Ex-boss on Benfica, Sporting and Porto race: level playing field | OneFootball

Paulo Bento, former national team coach and Sporting manager, argues that the team in green and white gained a chance to compete on equal terms with Benfica and Porto, thanks to VAR. The Portuguese coach says that Sporting grew stronger from then on.

"There was one thing that brought justice to football and that helped, in my opinion, the one that was a little outside this group", began the former national team coach — whose team faced the United States — as he recalled his spells at Alvalade.

"It was more of a Benfica/Porto thing and it brought Sporting onto an equal footing: and that was VAR. It has to be praised. Another thing is not even being able to referee a match properly with television, but that is something else...", added Paulo Bento.

"The teams most likely to win are those that have already done so. Argentina, Brazil, the depth and quality of France’s squad... To say that we are bigger contenders than they are is to put pressure on the coach and the players that, for me, makes no sense at all", he explained, while speaking about the 2026 World Cup.

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