The misadventures of Portugal's young phenoms | OneFootball

Overhyped, underachieving wunderkinds distill what it means to be great

This is a long article. It attempts something difficult - to discern the mystery of what forms a great player through a particular lens.

The Portuguese players recorded here who have fallen short are not held in contempt but lend critical insight on two fronts. Specifically, to the indefinite dimensions of being great as a concept in sport and identifying linguistic and historical conventions employed to understand this abstraction.

I do not attempt to provide an objective rubric, only to challenge the way in which we perceive footballers, especially at the onset of their careers.

As ever, this historical thought-piece was carefully obsessed upon with love by PortuGOAL.net's Nathan Motz. I hope it brightens your day as we patiently await the blessed return of international football and the next opportunity to celebrate our much-adored Seleção.

Portuguese football’s ascent chastens us. Not least in the way we articulate our destiny as a footballing nation and the presumed fate of those players so crucial to its fulfillment.

High expectations, humbling results

We have been absorbed over the last two decades with Portugal’s own Herculean epic, that of Cristiano Ronaldo. And it has been so suggested, all conclusions foregone, that were the gods to compliment his preternatural talent with supporting ramparts even slightly to the manner born……well, this site’s devoted readers already know – and religiously profess – its inexorable result.

Yet beguiled we remain, having beheld countless testimonies that these convictions exist contrary to reality. That the domain of football resists prediction or explanation as we have attempted. Waxing indignant at the mere thought of Nélson Oliveira, Renato Sanches, João Félix and the litany of young footballers so heralded, so presumptuously the activating reagent Cristiano never had in the dark ages, post-WC 2006.

And I posit further – far less respected players, on the basis of domestic league pedigree, club stature, and aesthetic reputation, did more for the Seleção than a legion of over-inflated luminaries speckling our historical ledger.

Obsessive pursuit of the “next great one”

What then makes a great player? The stories we tell about them? The inquiry, in our supporter community and others, is settled dogmatically rather than factually. Oh, that peculiar romance, watching an aspiring icon thrash in a breathtaking strike, fomenting unsubstantiated belief he will become the “next Ronaldo.”

YouTube highlight reels and imaginatively executed keepie-uppies may suggest some player’s imperious ability, but I argue these are monochromatic, idealized portraits rather than authentic statements of fact.

An associated colloquialism - “Nah, he ain’t real” – succinctly captures our fascination with singular, outlandish feats of ability at the expense of a broader understanding of individual competence. A higher form of mastery which, while individual, lends itself to more comprehensive appreciation of success in a team sport.

The modern lexicon voices social revelations altering our perspective of the individual. Football’s advent was concurrent with significant shifts in Western liberal thought and cognitive research. The idea of the autonomous self, independent from historical tradition, family, government, or religion. It is beyond semantics; the obsession to make possible the impossible animates our vision of personal identity and by extension, personal achievement.

Knowingly or unknowingly, we pine after the consummate representation of who we most want to become. Those who have transcended humanity. A persistent caricature of greatness emerged - that of the flawlessly gifted soloist, an isolated if not diseased genius. An idol, if you will.

Maradona alone with the ball and his unseen problems, performing acts of sorcery, stupefying onlookers, teammates, and opponents alike. Robinho, anointed the next Pelé by Pelé himself, tempted suitor after suitor, racking up tens of millions in transfer fees – but played a version of streetball incompatible with the modern game. Riquelme, the next Maradona, who showed open contempt for running – a core obligation in football.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s fanatical chase of that which we all crave to some degree: to make our dads proud.

Fool’s gold & the real heroes

João Cancelo’s emergence from the Portuguese youth sides initiated a significant right-angle departure from an era of modest talent, to put it mildly. Cancelo and the batch of rare gems leading the ultimately failed 2015 U21 Euro campaign had many, myself among them, certain that providence had dispensed the bounty so long-awaited. Once matriculated into the senior side, we were sure, the Golden Generation’s light would be restored to the mantle.

