João Gonçalves on Sporting v FC Porto: “Great appointment, fully deserved” | OneFootball

João Gonçalves was chosen to referee the classic match between Sporting and FC Porto, for the fourth round of the I Liga, which takes place on Saturday. It will be the first classic of the career for the 33-year-old referee from AF Porto; Pedro Ribeiro and Ângelo Carneiro will be the assistants, Miguel Nogueira the fourth referee, and Rui Costa will take the position of video assistant referee (VAR).

Promoted to the first category of national referees in 2021, João Gonçalves has already officiated 52 matches in the I Liga, the last of which was last Sunday, in the draw between Braga and Aves SAD (2-2). This year he received the FIFA badges, becoming part of the international referees' panel.

This will be the third match of the season for João Gonçalves, a physical education teacher: in addition to the aforementioned Braga–Aves SAD, he was in the Haverfordwest County–Floriana (2-3), in the first qualifying round of the Conference League. In the I Liga game, he showed five yellow cards and called 21 fouls.

Jorge CoroadoJoão Gonçalves has shown improvement and the Refereeing Council has given him some support. The appointment fits within this context; it remains to be seen how he will react to a test for which no significant problems are expected.

José LeirósThis is an excellent appointment, totally fair and correct. He is in his sixth season in the I Liga and has been delivering quality refereeing. It is not surprising: it is what the Refereeing Council has been promising. He is not a historic referee, but he belongs to the new wave.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.