“It means a lot to be the only team with a perfect record, a third time” | OneFootball

FC Porto’s Under-15 squad presented the national champion’s trophy to the FC Porto Museum, and André Villas-Boas took the opportunity to “congratulate” the working group behind “winning a title that had eluded us since 2011,” thus completing a clean sweep of titles in the youth ranks. “This clean sweep sparks enormous feelings, emotions and joy. It means a great deal to FC Porto’s members and supporters that we are the only ones to have achieved it, and for the third time at that. It is the culmination of a great youth development process and a mark of quality that sets FC Porto apart.”

Alongside the national Under-15 champions, the president of the “most successful club in domestic football” highlighted the “winning culture that is deeply ingrained at FC Porto” and argued that “talent is the most important thing for these youngsters to establish themselves in the first team.” “We all hope that the sooner it happens, the better. I hope they can win at every stage,” concluded the Porto president.

A clean sweep of youth titles

“First of all, I want to congratulate our Under-15 team, who completed the clean sweep and honored us by winning a title that had eluded us since 2011. This age group is the beginning of a young player’s development process, and we hope they continue it at other levels, in the Under-17s, Under-19s, B team and first-team squad, all the way through. This clean sweep sparks enormous feelings, emotions and joy. It means a great deal to FC Porto’s members and supporters that we are the only ones to have achieved it, and for the third time at that. It is the culmination of a great youth development process and a mark of quality that sets FC Porto apart. The cherry on top is still missing, which is all these kids making their debut for the first team. As a Board, it is up to us to ensure that happens. They have always believed it is possible, and we will be honored when those debuts happen, which are always so moving for the Club’s supporters.”

Developing by winning

“It is not decisive, but it helps. First of all, because of FC Porto’s winning culture, which is part of who we are. We are the most successful club in domestic football, and that is a hallmark that sets us apart and must always be present. It does not define a quality development process, because we have already had many players who reached the first team with more or fewer youth titles. In other words, in Diogo Costa’s résumé, we are not going to look at how many youth titles he won. In Diogo Costa’s résumé, nobody looks at how many titles he won in youth football, obviously. What we want is for him to establish himself as a senior player, to stand out through his talent and to help us win the National Champion title with the first team. But it is a process that is part of development: winning, believing, winning the Porto way. It is a winning culture that is deeply ingrained in this Club. Then, talent is the most important thing for these youngsters to establish themselves in the first team.”

The future of youth

“I hope there is continuity. That continuity lies in the follow-up process. Many of these Under-15s will move up to the Under-17s, some of the Under-17s will move up to the Under-19s, and so on. The continuation of this process has to be solid and has to help them grow. There is a stage of believing in talent, because some develop later, and that part is linked to the youth development leadership, as well as scouting and the coaches, who must be able to identify when each of them will break through and when each of them can overcome stages to reach the first team more quickly. Many do so ahead of schedule, and we have the recent example of Rodrigo Mora. When processes are accelerated, we have obvious talent that we commit to, and we want them to succeed. There is a right timing for them to do so, but we all hope that the sooner, the better. I hope they can win at every stage.”

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