Samaris is back at Benfica and ready to blow rivals away | OneFootball

Benfica’s B youth team (under-16s) began preparations for the new season last Friday, marking the start of a new chapter under the command of Andreas Samaris. The former Greece international, who represented the Eagles between 2014 and 2021, is now making his debut as head coach at this level of Benfica’s academy.

Alongside Samaris will be , forming the coaching staff that will work with Benfica’s young talents.

Speaking to BTV, the former Benfica midfielder highlighted that the main objective remains player development, placing individual growth above sporting results, despite also wanting to become champion.

"The big objectives for the season are the same as every year. More than the results, the focus of Benfica’s academy is for players to develop their abilities, work as hard as possible, reach their potential and make it to the first team. The under-16 level is still a little way from professional football, but, as we have seen, Benfica is already betting on 17-year-old players. That is why this age group also has to start preparing in a professional way," he said.

Samaris also took the opportunity to praise Benfica’s academy work: "It’s not my opinion, it’s a fact: Benfica has, if not the best academy in the world, then certainly one of the top three. It is a responsibility given the scale of the project and the expectations of the entire academy structure. We have all the conditions to do the best work possible, and I’m very excited to get started.”

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