Yet those taking the podium at the Stade de France in July 2016 had a very different character. “Adrien Silva? Rubbish!” – or so I was informed by a well-respected writer during that fine summer in France. André Gomes? Vierinha? Eliseu? Even Saint Eder might be considered beneath the talent echelon of Helder Postiga, sixth best on Portugal’s all-time goalscorer tally, had he not plunged the heavenly sword into French hearts that day in Saint Denis.

The ones who fell short

Every player ordained for greatness who fizzled early occupies their own niche in the sprawling mythological tapestry that is Portuguese football. A story whose highs are better understood when regarded in tandem with its lows.

Rony Lopes brings to life one of the more anticlimactic exhibits of recent memory. Crafted at Benfica, the 16-yr old took his chance at destiny, agreeing to a one million Euro switch to Manchester City’s youth side in 2012.

How timing matters! In an era of low Portuguese representation in the Premier League and 4 years removed from the Abu Dhabi Group’s takeover of the club. City had spent those years investing enormous capital into its advancement strategy – a landmark in global football history. First arrived Robinho, then Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Adebayor, Edin Džeko, and Sergio Aguero – Rony never stood a chance.

The hype machine had left station, however. After a mediocre loan spell in Ligue 1, Rony was left out of the more talented U21 squad which competed for the 2015 Euros in Czechia. He travelled instead to New Zealand with the U20 squad for the World Cup. And I confess, to my shame, this was the first time I really studied his play. He was terrifically pedestrian. Gelson Martins and André Silva rightfully captured the applause.

Remarkably, and a recurring instance for reflection in this article, the Portugal U20 and U21 squads both finished runners-up that summer – bursting with precocious talent which stoked our imaginations yet delivered scarce reward to the Seleção.

As for Lopes, he flattered to deceive one final time with Monaco, securing a 25M Euro move to Sevilla in 2019. He drifted across the continent for the next 6 years, coming to rest at Farense. Still only 29, he has played 31 minutes of senior international football for Portugal.

Then Tiago Ilori springs to mind. The Sporting phenom was only 20 when Liverpool snatched him away for 7.5M Euros. What then ensued has only become too typical a pattern for highly touted Portuguese starlets over the last decade. Loaned to a minor La Liga club just four months after his arrival in England, Ilori went out time and again, half a season here, a full season there, until returning to Portugal following an unsuccessful stint at Reading. But by then even Sporting were disenchanted, and Ilori went back out repeatedly for five more years. Today, he is without a club after being let go by Belenenses in summer 2024, age 31.

Sporting also routed through a trio of centrebacks in close succession with near equal result – Rúben Semedo, Tobias Figueiredo, and Paulo Oliveira – whom many will not have forgotten. Semedo alone might well be the subject of a biopic caricaturing the life and times of a forgotten superstar-elect.

Highly praised but with unknown demons in his closet, Semedo leveraged his time at the Alvalade to secure a move to Villareal. Half a season later he was arrested twice and sentenced to prison. Many celebrated his return to football and apparent change in attitude when he landed at Olympiacos, but two years later he was arrested again on serious charges. That ended his short window of competitive availability for Portugal. He was only capped three times at senior level and in Dec 2024 was arrested yet again for domestic violence.

Paulo and Tobias were less celebrated and led quieter personal lives but only secured five senior caps between them. Neither are relevant today, nor are Pedro Mendes and Domingos Duarte, who meandered in bottom-half-of-the-table clubs in France and Spain, respectively.

Braga and FC Porto marshalled interest in David Carmo, but the latter never constructed a meaningful squad role. Exceptional for his strength and stature, he was sent to Greece on loan then sold to Nottingham Forest…who sent him straight back to Greece. Called up by Fernado Santos in 2022, Carmo never saw the pitch and in early 2024 elected to represent Angola.

Bruma’s case involves two key intractable variables in determining a great career – club management problems and injury. As early as 2012, rumors about the 18-yr old had quickly become inviolable truths – Bruma was next in the line of mercurial No.7s off the Sporting academy conveyor belt.

But first came the contractual disputes leading to an untimely transfer to Galatasaray in summer 2013. Then came the dreaded anterior cruciate ligament rupture. In the space of six months, Bruma’s career trajectory shifted from Ronaldo-successor to loan ranger – he would spend time with six different clubs before finding himself again at Braga in 2023.

