Fernando hails the Dragons: “FC Porto is the home that shaped me” | OneFootball

He arrived at FC Porto from Vila Nova, still very raw, coming from the Brazilian countryside. He went on loan to Estrela da Amadora before establishing himself as an undisputed key figure in Porto’s midfield, under coaches such as Jesualdo Ferreira, André Villas-Boas, Vítor Pereira, Paulo Fonseca and Luís Castro. At the end of a career that is still taking him across the pitches, Fernando has no doubts about pointing to where it all began, in an interview with the newspaper “O JOGO”.

“It was the club where I played the longest, where I had the most stability, and it was my gateway to Europe”, the midfielder stresses, grateful to the Dragons for everything he learned. “They taught me many things: the winning mentality, never giving up, always being ready for the next match regardless of victories. Not letting anything go to your head. That was the DNA FC Porto gave me; it made me grow as a person and as a player. I left for Portugal very young, from the Brazilian countryside. I had few resources, little football education, and I learned to be very organized and to take care of my future.”

“I arrived here completely raw”

His time at FC Porto was, in practice, a complete school — on and off the pitch. Fernando does not hide the transformation he went through in the Invincible City.

“I arrived here completely raw, even in terms of personal development. FC Porto was the home that prepared me in every sense; they were very patient with me and made me into a great player”, he confesses. “I grew with the humility to listen to constructive criticism and managed to leave more mature, with a defined winning mentality and structured so I would not go through hardship. It was a seven-year course, and everything about it was sensational.”

The Brazilian says his footballing revolution was above all thanks to Jesualdo Ferreira, the coach who recognized early on the raw potential he had in his hands. “I was very quick, with good technique, but I had problems understanding the game. In Brazil I knew nothing about receiving the ball on the move, I played on long grass and in extreme heat, and here I started playing on short grass, with much quicker circulation. The growth I had was fantastic — I owe the career I had to FC Porto and Jesualdo.”

Jesualdo the teacher, Villas-Boas the visionary, Vítor Pereira the beautiful football

Asked to sum up the coaches who guided him, Fernando ventures a brief but accurate portrait of each of them.

“Jesualdo was a teacher; Villas-Boas, a visionary who identified everything the team needed; and Vítor Pereira refined it with beautiful football. I loved the midfield carousel with Lucho, Moutinho and James as well”, he recalls, evoking one of the brightest eras in FC Porto’s recent history. “Then, with Paulo Fonseca and Luís Castro, it was more complicated, because the squad did not have as much quality and the opponents became better.”

Porto’s talent-spotting machine

After four league titles and a European trophy, Fernando is keen to highlight FC Porto’s intelligence in building its squads — a scouting operation that, for years, was a global benchmark.

“At that time we felt that FC Porto made spectacular signings. The players arrived and showed enormous potential. FC Porto was far ahead, doing many things right, going to South America, investing and developing the players they brought in, optimizing sales. We would look at the squad and think there could not be another one like it — and they still managed to make another cheap and very good signing.”

The examples come naturally to his mind: “When Falcao left, Jackson arrived. I had never heard of him, and he came with extraordinary quality. They brought Hulk from Japan, Fernando from Vila Nova, James as a kid from Argentina. We were all sold very well, helping the club a lot in becoming champions. I was part of great squads and saw great coaches who helped players grow individually and collectively.”

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