João Magalhães to Bidasoa: “It will help me reach Porto’s first team” | OneFootball

“It’s special, of course. Making a little bit of history at a club of this stature is also something different, something that makes me proud,” said Magalhães about being the first Portuguese player to join the squad of a club that had in Ljubomir Obradovic — the Serbian coach who led the Dragons between 2009/10 and 2014/15, winning the title in all six seasons — its first foreigner. But this is also a club that, throughout its history, has featured top-level names: Tomas Svensson, the legendary Swedish goalkeeper, was part of the European champion team; Nenad Perunicic, the fearsome 2.03-metre Serbian left back, then known for having one of the most powerful shots; Bogdan Wenta, the Polish international; Oleg Kisselev, the Russian centre back/wing back, Olympic and world champion; JJ Hombrados, one of the most respected and longest-serving goalkeepers in the history of Spanish handball; and, more recently, Julen Aguinagalde, one of the best pivots in world handball history.

“Unfortunately, my parents support Benfica, but I’ve supported Porto since I was very little. I’ve always followed FC Porto and wanted to wear these trainers,” said the winger, explaining the goal that is taking him to Spain. “At the time I played in the backcourt and I really liked André Gomes, and Miguel Martins was also coming through,” he recalled.

Very young, but highly experienced

At just 19 years old, Magalhães already has considerable international experience. Here is his account in his own words: “In 2022 I went to the Youth Olympic Festival in Slovakia, and we won bronze; in 2023 it was the Under-19 World Championship in Croatia, which was already an age group above mine. The following year I had two European Championships, in one I was runner-up, in Slovenia, and the other was in Montenegro. Last year, I also had two World Championships, one where I won silver, in Poland, and the other was in Egypt.”

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