Now with Benfica, having accounted for a reputable 23 G/A in 35 matches this season, Bruma is short on time to consecrate early promise and force his way into the Seleção.

Francisco Trincão was playing decent ball at the Quarry and debuted for Fernando Santos’ Portugal, aged 20. Then Barcelona seized in, thumped down 31 million Euros and he, too, was enshrined. Barça, to their credit, gave him some real chances in the season that followed, but after 42 appearances the Blaugrana loaned him to Wolves, a path many Portuguese dropouts followed in years to come.

Gonçalo Guedes played only a bit part in the 2015 U20 World Cup but outgrew Benfica by the end of his teens and moved to PSG for 30M Euros. There, Kylian Mbappé, Edinson Cavani, Ángel Di María and others proved too competitive, and he was loaned to Valencia. He then founded a clinic of inconsistency in his own name, blowing so hot and cold he had professional writers dropping Ballon d’Or shouts one week and death wishes the next.

No club since seems interested in granting a lead role to the now 28-year-old. Yet his winner secured Portugal the inaugural UEFA Nations Leage title. An extraordinary moment sardonically mocking his early promise against the backdrop of a mediocre career. A sad but familiar motif in the last decade of Portuguese football.

And who remembers the goal that propelled young André Silva into conversations suggesting Pauleta had returned? In fairness, his acrobatic finish vs Braga in the 2016 Portuguese Cup proved indecisive as Braga overcame on penalties, but it ignited furious interest leading to a blockbuster move to AC Milan in summer 2017. The now 29-year-old has 4 G/A in 19 matches for RB Leipzig this season and has not been called up to the Seleção since the 2022 WC wherein he played 25 minutes of the dead-rubber against South Korea.

Gedson has found his level at Besiktas, but when he left Benfica in January 2020 to play for Mourinho at Tottenham, the future could not have looked any rosier. He played 294 minutes of football in the next year and was offloaded to Galatasaray. He has two senior caps for Portugal and one assist in 23’ of international football.

Merely vocalizing Diogo Jota’s name results in a conflict of emotions. Coming from more humble beginnings at Paços de Ferreira, Jota was whisked away by Atlético Madrid and never played a single minute for Los Rojiblancos. And still they doubled their 7M Euro investment when Wolverhampton made Jota’s loan deal permanent in 2018. Liverpool paid three times that amount in September 2020.

The 28-yr old has fought injuries and inconsistency ever since, only scoring once at a major tournament for Portugal.

Fábio Silva? He netted 40M Euros for FC Porto in a move just two months after his 18th birthday. Having been loaned to 4 different clubs since then, he has become one of those players who seems as if they’ve been around forever…..at 22 years old!.

We’ll conclude our detour through the land of has-beens and never-weres by considering the disparate fate of two FC Porto products - Fábio Vieira and Vitinha.

When these twin engines fired Portugal past Spain into the U21 European Championship Final against Germany, it seemed, finally, after so many heartbreaking disappointments, that this generation, and these two marquee talents, would return the Seleção to prominence. That entire squad might well require its own article: Tiago Djaló, Florentino Luis, Tomás Tavares, Celtic’s Jota, my God!

When Vieira and Vitinha went their separate ways, many drew comparisons between their letting go and Bernardo Silva’s unpopular dismissal from Benfica in 2015. Vieira could not crack the starting XI at Arsenal and returned to Porto on loan. Competing for minutes in a team suffering its worst loss of form in many years, recent performances have improved. But he has not a single cap to his name, and if memory serves, Vieira was the favorite to carry Portugal’s midfield.

Uttered in hushed tones for fear of driving away his mystique, Vitinha has the appearance of the first genuine super-talent Portugal has produced in the last decade. And at 24, Vitinha will have a grand opportunity to prove it at next year’s World Cup. So too may teammate João Neves, whose recent jaw-dropping performance against Manchester City has sparked no small amount of crazed prediction.

