FourFourTwo likens Rodrigo Mora to David Silva: “A real star” | OneFootball

Rodrigo Mora is the highlight of the latest edition of the column ‘The Boy’s A Bit Special’, from the renowned British magazine FourFourTwo, which monthly features the young players who have stood out the most in world football.

The magazine recalls that, at just 1.68 m and 18 years old, Mora has already been “hoisted like a puppet by his teammate, Samu Aghehowa”, who stands at 1.93 m, to highlight that “size plays a big role” in his style of play: “Mora’s talent is such that he rarely needs to get involved in the more industrious parts of the game.”

“From an early age, the teenager surpassed his peers with technical ability and an eye for a pass. There is no greater proof of this than his performances on the international youth stage. He stood out at U15, U16, U17, and now U21 level, having skipped several age groups thanks to a brilliant first senior campaign,” it reads.

“In particular, Mora’s performance at the 2024 U17 European Championship earned him the Golden Ball. He scored five goals and provided two assists on the way to a final defeat against Italy. And, in the previous season, Mora finished as joint top scorer in the UEFA Youth League, netting seven goals until FC Porto were eliminated on penalties in the semi-finals,” the article adds.

The publication goes further and even puts Mora as a strong candidate to receive a call-up from Spaniard Roberto Martínez to Portugal’s senior team for the 2026 World Cup, despite the difficulties in convincing Italian Francesco Farioli at FC Porto.

“If he maintains this form during 2025/26, he has a real chance of making the squad for the World Cup. In many ways, Mora is a return to the archetype of the European number 10 – short and slippery, showing fluidity, reddish locks, receiving the ball between the lines, escaping and dribbling through pressure,” the analysis reads.

“If a footballer could literally dribble between the legs of opposing players, Mora would probably be the closest to achieving it. Balance and composure in the final third is everything he is. Mora is alarmingly active in attacking spaces and almost immediately becomes a point of contact for his FC Porto teammates inside the box,” the text continues.

“In dangerous areas, the 18-year-old is a complete player, blessed with abundant confidence. With a boyish look, a crab-like ability to protect possession in tight spaces, able to play with both feet, and a stylistic resemblance to David Silva, Mora is – as they say in Portuguese – a star,” the article concludes.

It should be noted that, up to the current point in the 2025/26 season, Rodrigo Mora has made 12 appearances for FC Porto and scored two goals, the most recent coming in the 2-1 win over Sporting de Braga, in partnership with Samu Aghehowa.

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