Leonor Pinhão points blame for smear campaign at Benfica's António Silva | OneFootball

The controversy surrounding António Silva continues to dominate Portuguese football news and prompted a harsh reaction from Leonor Pinhão. The commentator criticizes the way the Benfica defender has been treated in recent days, arguing that the Portuguese international has been turned into the “villain of the year,” after the controversy involving the National Team, placing the blame on television pundits.

The columnist believes the situation has gone beyond acceptable limits, directly pointing the finger at television pundits and even Roberto Martínez for the player’s public exposure: "The smear campaign against Silva, at the highest level and at the same time at the lowest level, was more than unnecessary".

Leonor Pinhão recalls that António Silva was left out of the squad for the 2026 World Cup, something she considers legitimate from a technical point of view, but she rejects the way the issue developed in the following days: "He was left out of the World Cup squad, which is not even up for debate, they are choices, but the need to destroy the player’s character is indefensible", as reported in the newspaper 'Record'.

which then continued throughout the week with further public remarks.

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