João Simões on former Sporting man: my main role model always... | OneFootball

It was last Monday that he spoke as the Under-21 national team’s spokesman at the start of the training camp for the matches against Azerbaijan and Scotland, in qualification for the 2027 European Championship. Back among Luís Freire’s selected players, he spoke about several topics, such as his role models in the senior national team, the moment he is going through at Sporting - which already knows how long Nuno Santos will be sidelined for - and the ‘change of mindset’ when leaving the club environment to join the national team camp.

“Obviously I have role models in the senior national team; my main role model has always been Bruno Fernandes, but Vitinha is also a great role model, João Neves as well... I played against Vitinha recently and it was easy to understand why he plays where he does and why everyone praises him so highly, because he really is a great player, without a doubt a role model for me,” began the Sporting player wearing the number 52 shirt.

“I think I try to take a little from each one and bring it into my game. Maybe it’s not always possible to reach that level, to take a bit from all of them and get to where they are, but I’ll work on it as much as I can,” João Simões stressed.

“I always work to improve. Obviously my dream is to be here with the national team, because it is a sign of the work that has been done at the club, and the Club should also be thankful for me being here,” he said when asked about his development at Sporting.

In conclusion, the young green-and-white midfielder described the ‘change of mindset’ from club to national team: “Coming to the national team is an honour, and we leave the club environment for the national team. Right now we have to change our mindset because we are here to represent our country. It’s no longer just our club; we represent everyone: our families, our club and our nation. So that’s the change of mindset, it’s very much about that.”

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