Aurélio Pereira remembered: Sporting fans pay tribute to Mr Academy | OneFootball

The Torcida Verde celebrated Aurélio Pereira's 78th birthday. The supporters' group associated with Sporting did not forget the birth date of the former scout and sports director of the Alvalade Club who passed away on April 8th this year and was responsible for discovering some of the greatest names in the history of Portuguese football.

Through a photograph shared on their social media, some members of the group formed in 1984 went to the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy in Alcochete, where they placed a banner at the entrance of the venue reading “Aurélio Pereira Academy”. In this way, the Sporting fans showed that Mr. Formation's contributions will never be forgotten.

Tasked with evaluating the best talents that national youth football had to offer, Aurélio Pereira was the main person responsible for bringing many of the best players from Portugal and the world to the youth ranks of Sporting, even before the Academy was established, as was the case with Paulo Futre or Luís Figo.

For many, Mr. Formation's greatest contribution was in the conquest of the first trophy for the Portuguese National Team, at Euro 2016. Of the 23 players called up by Fernando Santos for the European Championship in France, 10 were products of the Alcochete academy, namely Rui Patrício, José Fonte, Cédric Soares, William Carvalho, João Mário, Adrien Silva, João Moutinho, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

It is worth remembering that Aurélio Pereira passed away on April 8th this year, at the age of 77, after a long career of contributions to the Alvalade Club. For the lions, he was a coach for all youth levels, later becoming a director and scout. For his contributions, he was awarded the Medal of Sporting Merit of the City of Lisbon, the Order of Merit of UEFA, the Quinas de Ouro from the Portuguese Football Federation, and the rank of Commander of the Order of Public Instruction.

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