André Pereira takes charge of FC Porto futsal: “A great privilege” | OneFootball

André Pereira has been chosen to lead FC Porto’s first senior futsal team, which will make its debut in the 2026/27 season in the third national division. At 29, the coach leaves the Dragons’ under-19s to take charge of a project designed around continuity, development, and ambition for the future. At his presentation, he did not hide the symbolic weight of the moment and assured: “It is a great privilege”.

At a founding moment for Porto’s senior futsal team, André Pereira introduced himself with a clear idea: to build a team that respects the club’s identity, without losing sight of the path that had already been prepared. The competitive debut is the first step in a structure intended to link youth development to the first team.

Chosen to lead the new team, the coach highlighted the work carried out in recent times and the makeup of a squad still under construction, built on a balance between different generations.

“It is a great privilege to have been chosen to be the first coach of FC Porto’s senior futsal team, in a logic of continuity of a project that began two years ago. In recent times, we have been working to reach today with a technical staff aligned with the winning outlook of this project and with a squad under construction, one that ends up encompassing great diversity and a mix of youth and experience, so that the players complement one another,” he began.

More than just an entry into the third division, André Pereira’s words outline a plan that seeks to gain consistency from day one. The ambition is not limited to the present: it also involves creating a foundation capable of sustaining the senior team.

The coach, who until now had been in charge of FC Porto’s under-19s in the sport, then spoke about the personal connection he has with the club and the importance of making youth development an effective bridge to the top level.

“Given my past at the club and the way I identify with FC Porto, this was something very special. This day had been in the making for some time, so that we could create a project based on youth development and culminating in the senior team,” he stressed. “So, it is a very great source of pride and a very great privilege”.

For Pereira, that bond does not end with knowing the competitive context. The coach pointed to the need to “know the club’s values and identity”.

“Looking inward and at our youth setup, I have no doubt that, more than targeting the third division, we are preparing a long-term project and I am certain that we will have players from our academy moving up to the senior team in the short or medium term. That leaves us very comfortable and satisfied. As for the squad we have built, we took care to identify players with the necessary sporting profile and with a human profile and an understanding of what it means to be Porto and what this club represents,” he revealed. “We are talking about players who did not hesitate when they learned the invitation was coming from FC Porto. There are players performing at a very good level who understood that they had no other option but to be with us, since their hearts are blue and white”.

The building of the group is thus presented as an extension of the culture the coach wants to see inside the arena. The emphasis on human qualities goes hand in hand with sporting demands, in a team called upon to represent an identity even before consolidating its competitive path.

The final commitment left by André Pereira was directed at the fans. The intention is for the new senior team to be recognizable in the way FC Porto carries itself, in any match context.

“From the day we started thinking about building this team and this structure, we started building a team in the image of the fans. We want the fans to identify with this team and understand that we are representing them, regardless of the arena where we are playing, whether at home or away, and regardless of the moment in the game,” he concluded. “This will have to prevail from start to finish”.

It is a promise of identity to accompany the birth of a new project. Between youth development, the squad, and the connection to the stands, André Pereira places the representation of the club at the center of Porto’s senior futsal debut.

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