Fernando Sá: “Winning like this, with everyone, is wonderful” | OneFootball

Fernando Sá led FC Porto to the national basketball title and, in the aftermath of the triumph over Benfica, showed the emotion built up over a season of resilience. Between the pride of being champion with the club closest to his heart, the hardship of the toughest months and the image of a group that closed ranks to keep believing, the coach spoke with the intensity of someone who feels every word. In the end, he summed it all up in a phrase that fits both on the court and in the stands, assuring: “it’s wonderful”.

Ten years on, FC Porto were crowned national basketball champions again, and they did it at the Dragão Arena, in front of their fans, in a setting where the achievement seems to carry even more value because of the path that came before it. Fernando Sá, coach of the blue-and-white basketball team, appeared with the happiness of someone who had reached the end of a demanding journey and with a message repeated throughout his remarks: this title was not born only from talent, it was born from resilience.

Given the symbolic weight of the achievement, Fernando Sá began by speaking less as a coach and more as a Porto supporter. In his words, the title carried the emotional weight of someone living it from the inside.

“Everyone knows what I’m feeling, because Porto fans feel the same as I do. Being a Champion with the club closest to my heart…,” he said. “Everyone knows what is happening and I’m happy about all of this.”

More than a formal celebration, the phrase revealed a deep connection to the badge and to the moment. When victory intersects with a sense of belonging, the speech ceases to be merely sporting and takes on the depth of a confession.

Asked about the road to the title, the coach spoke about the difficult months and the way he decided to protect the group when results were not coming. The answer was direct, without artifice, as if the achievement could only be explained in light of the trials that came before it.

“It was very difficult. There were moments of natural loneliness in the face of less positive results and I decided to isolate myself and the group, I decided to instil in them that we were here to fight until the end and that we were prepared to withstand everything,” he explained. “That is down to this group, the Board, the other departments and our supporters. If we had not been united, we would not have achieved this. My coaching staff were also excellent.”

The picture that emerges is of a team that clung to cohesion when circumstances tightened. Fernando Sá did not romanticise the journey: he preferred to highlight the loneliness, the need to close ranks and the conviction that, without unity, the title would have remained out of reach.

The coach also made a point of extending the medal to those who pushed from the outside. At a club where defeat weighs heavily and victory is lived in communion, the reference to the supporters came as a natural extension of the achievement.

“This title is as much theirs as ours. When you lose at this Club and we feel the way we do, it is terrible to get over that, but when you win like this, with all these people, it’s wonderful.”

It is in that sentence that the speech comes to a close and the title finds its fullest frame. Not only that of the final result, but that of a shared victory, felt as relief and celebration, with the Dragão Arena transformed into the space where the accumulated suffering finally gave way to the party.

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