim thanked the fans for making the trip to watch the game.

"The way they support us is different, in a good way. We really appreciate their support and it will help us in the future. We will get back to being as competitive as we were before, and we are taking steps towards that," he told journalists in his post-match press conference.

"It was a fair victory. We started well, dominating and controlling the transitions. We could and should have scored more goals. We mixed up our movement of the ball a little and that's when the goals came. We went into the break winning deservedly and were looking for the third goal, but we weren't as agile in looking for positions or as quick to change switch flanks. We conceded, and from there it was a question of maintaining the scoreline until the game ended," he said, admitting that the team "needed this victory a lot."

"Big teams live off consistency. It's the result that counts, so winning is relevant in improving the team's performance. We have not been consistent in our results, but we have been in our performances, and today we brought the two things together. In the second half we didn't have the same speed, which was dangerous. We had several chances for a third goal and, from the moment they made it 1-2 onwards, things switched. FC Famalicão started to have more of the ball and to launch it into the area. It was a very important victory. Moving up the table is important, as we are far off our targets and we know it."

Finally, the coach commented on the work that will be done during the break for the World Cup.

"My feeling today was that maybe we shouldn't stop. Two weeks ago, when we were in a more difficult moment, we needed a break. The break will be important for players like Sotiris Alexandropoulos, Jeremiah St. Juste, Dário Essugo and Mateus Fernandes. We will have more time to do what we have been doing all year: Work with scouting and prepare the future of Sporting CP. This victory is good for us to face the break with optimism," he stated.

A 1-2 victory on a rainy night signs things off well

Sporting Clube de Portugal took a 1-2 away win over FC Famalicão on Matchday 13 of the Liga Portugal season.

In the last game before the break for the World Cup, Rúben Amorim made two changes to his starting lineups, bringing in Jeremiah St. Juste and Francisco Trincão at the expense of Flávio Nazinho and Arthur Gomes.

On a rainy night at the Estádio Municipal de Famalicão, Sporting CP went after a goal early. Gonçalo Inácio fired a first warning with a shot from distance,  but it was in the fourth minute that the team enjoyed their first chance on target: Set up by Pedro Porro, Paulinho shot with his left foot to force a save from goalkeeper Luiz Júnior.

On the 10 minute mark, an even bigger chance came their way. After Jeremiah St. Juste put the ball in the area, Trincão struck an effort against the post. Shortly after, both Pedro Gonçalves and  Trincão gave Luiz Júnior problems.

Hidemasa Morita then played through to Pedro Gonçalves and the latter, with a great feint, put himself in a good position to shoot, but Luiz Júnior parried out for a corner.

Responding to this phase of pressure from Sporting CP, FC Famalicão responded and began to stifle the momentum by packing the midfield.

The deadlock would finally be broken in the 42nd minute. A mistake by the home team's defence caused the ball to reach Paulinho, and the forward took a curling shot towards goal. Trincão got a touch to it, and was officially awarded the goal by Liga Portugal.

When it looked as if the score would remain 0-1 at the interval, Trincão tried a cross in that was blocked by Rúben Lima with his arm, and Sporting CP were awarded a penalty.

Gonçalves stepped up to score his seventh goal in 2022/23, making it 0-2.

The intensity of the rain increased in the second half, affecting the condition of the playing surface in the process.

FC Famalicão could have reduced the gap in the opening moments, when Jhonder Cádiz tried to score from a header, but Antonio Adán collected safely.

In the 59th minute, Matheus Reis made way for Arthur Gomes, who had an immediate chance with a counterattack that ended with a shot going slightly wide. Off the corner kick that followed, Morita managed to put the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

With 20 minutes to go, and after a shot by Paulinho had been parried away by Luiz Júnior, Marcus Edwards came on for Trincão.

FC Famalicão reduced the deficit through Iván Jaime, who scored with an acrobatic shot that deflected off Jeremiah St. Juste to trick Antonio Adán.

The home team began to put more and more pressure on Sporting CP's area, and in the 85th minute only a huge header from Inácio prevented an equaliser.

Sporting CP held on for a 1-2 win. Their next game will be on November 30th, when they host SC Farense in the first round of the Taça da Liga group stage.

Sporting CP: Antonio Adán [GK], Jeremiah St. Juste, Sebastián Coates [C], Gonçalo Inácio, Pedro Porro, Hidemasa Morita, Manuel Ugarte, Matheus Reis (Arthur Gomes, 59'), Francisco Trincão (Marcus Edwards, 70'), Pedro Gonçalves e Paulinho (Ricardo Esgaio, 80').

The coach looks ahead to the visit to FC Famalicão

Sporting Clube de Portugal will visit FC Famalicão this Sunday in Liga Portugal action, and coach Rúben Amorim gave a pre-match press conference ahead of the game.

He began by addressing the importance of winning before the break for the World Cup.

"The break will be long and that means it is very important to win this game. We had already felt that with the game against Boavista FC, when we were on a good streak and lost before the international break, which took away some joy. It's an important, difficult game at a stadium where we still haven't won since I became coach," he explained.

"FC Famalicão are a team full of talent, as always. It takes some time to create a connection between new players, which is normal. We are prepared for the game, we have trained very well and we had a long week. We will, for sure, have an excellent game."

"We've paid a lot of attention to the characteristics of the players they have up front, their fullbacks and the players in the middle, whose speed is very important. They are a dangerous team and their coach only has one or two defeats. We need to win and to be consistent in every aspect: Not conceding, being good at set pieces, scoring goals and winning the game."

No Sporting CP players have been called up by Portuguese national team coach Fernando Santos, for the World Cup. Amorim commented on this that “the choices are always difficult."

"The coach thankfully has a lot of players to choose from. It's difficult to take a player out to put one of ours in, just as it would be difficult to take one of our players out to put in those from other teams. The team's form didn't help them. That's also important."

"We're going to make the most of the time to train. The players always believe that they are going to get called up, but they are intelligent. Of course they had hope, but they have to take it naturally. It must also be said that if players like Gonçalo Inácio or Pedro Gonçalves were in the squad no one would be shocked by that, because they have the talent to be there. The choice was made and we have to take it in our stride."

Amorim continued by saying that “Sporting CP, today, works much better than when we were unbeaten champions and with many players from the academy. The squads and our ideas are increasingly structured, and we have increasingly younger players on the B team. The most important thing is not to have players in the A team, because that is a coach's choice and we have quality players for the A team. That doesn't have to interfere with what we think we are doing well. What worries me the most is [Eduardo] Quaresma, who started out at Sporting CP, not being able to start at CD Tondela. This is a very big concern for me. [Gonçalo] Esteves played in the starting lineup for Sporting CP, and he can't do that for GD Estoril Praia. That's the big concern we have to have. I tell the Sportinguistas that we are working hard and we have a plan. Whether they are called up to the national team or not is no longer in our hands."

Asked about Francisco Trincão's form, he said that "Trincao is at 50% and it is more a mental issue. He can't rush, and he has to understand that he will read the game and the team better and things will come. When Trincao is mentally looser and more confident, he will be a great player. He trains very well and is getting better. Manuel Ugarte and Marcus Edwards also needed time."

Finally, Amorim confirmed the absences of Nuno Santos, Luís Neto and Daniel Bragança, who are still recovering from their injuries, for the game.