Sporting finishing school sets the standard

Producing talented footballers over the years has not proved a problem for Sporting Clube de Portugal, but keeping the rough diamonds they have transformed into polished gems at the club is another matter.

Reputable
Recognised for having some of the best scouts and coaches in the game, the club's highly-reputed academy has spawned some of the most talented names of Portuguese football, with present-day stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, and Simão extending a list which already included Luís Figo and Paulo Futre. Noticeably, all those players are renowned for their wizardry in wide positions, and the Sporting Under-17 team coach, Luís Dias, explained the phenomenon to uefa.com. "Our traditional way of playing with wingers from an early age is probably the reason why we have produced so many good players in that position over the years," he said. "Other Portuguese clubs also have good academies, but Sporting have been the most successful in promoting those players into their first team."

Pragmatic
Though Quaresma won a league and cup double with the side in 2001/02 and Figo spent five seasons in the green and white before joining FC Barcelona in 1994/95, the stars that progressed to the first team, however, have not spent the best years of their career with Sporting. Ronaldo played for just a season before he was snapped up by Manchester United FC, but the frustration of seeing the talent they have nutured leave the club is tempered by the money their transfer brings in.

New talent
"It's important to keep creating new talents such as Ronaldo, Nani, Veloso, Moutinho and a series of other players who grew up here," said Aurélio Pereira, who has been a Sporting academy coach for almost four decades. The survival of Sporting as a top club in Portugal and a club which participates regularly in the [UEFA] Champions League depends on 'producing' footballers to sell to the great clubs of international football." It is a pragmatic view shared by Dias: "It would be better if they were on our side, but that's the law of the market," admitted Dias, who pointed to the more than €40m United were able to spend on Ronaldo in 2003 and Nani four years later. "Manchester United are more powerful financially than Sporting," he added simply.

Carriço impresses
With that ethic – in part – driving them forward, Sporting's quest for the next big thing continues. Supporters believe they have already found it in midfielder and captain João Moutinho, though he and the ultra-versatile Miguel Veloso look set to be the next players to be added to the litany of departed stars. Their successors, however, are already being honed, and defender Daniel Carriço, who arrived at the academy aged 11, appears set to be the newest up-and-coming kid on the block after being given a taste of the UEFA Champions League in Sporting's 5-2 defeat by Barcelona last month.

'Opportunity'
While most clubs try to ease promising youngsters into the side, Sporting's decision to blood the 20-year-old Carriço in such a high-profile match sits well with their philosophy of having unbridled faith in youth. "Being a graduate of the Sporting academy opens many doors in itself," said Pereira. "The kids who like to play football dream of coming here, because they know that sooner or later they will have an opportunity."