“Porto since boyhood, being here is a dream”, says Tiago Correia | OneFootball

Tiago Correia is a new signing for FC Porto’s first-team futsal squad and arrives at the start of the project with a feeling that goes beyond a sporting opportunity. At 27, the winger embraces the responsibility of representing the club he says he has supported since childhood, sets his sights on victory, and promises to bring that identity onto the court. At his presentation, he assured: “I’ve been a Porto supporter since I was very young, and being here is a dream.”

In the first year of FC Porto’s futsal project, Tiago Correia arrives with the mission of helping to build a team in the image of the blue-and-white ambition. The new winger, who also brings experience from a spell in Poland, speaks of belonging, collective commitment, and the desire to bring the fans closer to this new journey.

The moment of joining FC Porto was experienced by the player as the fulfillment of a long-standing bond with the club. Without hiding his emotion, Tiago Correia placed the personal significance of the transfer at the heart of his first words.

“I’m very happy, it’s a dream come true. I’ve been a Porto supporter since I was very young, and being here is a dream—there’s no other word that better describes this moment.”

More than just a signing, the winger presents himself as someone who understands the weight of the shirt and the demands that come with it from day one.

Asked about the challenge of joining the project in its inaugural year, Tiago Correia admitted that the responsibility goes beyond individual performance. The aim is also to pass on to his teammates what it means to represent FC Porto.

“It’s a sign of great responsibility to be here in the first year of the Club’s project, but it will also be up to me to instill in the others what it means to be Porto and to help FC Porto grow in the sport. May we reach the top and win.”

His words reveal ambition without shortcuts: to grow in the sport, build an identity, and aim for the top. For Tiago Correia, building the team must go hand in hand with the high standards of those who wear blue and white.

That standard becomes even more direct when the subject is the competitive objective. The winger left no room for moderate interpretations of what the Porto mentality should be.

“Playing for FC Porto, the only objective you can have in mind is winning. There’s no other way to think.”

The phrase sums up the standard the player wants to bring to the new dressing room: victory as a constant reference point, with no room to lower expectations.

His experience outside Portugal is also part of the background he brings to the club. Tiago Correia believes his spell in Poland gave him the tools to face this new step.

“It’s a unique experience to be abroad, and I think it gave me greater experience so that I can now come here and help my teammates.”

The focus thus returns to the collective. His international experience is presented not as an end point, but as a resource to place at the service of his teammates.

In describing his own profile, Tiago Correia highlighted the unseen work and his willingness to serve the team. The winger defined himself by his ability to contribute so that his teammates can perform better.

“I’m a player who likes to help his teammates, I’m the kind of player who does the dirty work, so to speak. I want to help my teammates become better.”

It is a promise of commitment that fits the idea of a group still taking shape. In his view, individual success comes through the ability to raise the level of those around him.

The start of his integration will also be made easier by familiar faces in the dressing room. Tiago Correia highlighted the presence of future teammates he has already shared a team with and who share the same connection to the club.

“I’ve already shared the dressing room with some of my future teammates, and it’s good at this early stage to have familiar people in the dressing room, who are Porto supporters and who feel the Club the way I do. That makes it easier for us to be Porto and to carry that message from the court to the stands.”

For the new signing, that identification can be a bridge between what is lived on the court and what is expected in the stands. The building of the team’s identity will therefore have a dimension that goes beyond the dressing room.

In his relationship with the fans, Tiago Correia left a simple appeal and a guarantee of commitment. The team wants to be recognized as a reflection of those who support it.

“Come and support us. On the court, we will do everything to be an extension of our fans.”

The message places Porto supporters at the heart of the journey now beginning. The player acknowledges that the bond with the stands will have to be earned through commitment on the court.

Among the wishes he has for this new stage, there is one especially clear image: playing in front of a full house at the Dragão Arena. Tiago Correia links that image to the strength the fans can give to the start of Porto futsal.

“It would be a dream come true, and nothing would be more spectacular than having the Dragão Arena full, with Porto supporters present at the start of our futsal journey.”

His personal dream thus intersects with the desire to see a sport he has been connected to since an early age continue to grow. And it is precisely in those origins that the winger finds the explanation for a passion he has never abandoned.

“My love for futsal comes from my family; both my father and my older brothers played futsal. I’ve been playing futsal since I was seven or eight years old, and I never looked back—I knew this was my passion.”

From family to FC Porto, Tiago Correia describes a journey marked by an early choice and a lasting conviction. Now, that passion has a new home and a responsibility worthy of the dream.

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