From elite to district leagues: where are Porto's Youth League winners? | OneFootball

“An achievement that lasts forever. On this day, in 2019, we lifted the UEFA Youth League,” FC Porto noted on social media this Wednesday. Exactly seven years ago, the so-called golden generation of Olival beat Chelsea convincingly, 3-1, in the final of the under-19 Champions League.

Fábio Vieira, Diogo Queirós and Afonso Sousa scored the goals for the team coached by Mário Silva — now without a club, after a spell with Saudi side Al Najma — in a squad that already included names who were promising back then and are now well established, such as Diogo Costa, Diogo Leite, João Mário and Vitinha, among others.

But football does not always follow a straight line, and talents who emerge early do not always later live up to the expectations created around them. Among the winners of that Youth League, there are several examples of that. On the other hand, other players who played a more discreet role in that run are now performing at an elite level.

The most high-profile case is Vitinha, regarded by many as the best midfielder in world football, a European champion with PSG and an indispensable figure for the national team. At the time, despite the talent he was already recognized for, he was only the 20th most-used player in FC Porto’s path to the title. In the opposite direction, in the top 10 for minutes played there is another footballer who is also currently without a club. And in the overall list, he is not the only one…

Fábio Silva: DortmundRomário Baró: Radomiak Radom (Poland)Fábio Vieira: HamburgJoão Mário: BolognaÁngel Torres: Eyupspor (Turkey)Diogo Costa: FC PortoTiago Lopes: without a clubTomás Esteves: BariTiago Matos: AD Marco 09Levi Faustino: without a clubDiogo Queirós: Al JabalainDiogo Leite: Union BerlinPedro Justiniano: Giugliano (Italian third division)Paulo Estrela: Skenderbeu (Albania)Francisco Meixedo: FeirenseMor Ndiaye: Pogon Szczecin (Poland)Diogo Bessa: VilaverdenseAfonso Sousa: Samsunspor (Turkey)Boris Enow: Beitar JerusalemVitinha: PSGRodrigo Valente: São João de VerTaddeus Nkeng: Stade Malien (Mali)Gonçalo Borges: FeyenoordJuan Perea: ZurichManu Mané: Melfi (Italian regional leagues)Rafa Pereira: RD Águeda (Aveiro district league)Duarte Moreira: Byrne (Norway)Cláudio Silva: FC Penafiel

That Youth League, though, can never be erased from the honours list of those then-young talents, now fully grown men aged 25/26. It was also the first edition of the UEFA competition won by a Portuguese team.

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