Football is a polished art however, and neither of these players has accomplished more than any of a dozen others who once looked the part. Greatness awaits Vitinha, if and only if, he may pry it loose from destiny’s clutch.

Greatness a result not an appearance

What makes a great player, great? Having recounted the odyssey of so many fine young talents, all indications suggest greatness is not a prima facie distinction.

Bebé, today playing provincial-level ball in Spain, may be the Portuguese case in point. But James Rodriguez, Alexandre Pato, Bojan Krkic, and Adriano excited and terrified in their youth only to later succumb to injuries, inconsistency, and difficult personal trials.

There may appear a wide margin between an easy-on-the-eye player like Vitinha and a watercarrier like mid-2010s Adrien Silva. The first glance does not decide the outcome. One is a young and unproven phenom, the other quieted Luka Modrić at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, inspiring Portugal to its yet unequalled high-water mark.

In the words of the philosopher-poet Ricardo Quaresma, talent alone is not enough to have a great career. João Moutinho compared with Bernardo Silva in terms of sheer ball skills might be found wanting. Moutinho never moved to one of Europe’s heavyweight clubs.

Moutinho also has more international caps than Pepe and is a European champion. Bernardo Silva missed his chance in 2016 due to injury. Only rarely since has he made me believe I was watching Rui Costa again – a player to whom I compared Bernardo at one time.

Skill and greatness are connected but not interchangeable terms.

Greatness is molded, refined in the furnace. It is a fitting metaphor because raw iron ore must be heated to over 1,700°C to make steel. Paulo Bento’s 2012 Seleção combined three modest players to form a midfield alloy not even mighty Spain could shatter. How could they have stood so bravely against the greatest international midfield in the modern era?.

Football is alchemy. Greatness is not what goes into the forge. Greatness is what comes out.

With forces like these at work, not every batch renders properly. Top, top players are uniquely resistant to injury. Longevity is essential. The ones who break early break often and may never realize their potential.

Raphael Guerreiro is in my own opinion among the most skillful Portuguese players of his generation. He will forever be a European champion. But his body simply could not withstand the agonizing demand of life at the very top. Much like Fábio Coentrão before him and possibly Nuno Mendes after him – only time will reveal. The tragedy of Ricardo Pereira, another member of Portugal’s 2015 U21 Euro squad, loudly echoes the sentiment.

What makes a great player is mental toughness. A quality some have and others don’t as well as a meticulously crafted skill.

To contain the boiling hot energy of battle, finding cool, placid reserve just long enough to unleash a surgical in-step drive into the bottom left corner - in full view of a hostile crowd in some stadium on the other side of the planet….demands extraordinary psychological discipline.

Tenacious work ethic alone makes average players great and would-be great players average. Today, Bruno Fernandes leans toward one end of that spectrum. Rafael Leão toward the other.

José Mourinho, eloquent statesman that he is, bluntly informed Dele Alli how “shit” he was in training while at Tottenham. The exchange, captured in an excellent Netflix documentary, heightened awareness of the complex subterrain below the pantheon of greatness. It was also prophetic - Alli fell from grace and never returned to the English national team after 2019.

Whenever a teenager receives garish adulation, it should serve as a warning. Lamine Yamal may or may not be the real deal, but recent articles have already posited the fatal assertion: “he will be the world’s best before he turns 21, stronger than Messi even.”

Contra os canhões, marchar, marchar!

If you have gained anything by having spent your time evaluating my opinions, may it be this – greatness is found in the end. After the crucible’s work has been revealed. After the songs have long since faded away.

Greatness is persistent and aged. It inspires not because it burns hot and hastily. Greatness is a trail followed; a destiny conquered. It is both an action and a memorial established for posterity. All requisite behaviors and capabilities, having given false indication, reveal themselves for what they are – mere tools.

There is no good reason to despair either. The talent Portugal nurtures and exports today continues on a scale never seen. Whether we refine our efforts to identify outstanding players or go on as before, the good ship Seleção cruises ever onward. The pain of so much promise gone begging occupies the near side of a long continuum.

And the far side? We will see. Portugal is becoming a great footballing nation.