André Villas-Boas: “It’s all down to this group.” | OneFootball

As FC Porto president, André Villas-Boas received the sporting merit award given to the club at the Portugal Football Globes gala, organized by the Portuguese Football Federation, following the conquest of the 31st National Champion title in 2025/26. On the Arena Portugal stage, he called Diogo Costa to his side, recalled the losses that marked the team, and highlighted Francesco Farioli’s work. For the president, the return to the title was “entirely the merit of the working group.”

The distinction allowed André Villas-Boas to paint the picture of a team transformed by pain, unity, and the ability to win again. Between the memory of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa and Jorge Costa, praise for the coach, and recognition of the players, the president placed the collective at the center of the achievement.

The first gesture came even before the speech. Villas-Boas decided to break protocol and invited the Porto captain to receive the award by his side, presenting Diogo Costa as the embodiment of the club’s values.

“I would like to break protocol and invite FC Porto’s captain to stand here by my side. It could not be any other way,” he said. “He is the true representative of FC Porto’s values.”

More than an institutional courtesy, the invitation made visible the message that ran through the entire speech: the award belonged to the players and should be represented by the man who led the team on the pitch.

When explaining the recipe for the title, the president went back to the two losses that marked the group’s journey. The response, he argued, came through the players’ individual and collective transformation and their unity around the badge, its values, and the new coach.

“This title is based above all on the transformation of a team that suffered two great losses: that of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, in the 2024/25 season, and that of Jorge Costa, at the start of the 2025/26 season. With a great deal of pain along the way, there was great individual and collective transcendence and a unique personal transformation in these players, who united around the FC Porto badge, its values, and also their new coach, a man of special character who has done an excellent job and brought us back a much-desired title that had eluded us for four years,” he explained.

Villas-Boas thus linked the regaining of the title to an emotional and competitive response to adversity. In the same breath, he praised Francesco Farioli as a decisive figure in rebuilding a team that became champions once again.

The president then returned to the working group, highlighting the humility, seriousness, and professionalism that made it possible to turn things around. Diogo Costa once again moved to the center of the speech, now not only as captain, but as a symbol of Porto’s principles.

“It was very important to reverse the course of events, to become National Champions again and to embrace the title. That is entirely the merit of this working group,” he stressed. “They have a unique ability to focus on their work with humility and seriousness, they are highly professional, and that is why this great captain I have here by my side is unique and one of a kind. He did not accept my challenge to wear the number 2 shirt, something that would have made me very proud and would have honored the history of that number in FC Porto’s history, but he is a great 99, a great goalkeeper, he represents all our values and principles, and I have a very special affection for him. This is an award for the players, for the collective, for the work, and thank you for everything.”

Between the personal note about the shirt number and the praise for the goalkeeper, Villas-Boas closed his speech without appropriating the distinction. The award was presented as the result of collective work, cohesion, and a group’s ability to turn profound losses into competitive strength.

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