Fábio Espinho on FC Porto: “A beautiful school for life” | OneFootball

Fábio Espinho gave an exclusive interview to Bola na Rede, in which he looked back on his development at FC Porto, despite not having made it to the first team.

“It adds a lot. Basically, everything I carried into my career in terms of values and rules, much of it also came from the upbringing my parents gave me, but a lot of what I became as a player was passed on to me during all those years at FC Porto. Wanting to win, playing to win is not the same as playing not to lose. They are completely different things. The high standards, always training well, always staying focused and not being able to let up in any way are things we gradually absorb and carry into our professional career. Fortunately, I managed to do that; there are many others who do not. For me, FC Porto was a beautiful story, many years, and a school for life,” said the former footballer, who ended up leaving the club after 14 years, following a spell with the B team.

“I moved up through the ranks until I reached the B team and unfortunately I couldn’t make that small step up. It was actually a big step, but it was a short one because it was the very next level. I got to train with the first team, I had three or four training sessions, but I never played. I didn’t feel much responsibility. When we are young, we are irreverent and we do not really feel what responsibility is. When I was in FC Porto’s B team, we came across a super team coached by Mourinho, and it coincided with the year FC Porto won the Champions League. The bar was set very high and it was very difficult for a young player to make the jump to the first team,” underlined Fábio Espinho, who in the following season still trained with the senior team.

“I remember, and I have a vague sense of thinking they were all wonderful. They were stars. Maniche, Deco, Vítor Baía, Jorge Costa, Alenichev, Costinha. They were all spectacular, and each one left a mark on me in their own way. I was not there many times, and it was already the year after [the Champions League triumph]. There were players who, I think, had already left. When I went to train with the first team, Víctor Fernández was the coach, so Mourinho had already left and two or three players had been sold. Broadly speaking, the squad stayed the same, and when a young player is called up to the first team it is always a memorable moment,” the former player reflected.

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