Oranges rained down at Alvalade: Paulinho, no room for cowards | OneFootball

Iconic president of FC Porto for 42 years (from 1982 to 2024), who won 69 titles in professional football alone, Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa passed away on February 15, 2025, at the age of 87. On the first anniversary of his death, Sábado asked nine personalities from the Porto universe who knew him to recall memorable episodes.

Paulo Futre recalls numerous strong moments alongside Pinto da Costa. “Since I met him at 18, until a few days before his death, I always had great respect for him, I would even ‘tremble’ near him, in quotes. Pinto da Costa believed in me, took me from Sporting [the lions were going to loan him to Académica] and made me the highest-paid player on the team after Fernando Gomes.” Futre also recalls the first time he went to Alvalade with the dragons: “I came out of the tunnel with him before the game, and from the Juve Leo supporters, oranges started raining down. We were going to the other side of the field, where the Superdragões were, and he saw me hesitating there and said: ‘Paulinho, what now? Coward is not an option! Let's go, you're coming with me.’ We crossed to the other side, with the whole stadium booing and fans throwing things, there was a rain of oranges.”

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