Zalazar scored on debut: Sporting or Benfica, an easy choice | OneFootball

Rodrigo Zalazar made his debut for Sporting in the Lions’ 7-0 thrashing of Strasbourg last Monday. In fact, it was a case of coming on and scoring straight away for Rui Borges’ new signing — he converted a penalty and also provided an assist for Geny Catamo. At the end of the match, he again spoke about his decision to head to Alvalade.

"I’m very happy with the way the team is playing. It’s very good to have this kind of understanding when there’s so little time left before the competition starts. It was a dream debut," he began, reflecting on these first moments of settling in: "It’s a very warm group and they made me feel very comfortable in two or three days... I feel like I’ve been here a long time. It’s true that a lot of players have come in who will try to help the team move forward, but Sporting are always strong."

Zalazar then went on to explain once again the reasons that led him to choose Sporting over Benfica this season: "It was an easy decision. When I found out there was an opportunity to go to Sporting, I immediately said yes, because it was where I wanted to come, as they always gave me a lot of confidence."

The Uruguayan international was also the most expensive signing in Sporting’s history, but he admits that is not where the pressure comes from: "It’s a huge club! I know it’s an important transfer and I try to handle the situation as calmly as possible. When you wear the Sporting shirt, you don’t think about the €30 million."

To conclude, Rodrigo Zalazar explained why he chose to keep the 'number 17 shirt', which had belonged to Francisco Trincão, and spoke about his friendship with Maxi Araújo: "When I played against him, he gave me a hard time — he’s a great player to have on our side. It’s an honour to have kept the number 17 shirt," he stressed, before moving on to the other Uruguayan in the squad: "He’s a very special person to me because we’ve been friends for many years. I hope we’ll be very happy together. Maxi is a captain without an armband."

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